Thoughts on next year?

[1SEIACLONE]

We don't have enough linemen to do it. JR is a huge loss. We just need better linebacker play IMO. I got zero problem with 3 down linemen if you got the right linebackers and safetys.

I just don't think people get what we were playing with out there most of the season. It's a miracle Heacock was able to stop anybody with what we had.

Secondary guys are huge losses, there are two NFL guys leaving and one of our all time greats.

There are a lot of bodies at linebacker, a couple guys are going to have to step up and make jumps. Really like what Zac Lovett did last night, maybe he's the guy to pair with Bacon.

Rocco will need to be way more consistent as I think there will be a ton of pressure in the offense to score more consistently. Alston can def play, think we will be fine at receiver. Mix in Brahmer and we should be pretty good again.

Several guys have to make jumps defensively though.

Then d lineman should be a primary area of need to recruit this cycle, either through the portal or taking younger kids. I get the idea the LBers were all beat up, but this season we were rotating 3 d lineman in for the other 3 lineman. Why not start 4 and use the other two as replacements?
We have to get more pressure on the QB, there was one play where Ward literally just stood there in the pocket, did not even have to move, just stood there and scanned the field. You give average QB time, they are going to hurt you, and NFL level guy like Ward is going to kill you with that much time.
It was a great defense when it first came out, but teams have adjusted to it, now its on the defensive staff to adjust the defense or come up with new wrinkles to get back to what we were doing. If it take NFL calilber LBers to play it well, then its not going to be super successful for us, as we rarely have those types of players.

 

[SolterraCyclone]

I do wonder if there's a bit of a shift in how they align personnel as it seems like the game has been going back inside and the RB is becoming more prominent as a position (no stats to back it up, just general observation of trends) but yeah there wasn't a scheme out there that was going to save ISU this year.

Those calling for Heacock to retire after still keeping the wheels on enough to grind out that many wins are off their rocker and then calling for a switch in scheme mid-game when there's clearly limits on who's even available to play is next level.

There are a lot of bad takes on here. That one though, truly left me speechless

 

[1SEIACLONE]

Blitzing didn't work this year. Our linebackers sucked at it. We got torched almost every time we tried (there were some exceptions, but not many). Most of the time the blitz just got stuffed and our secondary paid the price. If it did get home, we'd usually whiff on the sack and give up a 10-20 yard scramble.

The LBs that played just weren't good pass rushers. With Bacon hopefully healthy, that'll improve a lot.

Maybe, but the secondary was getting torched anyway, because of the time the QB had to decide who to throw the ball too. Backs like we faced yesteday and the kid from ASU, have to be tackled at the knees and ankles, not up high, because they can take that hit and kept going forward. Take out their knees and ankles this they are not only going down, it wears on them.

 

[FallOf81]

I don't think it really "paid off" this year ... but we reap major stock dividends in 25 when all that youth on defense comes back. A year wiser, stronger, ready for the field. How can you put a price on that now? Don't think you can. We will soon find out.

 

[gocy444]

We won a lot of close games this year. Hope we can do the same again.

 

[BCClone]

I don't think it really "paid off" this year ... but we reap major stock dividends in 25 when all that youth on defense comes back. A year wiser, stronger, ready for the field. How can you put a price on that now? Don't think you can. We will soon find out.

When you fail a class and retake it, you don’t get an A. Most times a C or worse. We are hoping that the F level can get to average. I think that may be optimistic.

 

[clonedude]

Between what Alston and Green showed yesterday, combined with the two transfer WR's, Overby's ceiling, and a sprinkle of Carson Brown... The WR room will only take a minor step back.. hopefully

We'll see on the health of the TE room, that is the key there.

OL was improved.. if the progress made from 2023 to 2024 is equal to 2024 to 2025, we're heading in the right direction. However, i'm terrified of no LT transfer who is proven like Travis.

Mouser was great and terrible in moments, an off-season to let Rocco cook should do him wonders.

Has Ngoyi entered the portal or something? How come nobody is mentioning him?

I think Alston can be pretty good too honestly.

But our defense has to improve dramatically. Against Arizona St everyone in the stadium knew they were going to run the football... and we couldn't stop them at all. Same thing last night in the 2nd half... their backup QB sucked at throwing it and so everyone with half a brain knew that Miami was going to just run it every play... and they still were getting like 7-8 yds per carry.. and broke some kind of rushing bowl record. Scheme was bad, guys taking horrible angles, and then nobody could tackle at all. That HAS to change next season.

But an amazing season this year.. I feel pretty good about the offense for next year.

 

[stewart092284]

IDK. I know the common theme is injuries but IMO, we need an upgrade athletically defensively. And while experience can help teach you how to take angles, the proper way to take on a block, etc... it can't help you run faster. Against explosive teams we seriously struggled and it wasn't just about inexperience. Some if it? Sure.

All of it? No. We just looked slow. Say, 60% of that was from inexperience. That's fair and valid.

But the other 40% of that? That's just not having that natural ability to go from a 20 technique, scrap over the tackle and make a tackle in the D or E gap. That's what made Rose early and Hummel special as he got his moments to shine was their ability to run the width of the field. Because a lot of runs that killed us this year and even to some degree last year have not been right up the middle, but rather off tackle, which is where the LB has to be able to fit and scrape.

And losing Peterson, TO and Singleton - the three best edge setters we had when Dom was at nose guard - puts even more pressure on that. And now add losing two hammers in the run game in Malik and Beau. Again, more pressure there. Which is nothing the coaching staff I'm sure is not already aware of.

But that's why the QB killed us and off-tackle / stretch plays have hurt us recently. We didn't have quite the dominant edge setting like we had earlier, and then we lacked the LB's who can fit and scrape at a super high level. So kind of a perfect storm.

Right now on paper, our edges looked suspect with TO leaving and JR/ Peterson graduating. The kid from UNI looks decent, would have been nice to get the D2 kid to at least add depth, and I know we picked up another edge guy from Tulsa but based on build my guess is he'll be better at rushing than a true edge setter against the rush although maybe time will prove me wrong on that. Maybe Carnell takes a huge step forward next year and we're going to need Ikenna to be massive next fall.

But right now? The front 6 has me a little cautious in terms of expectations for next year. We needed to improve before TO left. Had we had TO, Ike and Orange starting with Carnell / Hawk / new people or Myles ... we'd have still needed to improve but the floor felt higher.


I don't think we're anywhere close to at risk of going 4-8 or 5-7 next year. But until we get a better idea of how the front 6 fits together, I'm think 7 wins is probably my projection. If the DL + LB can take steps to improve back to what has been more the norm (Solid) not looking for elite, knowing the secondary probably takes a slight step backwards ... then maybe we can challenge again. I know his stats maybe don't show it, but losing TO to me was a massive, massive loss. Sure, Carter and Moore have in theory the size/frame, but that's an unknown right now.

 

[NENick]

O-line was pretty good when both Travis and Barrett were healthy I thought. We were able to run the ball pretty well and pass protect. Will we go after a replacement for Travis or do we have someone coming up is the question. Can always improve.

Is Travis definitely gone? I thought he could return. I also thought he was outstanding last night.

 

[stewart092284]

Baring an unexpected return my non-informed starting OL for next year


LT Neal / Maro
LG Buhr / Hasert
C Bonifas / Barrett
RG Black
RT Miller

Barring a return of someone like Travis who I'm 99% sure is done and someone else coming in. That's not elite, but its also not bad in terms of group of 8, especially up the middle. Tackle.. tackle could be interesting but I know Tompkins I believe is highly thought of, not that you really want a true frosh entirely starting but never know.

 

[Goclones1727]

-Carson Hansen needs to see 70%+ snaps, health permitting, next year.

-Marcus Neal could be a future stud.

-Between Sowell and Alston, I feel much better about replacing Higgins production. Even if it’s by committee between those two.

-Miami’s D is weak…but a fantastic ending to Mouser’s first season play calling. He had his ups and downs but have to feel optimistic about this system moving forward.

-Saw some improvement from certain LBs but we have to take a giant step next year. Even when we drew up some blitz schemes, the timing and gap fills were just off all season. I think Heacock will get that tightened up. We have seen this scheme hold up on run D in the past.

-The OL deserves some flowers. Clanton as well. No it was not perfect or even great, but it was certainly well improved. Good to see a step was taken. Losing Travis is going to hurt though.

 

[Letterkenny]

Maybe, but the secondary was getting torched anyway, because of the time the QB had to decide who to throw the ball too. Backs like we faced yesteday and the kid from ASU, have to be tackled at the knees and ankles, not up high, because they can take that hit and kept going forward. Take out their knees and ankles this they are not only going down, it wears on them.

They weren't getting torched most of the year. We had like a too 4-5 pass defense in the country. Miami torched US through the air no matter what we did in the first half because Can Ward torches everyone.

 

[ConvertedCycloneFan]

I guess I am still confused....? We were literally missing possible starting linebackers before we even played the 1st game, AND they started dropping like flies after!
At some point, weren't we starting 2 walk ONS?
Who technically is back next year at LB who WOULD have started (or did and was hurt) for us next year?

 

[Remo Gaggi]

I might have to buy one more season ticket. Should be an amazing season at the Jack. Beat Iowa!

 

[BCClone]

Has Ngoyi entered the portal or something? How come nobody is mentioning him?

I think Alston can be pretty good too honestly.

But our defense has to improve dramatically. Against Arizona St everyone in the stadium knew they were going to run the football... and we couldn't stop them at all. Same thing last night in the 2nd half... their backup QB sucked at throwing it and so everyone with half a brain knew that Miami was going to just run it every play... and they still were getting like 7-8 yds per carry.. and broke some kind of rushing bowl record. Scheme was bad, guys taking horrible angles, and then nobody could tackle at all. That HAS to change next season.

But an amazing season this year.. I feel pretty good about the offense for next year.

Become a fanatic and you will know.

 

[LAClone]

Frosted Cinnamon Roll sacrificed himself for our 2025 season. We should go undefeated.

 

[CyGuy5]

Because I’m so consistently negative about the Cyclones, I’m expecting some sort of regression to the mean. We were on the right side of a lot of 1 score games this year, not to mention that the schedule should be more difficult next year.

The defense is going to need work. Just one good DE makes a huuuge difference. Also somewhat concerned about the LB play. I’m guessing 7-5 next year

 

[twincyties]

I’m not sure stats support the idea that our secondary was getting torched because we put no pressure on the QB. We had one of the lowest passing yards per game as a defense.

That said, a lot do this has to do with opponents style of play and probably because teams knew they could run against us.

But I’m in the camp that says it’s incredibly difficult to assess our defensive scheme this year when our defense - particularly at LB - was as depleted as it was.

Would be like saying our defense in basketball sucked if Lipsey, Ward, and Jones were injured all of last year.

 

[isucy86]

Yeah, the scheme is so bad, dozens of teams around the country have copied it. The scheme isn't the problem, the depleted LB room was the problem. We would have struggled defensively in any scheme, and we have significantly more trouble recruiting D1 defensive lineman than LB. That was the reason for the change in the first place. I felt like the second half of the season in particular was all smoke, mirrors and band aids on defense. Even as far back as the Iowa game we didn't have a single experienced linebacker suit up.

You might be right that a depleted LB room was the reason teams ran all-over our defense this season. But what if opposing offensive-coordinators have founds some cracks in the 3-3-5? I would be really surprised if Heacock and his staff stand-pat. As the reality is our defensive struggles were likely a mix of "jimmy's & joes" and "X's & O's".

The nice thing is the 3-3-5 is it can be morphed to look like a 4-2-5 by putting a LB at the DE position. Feel like a flex LB/DE position is a natural for a number of our bigger LB's: Bacon, Lovett, Brezina, Ebel.

But is it a stretch for the 3-3-5 to morph into a 3-4-4 defense? That could address the issue of teams being able to run outside, especially RPO QB runs. Playing 4 LB's would also allow Heacock to leverage the LB position group, which might be the deepest on the team.

 

[BigLame]

We have to get away from this passive 3 man Dline, it just allows a QB to stand in the pocket and scan the field. If we are having that big of a problem finding D lineman, then we need to start blitzing the LBers more, to put more pressure on the QB. Quarterbacks we face are too good at passing to just allow them to stand, without pressure. It becomes nothing but a 7 on 7 passing drill to them.

I feel we reversed our strategy in yesterday's bowl game on defense as we blitzed a LOT in the 1st half & then in the 2nd we dropped 8 quite a bit plus a couple times in the final minutes we dropped NINE. Our blitzes didn't get home (a weakness of our LBs all season) & Cam had a huge 1st half.

Their backup QB was not much of a threat throwing the ball & they were carving our D running it, but I think our strategy would have been the same if Cam stayed in. Inverting it was to see how they would manage it after half time & having the backup face 8 in coverage made it even more effective.

Thought Zach Lovett played the best in the 2nd half at LB. He played well & upfield, but he seems better in the phone booth & he looked faster yesterday than late in regular season, so 110% speculation he may have been dealing with injury. Was definitely 1 of our most aggressive in the 2nd half yesterday.

Still, think an LB of 2 in the portal to add to the group for competition & inject some more potential in this area is key for an improved defense for next season.