Post Iowa Thoughts

[emmitt01]

1) We were in this game until late.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, they missed opportunities on deep balls...and so did we.  Yeah, yeah , yeah, they killed some of their drives with penalties...and SO. DID. WE.  And we extended several of their "missed opportunity" drives on penalties.  Speaking of which...

2) That was unforgivably sloppy on the part of our players.  More penalties than we should commit in 3 games. If there isn't a VERY serious "come to Jesus" talk on Monday at practice then SL should be gone.  Nobody, not players and not coaches, should be beyond a good ol' fashioned ass chewing over this one.  

3) Special teams unit.  We should look into having one.

4) Bryce English is a BIG loss.  The Tualo Bear and the rest of that D-Line did a masterful job (again) but not having depth in the middle showed, and showed in a big way, late in that game.  I have confidence in this defense going into conference.

5) I have bowl hopes still.  I'm not gonna put a number on it but 6+ wins is achievable in my opinion.  

6) There is no quarterback controversy.  SL and GH watched the two QB's all Spring and all Fall.  We watched Shanbour for one drive (and after that one drive, the coaches put Fine right back in).  Quinn Shanbour may be the best backup QB we have had, and he WAS impressive, but he's the backup.  

Edited September 17, 2017 by emmitt01

[TreeFiddy]

Who is the DL wearing #98?  I saw him in late in the game and his jersey had no name on it and we do not have a #98 listed on the roster.  Pretty big looking dude.  I suppose it could be Combes, but Combes is supposed to be #93. 

[keith]

We are clearly a first and second down defensive team.  We looked great on those downs.  Third down or worse third and long we are horrible.  Our defense was on the field so long because we kept letting Iowa extend their drives on third down conversions.

I was watching the game with a couple friends (one an Iowa alum).  Both were impressed with the Mean Green, but noticed that our defensive line consistently lines up way off the line of scrimmage.   They kept saying that we were giving up 1-2 yards before the ball was even snapped.  They also commented on the cushion our DBs were giving their receivers.  Is our defense (DL and DB) being coached that way?

Edited September 17, 2017 by keith

[Censored by Laurie]

9 minutes ago, keith said:

We are clearly a first and second down defensive team.  We looked great on those downs.  Third down or worse third and long we are horrible.  Our defense was on the field so long because we kept letting Iowa expend their drives on third down conversions.

I was watching the game with a couple friends (one an Iowa alum).  Both were impressed with the Mean Green, but noticed that our defensive line consistently lines up way off the line of scrimmage.   They kept saying that we were giving up 1-2 yards before the ball was even snapped.  They also commented on the cushion our DBs were giving their receivers.  Is our defense (DL and DB) being coached that way?

I noticed that on the line too...figured it was a way to give our smaller line a bit more time and space to hit gaps in their zone blocking rather than getting completely swallowed up...I actually thought it was very clever and seemed to be pretty effective and noticed a number of times some of their linemen looked lost or beaten for pace. 

[GMG24]

28 minutes ago, keith said:

We are clearly a first and second down defensive team.  We looked great on those downs.  Third down or worse third and long we are horrible.  Our defense was on the field so long because we kept letting Iowa extend their drives on third down conversions.

I was watching the game with a couple friends (one an Iowa alum).  Both were impressed with the Mean Green, but noticed that our defensive line consistently lines up way off the line of scrimmage.   They kept saying that we were giving up 1-2 yards before the ball was even snapped.  They also commented on the cushion our DBs were giving their receivers.  Is our defense (DL and DB) being coached that way?

 

15 minutes ago, Censored by Laurie said:

I noticed that on the line too...figured it was a way to give our smaller line a bit more time and space to hit gaps in their zone blocking rather than getting completely swallowed up...I actually thought it was very clever and seemed to be pretty effective and noticed a number of times some of their linemen looked lost or beaten for pace. 

This was part of their scheme, they were slanting and twisting into gaps.  It's one way to stop or counter the zone blocking scheme Iowa was using.  It's the reason we had DL running free several times for TFLs 

DB's when playing a team like Iowa who is so run heavy have to be able to leave their WR and run to the ball in run support.  They have to also be able to cover their WR.  If we pressed or took the cushion away they would just run the corners off and possibly a safety.  You always give something up when aligning your defense.  You gotta decide what you're willing to sacrifice.  

[UNT 90 Grad]

Funny.  In watching the replay of the game, I noticed when Iowa had it 4th and 2 in the red zone late in the 1st, their QB lined up behind the guard instead of the center.  The guard had to wave the QB off of him.  Then they called a time out.  Not as comical as the pony handlers falling down at SMU, but still humorous. 

[4MYMGE]

3 hours ago, TreeFiddy said:

Who is the DL wearing #98?  I saw him in late in the game and his jersey had no name on it and we do not have a #98 listed on the roster.  Pretty big looking dude.  I suppose it could be Combes, but Combes is supposed to be #93. 

Rodrick Young was wearing 98 this weekend. Not sure why.

[Brett Vito]

Jersey tore during the game and was switched out.