His walk the field interview was very humble. He gave credit to those lineman's desire and work ethic. He says it takes the right personality to be self motivated to the level those two were. So, he's going to have to be able to recruit those personalities.
Game Thoughts: UNI
- Thread starter cyclone1209
- Start date
Good blocking relievers too. We don't have Lazard or Butler knocking corners and safeties on their butts. You're right. Too many things can go wrong with that play. Not worth the gamble as little as we've ever gotten out of it. We did seem to go deep with a few passes against UNI and hope that trend continues. Couple passes were just off that would have been big.
How the OL plays against UNI is not a clear indication of how good they are. ISU has always struggled running against UNI. As I recall Iowa and Wisconsin had a lot of trouble running against UNI. Not saying they will be good, but I think we need to see a couple more games before we give up on them. Have their best guy back would help a lot.
UNI's dline is smaller but quicker than the dlines we normally face. They try to leverage this by doing lots of stunts, twists, etc. It's one of the strengths of their team. Not exactly an easy test for the opening game.
I wish we would run the bubble screen every once in a while, where the WR is in a very shallow crossing route back towards the middle. As others have said, faking that and going to the blocking receiver is a great way to get the DBs to play back a bit.
Not taking anything away and whatever but UNI has really gone downhill the last couple years. They aren’t the panthers they used to be.
They're a team that seems to give ISU, Iowa etc. fits no matter what though. The teams that almost beat Iowa and WI ('09 and '12) went on to not even make their playoffs.
If I'm ISU's coaches I'm OK with ISU having lots of evidence from the first game that they have a lot of room to work.
He threw a bad pick that was almost a pick six at the end of the first half. SEMO kicked a field goal to make it 21-10 at halftime. It was a critical mistake that let them back into the game, foreshadowing how the rest of the season would go.
He also threw 3 of his 4 TDs to X that game. A luxury Becht doesn’t have this year.
rewatched the first half this morning paying much closer attention to individuals and position groups, and gathered some further thoughts:
+ The secondary is so fast. I couldn't spot a single weakness. The safeties play solid coverage. The corners tackle very well. You can't outrun them laterally.
+ The defense as a whole looked really good tackling. There's some hard hitters on this team.
+ The 3 starters on the DL look like a top unit
- The linebackers still seem a step slow
+ Darian Porter is an animal on special teams at the gunner position
+ The OLine actually opened up some good holes and got to the second level quite a bit on run plays
- Sanders in particular really struggles to see those holes. The RB's left a lot of yards on the field
- Just zone in on Klotz for a few plays. The goal line sneak for a TD in the first quarter in particular, Klotz just destroys a guy. Reminded me of that block Soehner had, I think against Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl.
- The WR group is concerning. Their inability to create any separation will kill alot of drives
+ That said, Noel looks like a legitimate deep threat. He broke open over the top and should have had a couple easy touch downs
+ The secondary is so fast. I couldn't spot a single weakness. The safeties play solid coverage. The corners tackle very well. You can't outrun them laterally.
+ The defense as a whole looked really good tackling. There's some hard hitters on this team.
+ The 3 starters on the DL look like a top unit
- The linebackers still seem a step slow
+ Darian Porter is an animal on special teams at the gunner position
+ The OLine actually opened up some good holes and got to the second level quite a bit on run plays
- Sanders in particular really struggles to see those holes. The RB's left a lot of yards on the field
- Just zone in on Klotz for a few plays. The goal line sneak for a TD in the first quarter in particular, Klotz just destroys a guy. Reminded me of that block Soehner had, I think against Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl.
- The WR group is concerning. Their inability to create any separation will kill alot of drives
+ That said, Noel looks like a legitimate deep threat. He broke open over the top and should have had a couple easy touch downs
Kind of. Other than 2020 we've definitely had a subpar line almost every year. So year, it has kind of been indicative of what they were the entire year.
I have little to no hope for the unit this year (but think Clanton's impact shows next year) but hope I'm very wrong on this.
Listening to Bruns' podcast this morning, he's clear that the OL isn't where it needs to be yet, but he's optimistic due to changes in technique among other factors.
Work in progress, but I think they'll improve with more game reps. I don't think we should discount the impact of losing Remsburg either.
You need several things. You need a QB that understands the intelricacies, timing, and deceiving arm strength to get the ball out there. You need the receiver to sell fake blocks or have the opposition playing far enough off the ball. You need your other receiver to engage properly and finish blocks. Then you need the speed and athleticism from the receiver to make a play and get some yards.
If you run any play enough times it's bound to work a few. But we don't have the personnel, really across the board, for these plays to consistently work. I think that's been proven time and time again. Just get rid of it already.
I noticed we had quite a few players leaving the game with cramps... but can't recall seeing any UNI players doing so? Should we be doing something differently nutrition and hydration wise?
Also, in relation to that... when players get these muscle cramps during a game... is there any lingering affects from that going into the next game a week later? Or do those heal up completely?
Also, in relation to that... when players get these muscle cramps during a game... is there any lingering affects from that going into the next game a week later? Or do those heal up completely?
IV of pickle juice. Just kidding. But seriously.
I remember when I use to cramp up in my thighs it use to always stay fairly sore for quite some time. But I was never in as good as shape as these fellas.
Yeah... I was thinking that these things can linger a bit. More likely to happen to you this week if it happened to you last week, right?
Excepting the botched Xtra point try, obviously, ST were very good. I am somewhat concerned, however, about the time it takes to get the punts off. The ISU punter is a good 15 yds back, but takes a full five/six yards long stride forward in striking the ball, to get the yardage. UNI chose not to put ANY pressure on the punter so it is difficult to assess any overall protection weakness here. Still, Iowa is going to change up things however is necessary, so as not to allow this advantage gain that we saw against UNI.
Your point about the WR’s is interesting. I’ve watched the game a few times already,(probably obsessively) and I noticed this as well. However, upon further review, to me it didn’t look like they were given many opportunities to even attempt to create separation. Lots of dink and dunk routes. I wonder how much having a 7 point lead changed the way CMC and NS were going to call the game. Noel looked great on his deep routes, just has to work on his timing with Rocco
