How concerned should we be about the offense?

[usedcarguy]

I was concerned about being shut out in the 2nd half at TT as well. As for this week, we just stopped moving the ball by the 4th quarter. It may just be mostly an issue of conservative play calling...something you can get away with when your defense is playing lights out. But we've had other games where our halftime adjustments on offense were for the better so let's hope that it's not a trend of teams figuring us out. As anemic as the run blocking has been, Montgomery is still 2nd in the league in rushing and leads running backs with 8 TDs. Let's hope for a big day in Morgantown and keep the train a rollin.'

 

[FinalFourCy]

And our offense was pretty ******* good against 3 of those 4.

No it wasn’t.

But there’s not a lot that can be done when you can’t run the ball consistently (or at all sometimes) and are playing your backup QB. Let’s just hope these WRs and DM keep bailing us out and make plays. And defenses keep dropping INTs

 

[FinalFourCy]

I mean, i understand the concern. We were shut out of both the second half of the Tech game and the second half of the TCU game.

Its not 'ring the alarms' level of concern, but it certainly is 'area for improvement'.

We really struggled against KU (had 7 three and outs), more so than we did against TT even.

Second half OU was very good. First half TT and TCU were good. But with our line and Kempt we don’t really have a lot of adjustments if things aren’t working.

 

[ComCY]

With 255 yards of offense. That gets to the crux of my question, can we honestly expect the defense to force multiple red zone turnovers and hold teams scoreless on a consistent basis?

No, but we're also not playing a Top 5 defense every week...

What were our stats against Tech and KU and OU? Exactly.

 

[FredCyclone]

As there is more tape on Kyle Kempt running the offense. Teams know how to prepare for him and squeeze him into looks he does not like. Our offense scoring average is going to go down.

 

[2speedy1]

No it wasn’t.

But there’s not a lot that can be done when you can’t run the ball consistently (or at all sometimes) and are playing your backup QB. Let’s just hope these WRs and DM keep bailing us out and make plays. And defenses keep dropping INTs

Wait were you one of those saying we wont win a game with Kempt? Now that we continue to win have nothing more to complain about than to say our offense isn't producing enough. As long as it is producing enough to continue to win is what matters. Do we have room to improve, always but that is the name of the game, continue improving. Now can we put this to rest.

 

[FinalFourCy]

Wait were you one of those saying we wont win a game with Kempt? Now that we continue to win have nothing more to complain about than to say our offense isn't producing enough. As long as it is producing enough to continue to win is what matters. Do we have room to improve, always but that is the name of the game, continue improving. Now can we put this to rest.

No, I wasn’t.
I’m one that didn’t think Kemp was a savior and that we’re winning via team improvement, not QB improvement.

 

[dmdom]

As there is more tape on Kyle Kempt running the offense. Teams know how to prepare for him and squeeze him into looks he does not like. Our offense scoring average is going to go down.

You know that teams do that every week no matter who the qb is. Baker Mayfield has at least 4 times as many starts as Kempt and we pushed him to his left and added another level of db to make him uncomfortable. And guess what, we have plenty of tape on the opponents defenses to exploit their weaknesses. The coaches have adjusted our offense well enough each week to produce winning football. I think its a pretty safe bet against our next 4 opponents our scoring average goes up.

 

[dmdom]

No, I wasn’t.
I’m one that didn’t think Kemp was a savior and that we’re winning via team improvement, not QB improvement.

I haven't seen anyone here declare Kempt to be a savior, so you're absolutely right about that. Also, right about the team improving, but to say the QB play has not improved is foolish. QB rating shows otherwise.

 

[Pharmacy99]

No, I wasn’t.
I’m one that didn’t think Kemp was a savior and that we’re winning via team improvement, not QB improvement.

Gee, when are you going to give Kempt some credit for leading his team to 4-0.

I haven't seen anyone here declare Kempt to be a savior, so you're absolutely right about that. Also, right about the team improving, but to say the QB play has not improved is foolish. QB rating shows otherwise.

FinalFourCy = Jacob Park? He is refusing to give any credit to Kempt for our latest success.

 

[dmdom]

Gee, when are you going to give Kempt some credit for leading his team to 4-0.

FinalFourCy = Jacob Park? He is refusing to give any credit to Kempt for our latest success.

Naw. Park is man enough to give Kempt his credit.

 

[cycloneML]

Because that's certain death and that's not what Montgomery is good at.

Listen, our offense isn't that good. The line has struggled and we are a little bit vanilla in the passing game. We haven't shown the ability to do much of anything in the middle of the field.

All that said, it's mattered in one game. The offense lost a game and the defense lost a game. Then the offense won a big game and the defense won a big game.

To me, this is a great source of optimism. We are winning games without one side of the ball being consistently good. Let the line work in a 2 years or so and it will be better. Give Manning little time to figure out how to be an OC and everything will be good.

Wow you’re paying attention

 

[Clonefan94]

When I read this, I thought to myself, "some people are NEVER happy."

I'm still waiting for a Jimlad to appear in the OP. I am blown away by some people's lack of football knowledge. This is what happens when you compete against top 5 football teams. They might end in low scoring games.

It's not always about scoring 40 points. In big games, against good teams, limiting 3 and outs enough to rest you D is the key to victory. ISU was able to do that Saturday.

TCU was a top 5 team, known for defense. Games like this, you take the win and realize we have a good team. We've shown we can score big against good defenses and are able to win games against the best defenses without scoring a ton. If this were against Kansas, Yeah, freak. This was against TCU though.

 

[Cydkar]

Let me know when they stop using points and start using yards on the scoreboard.

The kid behind me threw a fit when TCU passed us in total yards. I wanted to punch him but he was probably still in high school.

 

[Cydkar]

While I'm certainly loving the results the team has been having is the success sustainable with how little output the offensive side of the ball is producing? Only averaged 335 yards per game during conference play.

I'll be worried if we can't move the ball against WVU but it's not a concern right now. Playing good defenses will do that.

 

[Cyclone5050]

Total Defense FBS Ratings
UT: 49
OU: 57
KU: 114
TT: 110
TCU: 10

There's exactly one elite defense in that group and two absolutely dreadful ones.

And we did exactly what we should do against the dreadful ones, and had one winnable stinker against Texas. It's tough to play a perfect season in college ball let alone the pros, but we're doing a helluva job, especially for being predicted to finish ninth in the B12.

 

[IcSyU]

Texas: Poor. Their best defensive outing of the season (also held Baylor to 7)
Oklahoma: Fantastic. They allow 33 per game on average in conference...we scored 38.
Kansas: Hard to judge due to elements...and it being Kansas.
Tech: Great first half, poor second half. Allow 37 per game on average in conference...we scored 24 in a half and none offensively in the second half.
TCU: Great first half, poor second half. Allow 15 per game in conference. We scored 14 (and should've had 17 if not for a piss poor 3rd down run play from the 10 to make the angle on the field goal ridiculous).

If we don't throw some points on the board the next two weeks chances of success aren't good. Chances are WVU is going to toss 24+ on the board (which would tie their lowest output of the season...vs VT and @TCU). They average giving up 37 in conference play (and that's including playing the two worst teams in the conference in Baylor & Kansas).

Basically if we can't muster up 35+ against WVU it's time to be concerned.

 

[BCClone]

With 255 yards of offense. That gets to the crux of my question, can we honestly expect the defense to force multiple red zone turnovers and hold teams scoreless on a consistent basis?

One big difference of late is our offensive tempo. We have slowed things way down to mess up the high speed offense of the big XII. This means there are less possessions, meaning less plays, meaning less yards and in turn lower scoring.

No concern.

 

[cycloneworld]

I'm not concerned about the offense but there is definitely room for improvement. We've scored zero offensive points in the second halves of the last two games - we could definitely do better. But I also think that Manning knows how well the defense is playing and is basically trying to get out of their way. I think if we HAD to score, he'd push a lot harder than he is. But he is playing the hand he is dealt, and it is working. But there is room for some improvement.

 

[bosco]

The offense isn't great but look what OSU did against Texas and they have one of the best offenses in the country.

I rewatched the TCU game last night and there were a few just missed catches that would have been big first downs. Against good defense the window is small. A few inches we would have made those plays. If that happens the drive extends and who knows.