Iowa ISU Position Breakdown

Ruddock 3 INTs in 2 games.

If I am an Iowa fan, this is what concerns me. 3 INTs with 2 being pick 6s if the Iowa WR had not made a great play to run down the DB that got the pick. This is why I would stack the box and send a safety after Ruddock on every pass play. Under pressure he appears to be shaky.
 
Iowa's LBs will look better than ours because their D-Line is better than ours. Their DL will clog up the middle and take on double-teams, leaving their LBs free to scrape and make plays. I am afraid our DL will get gashed open, leaving our LBs to fight off 300lb linemen.

What we see on Saturday will not necessarily reflect LB quality.

Good post and I agree. Hopefully our DL does a better job not losing outside contain like last game and LB's play their gaps correctly. Both fixable but easily the most glaring defensive issues from the UNI debacle.
 
Really hearing all the 1700 am dissing from eastern iowa like we are junkville. They want to think 2-7 team is superior to a 2-7 team. Bobby LaGresse was not too complimentary about cyclones on the radio program.

However. usually these games are very competitive because both sides try extra hard.

Must. Stop. Run.
Must. Throw. Ball. Downfield.
Must. Make. Fieldgoals.
 
Last edited:
Also I love how all these statements are made based on a single game for ISU. Especially when the team had to adjust on the fly to being without three of their best players in Farniok, Brun and Watsen. Adjusting to the loses of Farniok and Brun during that game were huge and we still had chances to win. With two weeks to prepare, I think this will be a massively better team. Lets be honest with Iowa, we know who they are after two games, we dont really know we are after one.
 
Last edited:
If I am an Iowa fan, this is what concerns me. 3 INTs with 2 being pick 6s if the Iowa WR had not made a great play to run down the DB that got the pick. This is why I would stack the box and send a safety after Ruddock on every pass play. Under pressure he appears to be shaky.

Only one was a pick six. The first one was a lineman getting blowup and hitting rudocks arm sending it 30 feet in the air. So really hes thrown two picks one which he was tricked in his second game ever by a zone blitz. Doesnt concern me much at all.
 
Iowa's LBs will look better than ours because their D-Line is better than ours. Their DL will clog up the middle and take on double-teams, leaving their LBs free to scrape and make plays. I am afraid our DL will get gashed open, leaving our LBs to fight off 300lb linemen.

What we see on Saturday will not necessarily reflect LB quality.

Their Dline is better than ours, but it isn't good.

And their LBs are better independent of that. They have 3 seniors and our LBs looked very, very poor against UNI.

Maybe that will change after this game, but you can't objectively say our LBs are close to theirs right now.



When it comes to actual rankings I'd go like this:

QB: ISU, Richardson has more running ability, a higher completion percentage by , a 10:1 TD:INT ratio (Rudoch 1:4). I think a lot of people call this a close matchup, but I don't think it is really close.

RB: I'd say ISU talent wise and definitely depth wise, but Iowa in the way they run their offense and Wiseman is probably a better feature back. PUSH

WR: Honestly, ISU by default even though both have proven very little. Iowa playing that true freshman walkon doesn't bode well for them.

Oline vs Dline: I think Iowa has a slight edge on both sides and in the matchups, but neither of their groups are anything I would call above average. Farniok being out really hurts us. I don't think Iowa will be dominant by any stretch of the imagination, but they have the edge.

Secondary: ISU, pretty easily. ISU has a veteran group with only one underclassman and a lot of proven performance. Hopefully this allows ISU to blitz Rudoch a bit, who has been prone to INTs in the small sample size we have seen against teams that have worse defenses than ISU.

LBs: Not even close, Iowa has a much better and surely a more proven group.

Punter: ISU by a lot

Kicker: Iowa by a decent amount
 
31-27 ISU

Lets see what you guys think! GO STATE!

Thanks for the analysis. I just don't understand the logic of folks who think this will be a high scoring game ?@?#?

It was 9-6 last year; are the defenses on both sides that bad, because the O sure hasn't improved on either side.
 
Thanks for the analysis. I just don't understand the logic of folks who think this will be a high scoring game ?@?#?

It was 9-6 last year; are the defenses on both sides that bad, because the O sure hasn't improved on either side.

I guess at the time I wrote that, I was envisioning big plays because of the intensity of the game, sloppy d, and I was a little outta shape from a long afternoon at es tas.

Either way, I see a close game!
 
Iowa's LBs have proven themselves to be pretty good. Ours haven't proven anything. However, I would like to see George key on Weisman and shut him down. Then, Knott can win the game on a Pick 6 when they stop going to Weisman for no gain.
 
This is why I'd like to see an extra aggressive defense on Saturday. Tighten up the coverage, blitz and look for some picks.

Winning the turnover battle would be huge in the last 8+ years iowa has had the advantage. In the last 3 years the TO battle goes to Iowa 10-3.
 
Iowa's LBs have proven themselves to be pretty good. Ours haven't proven anything. However, I would like to see George key on Weisman and shut him down. Then, Knott can win the game on a Pick 6 when they stop going to Weisman for no gain.

A big reason our LBs have been noticeably better this year is our DL play. I know everyone is banging on the DL because they've gotten no sacks. But we've been up against two very mobile QBs and if you've watched the games you'll see that it's been a controlled pass rush, they're not going balls out trying to get into the QB's face. Last year against NIU we tried bringing heat from the DL and Lynch killed us on the ground, averaged well over 6 yards a carry, and had a 70+ yard TD run. This year he averaged 2.5 yards a carry and had zero big runs. And we've given up very few yards on the ground between the tackles, albeit to a solid MAC team and a bad FCS team.

Not saying our DL have been worldbeaters. But they're plugging holes, stuffing the run, and keeping the OL off our 'backers, which is why Morris/Kirksey/Hitchens have been so effective so far. I think the DL has been playing much better than most of my fellow, lamebrained friends do. It'll be a step up for them on Saturday though.
 
good stuff till the 'push' at LB.

You're smoking crack here bud. Iowa starts 3 LB's who are seniors who'll be in NFL camps next Aug.

We're terrible at LB.
 
Heart and Life?
We lost to West Virginia, Tulsa and UNI consecutively and we are due some heart. Hopefully CPR will search for "life" prior to the start of the game. Life in football begins with lining up 5 offensive lineman and telling the defense that you are running right. Not this pansie crap we are doing now with ill-matched talent.
Iowa lost to Penn State and took showers with them following the game. Trust me, there is a tangible air of entitlement too with Iowa over us. They have no heart for this game....only dread of losing it. With the start we had last year, we should have buried them by 4 touchdowns, but we played like we do.
Heart includes the cahones to kick fieldgoals. That pathetic 55 yarder during UNI game benches that guy and hopefully our kicker shows some heart...and a foot and a brain.
If we do not miss a field goal, ISU 27, Iowa 13.
Maybe....just maybe.....if there are two more losses in the next three games for Iowa after our game you could witness an in-season firing from Ferentz. That will be fun to watch.
 

Help Support Us

Become a patron