Spring game-defense-my take.

TheCaptain

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Jul 2, 2009
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Lots of threads out there but after my big one last week ..I'll shoot my mouth off again.
I havent seen much talk about the defense. I hate to be negative but plenty of guys disapointed me today.
I wont call them out on here ...I'll do it to there face.
I'll talk about the good things.I deal with LBer's and some DB's.
DE's dont deserve to be talked about...IMO.


JG...I told you so 2 years ago.Just like I gave you all heads up that Klien and Knott would be All Big 12 and looking to play on Sundays.This kid has it.

Little Knott...could he be better than his big brother?
Lots of work to do but its possible. No DRP to Jake.

C Rogers....gonna be a good one.One of the best DB's ever at ISU.

Kane Seely is starting to figure it out.He should be a good one.

Happy with Darius White's improvement.

Happy overall with the team speed on defense.
OL and DL need alot of work.
Especially DL. Needs lots of work.
 
Any thoughts on how some of the new players will impact the defense line? Coe? Aka?

Are we looking at another year where the LBs make huge numbers of tackles while the D-line make few?
 
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Lots of threads out there but after my big one last week ..I'll shoot my mouth off again.
I havent seen much talk about the defense. I hate to be negative but plenty of guys disapointed me today.
I wont call them out on here ...I'll do it to there face.
I'll talk about the good things.I deal with LBer's and some DB's.
DE's dont deserve to be talked about...IMO.


JG...I told you so 2 years ago.Just like I gave you all heads up that Klien and Knott would be All Big 12 and looking to play on Sundays.This kid has it.

Little Knott...could he be better than his big brother?
Lots of work to do but its possible. No DRP to Jake.

C Rogers....gonna be a good one.One of the best DB's ever at ISU.

Kane Seely is starting to figure it out.He should be a good one.

Happy with Darius White's improvement.

Happy overall with the team speed on defense.
OL and DL need alot of work.
Especially DL. Needs lots of work.

Cap, I know that you don't want to call out guys individually but out of curiosity, are the players who are struggling doing so because of lack of experience, lack of talent, or is it something else?
 
I feel that the player that this team can least afford to loose is George.

Luke was all over the field but he looks small. Good thing he is only a RSF.

White impressed me with he playmaking. He scraped off the tackle to take down Wimberly for a loss one play. He is bigger than I thought.

I felt that the DL was quick but I'm scared about their ability to "bow up" against a physical running team (*cough* *cough* Tulsa).They were able to disrupt and get to the QB early in the scrimmage but seemed to wear down as
the offense grinds out running plays later in the game.
 
Cap, I know that you don't want to call out guys individually but out of curiosity, are the players who are struggling doing so because of lack of experience, lack of talent, or is it something else?


It varies between players. No common denominator.
Hoping some time and experience will help.
Sorry...best answer I can give.
 
Lots of threads out there but after my big one last week ..I'll shoot my mouth off again.
I havent seen much talk about the defense. I hate to be negative but plenty of guys disapointed me today.
I wont call them out on here ...I'll do it to there face.
I'll talk about the good things.I deal with LBer's and some DB's.
DE's dont deserve to be talked about...IMO.


JG...I told you so 2 years ago.Just like I gave you all heads up that Klien and Knott would be All Big 12 and looking to play on Sundays.This kid has it.

Little Knott...could he be better than his big brother?
Lots of work to do but its possible. No DRP to Jake.

C Rogers....gonna be a good one.One of the best DB's ever at ISU.

Kane Seely is starting to figure it out.He should be a good one.

Happy with Darius White's improvement.

Happy overall with the team speed on defense.
OL and DL need alot of work.
Especially DL. Needs lots of work.

Agree with all that. Charles Rogers is a future pro in my opinion.

I've loved George since he has stepped on campus. It's a shame we couldn't red shirt him and have another year of him next year.

Idk if he will see the field this year but Alton Meeks is going to be a stud. Just by seeing him out there today, physique wise he is already able to step on the field. He is built like a mofo.

Equally excited about Luke Knott. I like his game.
 
I think (hope) part of the d-line issue was they were "half-staffed" compared to usual. In a real game, they play 12 guys and rotate them, but yesterday it was 6 guys on each side. So less energy than during a real game. Plus Irving wasn't playing, and he is a key guy.

Like I said I HOPE the d-line is much better in the fall. We're gonna need it because most of the LB and secondary look small or young or both (Broomfield and George excepted). Cap, you are obviously high (the good kind not the Towelie kind) on those guys in the LB and secondary, and I agree, BUT I think it is going to be another year until they are studs, as opposed to talented and undersized young guys who are still growing and making mistakes. Unless the d-line really steps up a notch this year, I think this defense will struggle a lot.
 
We saw a lot of missed tackles, but don't you kind of expect that in a Spring game? Also, I'm not completely sure if the tackles were missed because of bad play on the defensive part, or just excellent moves on the part of the offensive players. I hope it is the latter.

Just my opinion, but I think (at most schools) the offenses are usually a little ahead of the defenses in the Spring, especially when those defenses are having to be re-built like ISU's this year. Time will tell. To me, it's just a little too early to be panicked about anything we saw yesterday.
 
I will tip the cap to Yancy McKnight & Co. with respect to our O and D lines. Many spring games over the years I have seen what ISU has on the field, and while they may produce, they just do not physically look like Big 12 athletes.

That is definitely not the problem with our O and D line right now. I know Bruns mentioned on post game how much leaner and stronger the O line looked. Whether or not these guys on both sides can produce remains to be seen.
 
. . . I know Bruns mentioned on post game how much leaner and stronger the O line looked. Whether or not these guys on both sides can produce remains to be seen.

Bruns and/or CPR mentioned something about OL improved footwork, better double-teaming? . . . (Not sure what was said.) And, didn't CPR say something about improved OL technique due to Klenakis? Hoping someone here can summarize those comments.
 
I'm not too worried about the OL. Klenakis will get them playing well. DE should be decent. I'm worried about the interior DL. Jensen got blown up last year and Woods was pretty much the 6th DT/NG last year. If those two are starters, we're in some trouble. I was surprised they didn't get a second JUCO there and I still am. Coe needs to be ready to come in and contribute. And, we're going to have to see major gains by Bevins, Cousins, Aka over the summer.
 
I'm not too worried about the OL. Klenakis will get them playing well. DE should be decent. . . .

Just slo-mo'ed the game video at Cyclones.com. Wow, the OLine dominated (manhandled, really) the DLine, and how. But, since the OLine has a ton of experience on it in comparison with the green DLine guys, I'm sure happy this is the way it went yesterday.

Anyone notice if Morrissey played yesterday? Looked for his number on the field but didn't spot it. If so, neither pre-spring DE starter (Irving and Morrissey) played yesterday.
 
We saw a lot of missed tackles, but don't you kind of expect that in a Spring game? Also, I'm not completely sure if the tackles were missed because of bad play on the defensive part, or just excellent moves on the part of the offensive players. I hope it is the latter.

Just my opinion, but I think (at most schools) the offenses are usually a little ahead of the defenses in the Spring, especially when those defenses are having to be re-built like ISU's this year. Time will tell. To me, it's just a little too early to be panicked about anything we saw yesterday.

I agree the Offense always seems to be ahead of the defense but I trust CPR and Wally Burnham to put a "Competitive Defense" on the field every year.

Go Cyclones
 
Just slo-mo'ed the game video at Cyclones.com. Wow, the OLine dominated (manhandled, really) the DLine, and how. But, since the OLine has a ton of experience on it in comparison with the green DLine guys, I'm sure happy this is the way it went yesterday.

Anyone notice if Morrissey played yesterday? Looked for his number on the field but didn't spot it. If so, neither pre-spring DE starter (Irving and Morrissey) played yesterday.


Morrisey played. You are right. The Oline looked ok, but I think he has to do with how horrid the D line was yesterday. Getting Irving back should help a little.
 
I'd give my right arm to see our defense ranked in the top 10 nationally, come opening day.
IMO I don't think we're that far off.
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Morrissey played. Had the issue finding many of them do to their jerseys above their belly ha! He looked pretty good for a spring game. A lot of people are hating on O and D line for being slow. You know its the spring game right? No one gave It 100%
Just slo-mo'ed the game video at Cyclones.com. Wow, the OLine dominated (manhandled, really) the DLine, and how. But, since the OLine has a ton of experience on it in comparison with the green DLine guys, I'm sure happy this is the way it went yesterday.

Anyone notice if Morrissey played yesterday? Looked for his number on the field but didn't spot it. If so, neither pre-spring DE starter (Irving and Morrissey) played yesterday.
 
Especially DL. Needs lots of work.

So is there talk of how Rodney Coe fits into the equation. I guess I'm asking in terms of what the coaches are saying/projecting. Personally, I think alot of our success in the fall depends on him. I hope he shows up in shape and ready to go.
 

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