*****Spring Game Post Game Thoughts*****
- Thread starter Istate
- Start date
Glad we got through the game with only a sprained ankle from Tuftee....
From the sounds of things, we have depth at end because Willie Scott made plays, so did Morgan and George...
Offensively - man is it good to have some threats with the ball...we've lacked that for a long time and if we truely have that in Horne, Money and Johnson - we become less predictable, and much more difficult to defend....
From the sounds of things, we have depth at end because Willie Scott made plays, so did Morgan and George...
Offensively - man is it good to have some threats with the ball...we've lacked that for a long time and if we truely have that in Horne, Money and Johnson - we become less predictable, and much more difficult to defend....
Just walked home from the game.
My thoughts:
The D-Line was a surprise. Willie Scott in particular looked very impressive. Lattimer, Rump, Laing, Jensen, and Woods all surprised me as well. If Nelson gets healthy and any of the new guys can play we actually might not be too bad here.
Aaron Horne was another surprise. He appears to be a WR that can do something none of our guys have done for the past 4-5 years. GET SEPARATION. He doesn't have blazing speed, but was always open.
Our LB core is going to be as good as I have ever seen at ISU. We already know about Knott and Klein, but George, Mattison, Morgan, Bennett, and Jevohn Miller all looked pretty good today.
WR's still have me bummed out. We dropped a lot of passes today and by people that shouldn't be dropping passes. We have a lot of options, but besides Horne and Money none of them really stood out. I was disappointed Jarvis West only touched the ball once?
Now the QB position. For the first time in as long as I can remember we are actually going to have a wide open race going into the fall. IMO it's still wide open between Tiller, Jantz, Barnett, and Capello. All of them played ok, but none of them played great. I think Jantz looked the most composed in the pocket, but made a couple bad decisions. I think arguably you could say Capello managed the game the best today.
RB's we are set. James White seemed to be the most impressive to me, but Shontrelle, Woody, and Duck are all reliable.
I'm excited for the fall!
Offensive MVP - Aaron Horne (no question)
Defensive MVP - Willie Scott and Klein
My thoughts:
The D-Line was a surprise. Willie Scott in particular looked very impressive. Lattimer, Rump, Laing, Jensen, and Woods all surprised me as well. If Nelson gets healthy and any of the new guys can play we actually might not be too bad here.
Aaron Horne was another surprise. He appears to be a WR that can do something none of our guys have done for the past 4-5 years. GET SEPARATION. He doesn't have blazing speed, but was always open.
Our LB core is going to be as good as I have ever seen at ISU. We already know about Knott and Klein, but George, Mattison, Morgan, Bennett, and Jevohn Miller all looked pretty good today.
WR's still have me bummed out. We dropped a lot of passes today and by people that shouldn't be dropping passes. We have a lot of options, but besides Horne and Money none of them really stood out. I was disappointed Jarvis West only touched the ball once?
Now the QB position. For the first time in as long as I can remember we are actually going to have a wide open race going into the fall. IMO it's still wide open between Tiller, Jantz, Barnett, and Capello. All of them played ok, but none of them played great. I think Jantz looked the most composed in the pocket, but made a couple bad decisions. I think arguably you could say Capello managed the game the best today.
RB's we are set. James White seemed to be the most impressive to me, but Shontrelle, Woody, and Duck are all reliable.
I'm excited for the fall!
Offensive MVP - Aaron Horne (no question)
Defensive MVP - Willie Scott and Klein
QB wise all I saw was that nobody looked like they really had a leg up. My biggest observation was that Tiller's speed isn't as big of an advantage as I had previously thought because all the QBs have pretty good mobility. Also, Jantz threw one beautiful 50 yard bomb and hit the WR (Money) directly in stride throwing into the wind. Other than that, things looked even.
Aaron Horn was the MVP of the game for me. He probably had 6 or 7 catches and two touchdowns. No drops. He is going to be a big part of our offense.
Money and Darks went up and got some jump balls. I was encouraged by that.
Biggest dissapointment was Jarvis West didn't get any touches. Like I didn't see one catch, and he had one drop. Basically Aaron Horne did all the things I thought West would do so that is basically a wash.
Jevon Miller had a pick. He could be really good.
Aaron Horn was the MVP of the game for me. He probably had 6 or 7 catches and two touchdowns. No drops. He is going to be a big part of our offense.
Money and Darks went up and got some jump balls. I was encouraged by that.
Biggest dissapointment was Jarvis West didn't get any touches. Like I didn't see one catch, and he had one drop. Basically Aaron Horne did all the things I thought West would do so that is basically a wash.
Jevon Miller had a pick. He could be really good.
Players that stood out included. Horne # 3 WR juco from same school as Jantz. Caught a very nice long TD into the wind from Steel, and caught sever athers, able to get open and some good hands athleticism.
Brandon Jensen RS FR DT from Ankeny #62, sem to get good pressure and made some very nive plays.
Jevon Miller good frame and size for Fr, I see his future being at DE with that frame.
Darius Reynolds #7 seems 100% healthy and is a good target.
#50 Willie Scot DE was active and got off blocks and made plays.
LAtimer was consistent on getting pressure on outside speed rush.
QB's I rate in this order Barnett , Jantz, Tiller. Barnet good poise and eadership about him, not strong arm on out patterns. Same with Jantz , had difficulty with throws had to zip. Tiller, tucks and runs too soon.
Jake Mcdonough and Rump seemed to really clog the middle well.
Maybe we brought in Jantz to get a better chance with Aaron Horn. If he plays like that this fall he's going to be our go to go all season.
I'm not overly concerned about the snaps right now, but both the centers and QBs are going to have to work on that a lot this summer.
I'm not overly concerned about the snaps right now, but both the centers and QBs are going to have to work on that a lot this summer.
Jantz had a great throw down the field and so did Tiller on the one to Money down the sideline. Willie Scott did very well for being pretty small. I notice he does a nice job of staying home. This defense needs Jake Knott. I thought that was pretty apparent at times today.
I was surprised Lattimer was playing...maybe won't for a couple of the first games this fall.
Horne looked really, really good.
Barnett impressed me for a freshman.
Shaban Dika is a big boy.
The D looked like they had some good hits on the O. Klein had a couple real solid hits.
Horne looked really, really good.
Barnett impressed me for a freshman.
Shaban Dika is a big boy.
The D looked like they had some good hits on the O. Klein had a couple real solid hits.
The o-line didn't look great but looked okay. As already mentioned, there were many times that snaps were off target. The stunts and blitzes were moderately effective as they did a good job breaking down the pocket and forcing the QBs to use their feet, though I don't think there were any actual sacks.
I thought that generally the WRs did a better job finding the holes in the zone, though there were times thatthe QB threw to a well covered receiver. There could have been 2-3 more INTs than there were today.
None of the QBs seperated themselves today - made some good plays and some bad plays.
Overall it seemed like the offense did a good job moving the ball and avoiding plays for negative yards. There were missed opportunities as receivers dropped balls that should have been caught. RBs are a very solid group.
Defensively, I was also impressed with Willie Scott, but he's only listed at 215 lbs on the roster so he likely won't be in for long stretches. As said before the increased stunting and blitzing didn't always get to the QBs but they did force them to move around a lot.
I thought our DTs played pretty well, holding their ground and getting in on some plays. Our DEs look like they'll have to use their speed and athleticism to get the edge for pass rushing. They played the zone pretty well from what I remember.
It will be interesting to see how things develop over the summer and into the fall.
I thought that generally the WRs did a better job finding the holes in the zone, though there were times thatthe QB threw to a well covered receiver. There could have been 2-3 more INTs than there were today.
None of the QBs seperated themselves today - made some good plays and some bad plays.
Overall it seemed like the offense did a good job moving the ball and avoiding plays for negative yards. There were missed opportunities as receivers dropped balls that should have been caught. RBs are a very solid group.
Defensively, I was also impressed with Willie Scott, but he's only listed at 215 lbs on the roster so he likely won't be in for long stretches. As said before the increased stunting and blitzing didn't always get to the QBs but they did force them to move around a lot.
I thought our DTs played pretty well, holding their ground and getting in on some plays. Our DEs look like they'll have to use their speed and athleticism to get the edge for pass rushing. They played the zone pretty well from what I remember.
It will be interesting to see how things develop over the summer and into the fall.
Wide Receiver was my biggest concern this off-season, but Horne and Money both look to be fantastic. Lenz was limited (I would guess because he wasn't healthy for all of practice), but he had a very nice catch in traffic. In my opinion, there's a drop off after those guys, so depth is still an issue, but we do have multiple nice options, which is good.
Tiller and Jantz looked like the top two today, but not by much. Tiller is clearly improving, and Jantz is still learning the system, but looked nice regardless. The ceiling for Jantz is higher, so I predict he'll come out on top in the end. Capello looks like the best runner, but was the least impressive of the four when it came to passing. Barnett looks good but not great. He'll become more consistent and, in my estimation, start somewhere down the road.
The RB's looked good, but not absolutely amazing. I was hoping to see big plays from them, but I feel like the fact that the defense knows what's coming from them put them at a disadvantage. Arnaud mentioned that Herman is experimenting with different ways to use the RB's in the Podcast, so I think the new X's and O's will work to their advantage. You don't want to give away too much in the Spring Game for other teams to see.
The defense looked good. There were flashes of good and bad. Most of the big plays were made by the line, and the linebackers had a solid day. I didn't think the secondary was that great, but I only say that because we saw more success in the air than on the ground today.
My biggest concern is at center. The snapping of the ball seemed erratic, and there were a couple times when a bad snap ruined the play.
There's more smaller stuff, but those were the big things I noticed.
Tiller and Jantz looked like the top two today, but not by much. Tiller is clearly improving, and Jantz is still learning the system, but looked nice regardless. The ceiling for Jantz is higher, so I predict he'll come out on top in the end. Capello looks like the best runner, but was the least impressive of the four when it came to passing. Barnett looks good but not great. He'll become more consistent and, in my estimation, start somewhere down the road.
The RB's looked good, but not absolutely amazing. I was hoping to see big plays from them, but I feel like the fact that the defense knows what's coming from them put them at a disadvantage. Arnaud mentioned that Herman is experimenting with different ways to use the RB's in the Podcast, so I think the new X's and O's will work to their advantage. You don't want to give away too much in the Spring Game for other teams to see.
The defense looked good. There were flashes of good and bad. Most of the big plays were made by the line, and the linebackers had a solid day. I didn't think the secondary was that great, but I only say that because we saw more success in the air than on the ground today.
My biggest concern is at center. The snapping of the ball seemed erratic, and there were a couple times when a bad snap ruined the play.
There's more smaller stuff, but those were the big things I noticed.
I don't think Tiller won the job today, but he looked better than Jantz. Capello & Barnett are clearly not going to be competing for the starting job, which I think most of us knew.
To qualify my opening statement, Tiller made some very good throws to Money, which Money did an excellent job of adjusting to. I thought those two had very good chemistry. Jantz had a great throw to Horne into the wind for a long TD, but he had a few more struggles than Tiller did.
Again, I don't think Tiller won the job today, but I expected him to have a little better game than Jantz simply because he's in his third year of the offense while Jantz is in his third month. If the season started today though, Tiller is your first string.
To qualify my opening statement, Tiller made some very good throws to Money, which Money did an excellent job of adjusting to. I thought those two had very good chemistry. Jantz had a great throw to Horne into the wind for a long TD, but he had a few more struggles than Tiller did.
Again, I don't think Tiller won the job today, but I expected him to have a little better game than Jantz simply because he's in his third year of the offense while Jantz is in his third month. If the season started today though, Tiller is your first string.
Aaron Horne and Darius Reynolds are going to see some significant playing time this fall, both had excellent scrimmages.
Tiller pouted quite a bit today, they even sent Steele in for a series with the 1's after calling for Tiller 3 times and Jerome didn't bother to appear.
Tiller pouted quite a bit today, they even sent Steele in for a series with the 1's after calling for Tiller 3 times and Jerome didn't bother to appear.
Really? I didn't notice that at all. Was that near the end?
Also, I'd echo what a few others have said. The centers had too many low/high snaps today. That needs to be fixed.
Yeah, 3rd quarter I think. Jerome was sitting on the bench (which no other players were doing) talking to someone with a sidelines pass (wearing a black windbreaker, not a trainer).
I thought Money looked like the player we thought he would be last year. Horne had a very good day but I thought Money was even better. Offensive play of the day was Jantz perfect bomb to Horne into the wind and I also believe Jantz was one the move when he threw it. RS freshman Brandon Jenson showed some promise, and could be more of a contributor than I expected. As somebody mentioned, Willie Scott was very active but pretty small at a listed 215 for a DE.
I saw him sitting over there but didn't know anything was wrong. I know he was holding his arm after Dutch gave him a little pop after a pass, but he kept playing after that.
Did you specifically hear anything or was this just an observation?