2016 First Quarter Statistical Report Card

[iowalaw]

We are now 33% done with the season. So far, no major injuries, some over/underachievers, a huge raise for the untouchable coaching staff, and a 3-1 record. So how do we grade, statistically, compared to the rest of the Big 10?

Total Offense (D-): 12th in Big 10. When you return an all-Big 10 QB and an experienced OL rated by some as the preseason top OL in the nation, this is the most disappointing grade. Iowa avgs just 356 yards per game, while OSU, Indiana, and even lowly Purdue average around 500. Years ago Davis said he was going to "increase tempo" to run more plays on offense. Well, we rank 2nd to last nationally in plays ran. Time for CJ to actually move the offense with some urgency. Our offense is vanilla...there's no need to over think things and be hyper conservative.

Total Defense (C-): 9th in Big 10. We have allowed 365 yards per game to one of the softest schedules in college football. Despite our 3-1 record, we are allowing more yards than we actually gain. We have not gone up against any stud RBs, but our rushing Defense ranks 12th in the Big 10.

Sacks By (A-): 3rd in Big 10. The one knock on our 12-0 team last year was that our DL never put pressure on the QB. I had low expectations for this year's DL, but they've come through to average 3.3 sacks per game, twice as many as Michigan State.

Rushing Offense (D): 11th in Big 10. Don't we have a stacked backfield of Daniels and Wadley? I can see ranking 11th in the Big 10 running someone like Wiessman, but with a guy like Wadley (who averages nearly 8 freaking yards per carry) in the backfield? That's simply a terrible use of personnel, and a bad scheme by the OL coach/running coordinator.

Passing Offense (D-): 12th in Big 10. At the beginning of the season, would any hawk fan have guessed that superstar CJ's pass offense would be at the bottom of the conference after being gifted with playing Miami, Rutgers, ISU, and a IAA school? This is an indictment of the terrible WR recruiting and attrition that's been going on at Iowa, but CJ hasn't been sharp either. The vast majority of his passes are of the Jake Rudock 3 yard variety, dumping it off to RBs, TEs, or Vandy at the line of scrimmage for high completion percentage passes. What happened to big arm CJ? What happened to the gun slinger? This offense is stale and of course they haven't even tried to get Scheel or anyone other than Vandy involved.

Kick/Punt Returns (D+): 6th/12th in Big 10. This was supposed to be Desmond King's chance to shine and boost his NFL resume. While Michigan averages 24 yrds per punt return, King averages...6 yards. What happened here? Are we not blocking? Is our scheme that bad? Was King overrated?

Penalties (A): 2nd in Big 10. This is the highest we rank in any statistical category. While it's not the most relevant category, it does show that we are a well disciplined team who doesn't make a lot of dumb mistakes.

 

[nu2u]

A lot of room on the upside! The good news is that Ferentz teams tend to improve from week to week as the season progresses. Ron Colluzi is a giant plus. Need to see more from Duncan.

 

[evashevsky58]

I believe we are ranked 3rd nationally for points scored against defense, so there's that...

 

[ottumwan in tx]

You are a coward! You hide behind a screen name! You are a troll!

 

[hawkssox1]

We are now 25% done with the season. So far, no major injuries, some over/underachievers, a huge raise for the untouchable coaching staff, and a 3-1 record. So how do we grade, statistically, compared to the rest of the Big 10?

Total Offense (D-): 12th in Big 10. When you return an all-Big 10 QB and an experienced OL rated by some as the preseason top OL in the nation, this is the most disappointing grade. Iowa avgs just 356 yards per game, while OSU, Indiana, and even lowly Purdue average around 500. Years ago Davis said he was going to "increase tempo" to run more plays on offense. Well, we rank 2nd to last nationally in plays ran. Time for CJ to actually move the offense with some urgency. Our offense is vanilla...there's no need to over think things and be hyper conservative.

Total Defense (C-): 9th in Big 10. We have allowed 365 yards per game to one of the softest schedules in college football. Despite our 3-1 record, we are allowing more yards than we actually gain. We have not gone up against any stud RBs, but our rushing Defense ranks 12th in the Big 10.

Sacks By (A-): 3rd in Big 10. The one knock on our 12-0 team last year was that our DL never put pressure on the QB. I had low expectations for this year's DL, but they've come through to average 3.3 sacks per game, twice as many as Michigan State.
Normally not a fan of your post but hard to argue with facts.
Rushing Offense (D): 11th in Big 10. Don't we have a stacked backfield of Daniels and Wadley? I can see ranking 11th in the Big 10 running someone like Wiessman, but with a guy like Wadley (who averages nearly 8 freaking yards per carry) in the backfield? That's simply a terrible use of personnel, and a bad scheme by the OL coach/running coordinator.

Passing Offense (D-): 12th in Big 10. At the beginning of the season, would any hawk fan have guessed that superstar CJ's pass offense would be at the bottom of the conference after being gifted with playing Miami, Rutgers, ISU, and a IAA school? This is an indictment of the terrible WR recruiting and attrition that's been going on at Iowa, but CJ hasn't been sharp either. The vast majority of his passes are of the Jake Rudock 3 yard variety, dumping it off to RBs, TEs, or Vandy at the line of scrimmage for high completion percentage passes. What happened to big arm CJ? What happened to the gun slinger? This offense is stale and of course they haven't even tried to get Scheel or anyone other than Vandy involved.

Kick/Punt Returns (D+): 6th/12th in Big 10. This was supposed to be Desmond King's chance to shine and boost his NFL resume. While Michigan averages 24 yrds per punt return, King averages...6 yards. What happened here? Are we not blocking? Is our scheme that bad? Was King overrated?

Penalties (A): 2nd in Big 10. This is the highest we rank in any statistical category. While it's not the most relevant category, it does show that we are a well disciplined team who doesn't make a lot of dumb mistakes.

Normally not a fan of your post but hard to argue with facts.

 

[markfromj]

33% done with season, not 25%.

 

[Pepperman]

Kick/Punt Returns (D+): 6th/12th in Big 10. This was supposed to be Desmond King's chance to shine and boost his NFL resume. While Michigan averages 24 yrds per punt return, King averages...6 yards. What happened here? Are we not blocking? Is our scheme that bad? Was King overrated?

If not for the Josey Jewell brain fart, this would be a different stat, but that's about all I can quibble with in your post.

The statistics are absolutely against Iowa at this point. Unless things change quickly, this team has another 3-4 losses still ahead (choose from Wisconsin, Michigan, Nebraska, Penn State, Minnesota most likely)

 

[PHXIowaClub]

I'm surprised by the penalties stat. Seems like we've had a lot of horribly timed holding calls. The biggest issue is total offensive plays. Iowa is not running enough plays on offense. Combination of defense bend don't break defense that stays on the field for long periods of time and our offensive tempo is very slow.

I mean it is crazy to think that Iowa ranks 11th in the B1G in rushing when they have 2 guys that average 5.8 and 7.4 yards per carry.

 

[scotthawk1964]

Offensively penalties are killing drives. Hard to get momentum in a game when you shoot yourself in the foot. Two 75 yard touchdown runs negated by penalties, Daniel's trip on CJ's foot negated another one. Bad things happening at bad times causing the offense to sputter. Defensively, I have no clue at what's wrong with the run defense since it's basically the same people back from last year. Johnson and Bazata need to get better penetration, linebackers need to do a better job at spying the quarterback. I think the offensive problems can be easily fixed. And maybe when the offense get some momentum the defense will follow suit. But I don't think there's any reason to panic at this point.

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

33% done with season, not 25%.

Mathing is hard for some

 

[Pepperman]

Defensively, I have no clue at what's wrong with the run defense since it's basically the same people back from last year. Johnson and Bazata need to get better penetration, linebackers need to do a better job at spying the quarterback. I think the offensive problems can be easily fixed. And maybe when the offense get some momentum the defense will follow suit. But I don't think there's any reason to panic at this point.

I am in agreement with you that this doesn't make much sense. I might be in disagreement though about whether it is time to panic. Hawks are getting gashed on the ground from what I've seen. Pushed around and unable to stop the run at all.

 

[And1Hawk]

I am in agreement with you that this doesn't make much sense. I might be in disagreement though about whether it is time to panic. Hawks are getting gashed on the ground from what I've seen. Pushed around and unable to stop the run at all.

Since the Northwestern game last season has our defense really been all that fantastic minus some Desmond King picks and Tommy Armstrong throwing it to us every 5 throws? I think we are all thinking this getting 'gashed' thing just started this season but I think we've had problems longer than that.

Offensively it might also point out that our O-line is not as good minus Blythe and Walsh. We know we miss T Smith too as he provided a bonafide (but massively under-used) deep threat.

 

[The Sleeping Dog]

The return game is deceiving. Every punt is away from King. Otherwise you'd have to say the boys have under performed. But, the Ferentz trend is improvement over the course of the season.

The lack of quality receivers is a tremendous restriction on both schemes and execution of the offense.

 

[Freyvet]

You are a coward! You hide behind a screen name! You are a troll!

congrats! your first accurate post!

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

I am in agreement with you that this doesn't make much sense. I might be in disagreement though about whether it is time to panic. Hawks are getting gashed on the ground from what I've seen. Pushed around and unable to stop the run at all.

I have been wondering this too and everything is the same except one thing. Coach Wallace is now the linebacker coach as opposed to Jim Reid. Not saying Wallace is a bad coach by any stretch of the imagination. However, from all of my encounters with coach Reid he was by far the most personable coach not just on the Iowa staff, but that I have ever met. Players raved about him and also always mentioned how he was able to make complex things very simple. I am pretty sure he was the reason for Anthony Hitchens turning the corner in his career. I also remember the hire making sense to help coach Parker as he was a new DC and coach Reid had that experience in the past.....coach Wallace will be a very good coach, but to replace a guy as personable and seasoned as coach reid will more than likely have some immediate repercussions and this might explain our early struggles, especially considering how important the LB position is in Iowa pro 4-3 base defense. Knowing coach Wallace, this will get corrected as the season progresses and as he progresses in his coaching career

 

[93hawkeye]

33% done with season, not 25%.

12 reg season games + B10 title game + 2 playoff games=15 games. The season is 27% over

 

[myteamcanbeatupyourteam]

Its just a damn shame that somebody else didn't post this.

 

[iowalaw]

It's not like our 12th in the Big 10 pass offense can get any worse with Vandy's loss. It may be a blessing in disguise, with CJ being forced to start throwing the ball around and getting other guys involved in the offense. Vandy was a steady target, but the stats make it clear that our pass offense with him was nearly the worst in the conference. There are guys who have been riding the bench who could be home run threats and we haven't even seen it yet. The true freshmen? Scheel? Boyle? By midseason, I have a feeling our pass offense will rise well above 12th in the conference.

 

[The Sleeping Dog]

My fear is the staff will become even more run dominant and predictable. My hope is Hawks seize the moment and a couple of good young receiving options emerge. Certainly the opportunity exists for young guys to get time, if they can get the boss to open it up for them on some quicker and a few deeper plays.

Le'Shun and Akrum are outstanding running backs. If a more aggressive passing game could pull a couple defenders away from crowding the box those guys will become even more efficient.

Riley McC is not the answer. He plays hard, throws a few nice blocks but isn't particularly sure handed and doesn't really have either a good burst/cut or deep speed. He's not tall enough to up over most defenders. Every event creates possibilities good and bad.

 

[5Fan5]

It's not like our 12th in the Big 10 pass offense can get any worse with Vandy's loss. It may be a blessing in disguise, with CJ being forced to start throwing the ball around and getting other guys involved in the offense. Vandy was a steady target, but the stats make it clear that our pass offense with him was nearly the worst in the conference. There are guys who have been riding the bench who could be home run threats and we haven't even seen it yet. The true freshmen? Scheel? Boyle? By midseason, I have a feeling our pass offense will rise well above 12th in the conference.

Taking stats and drawing any hard/fast conclusions can be a dangerous proposition. Taking yards per game is one metric. Others tell a completely different story. For instance, Beathard is currently fourth among Big Ten QBs in the number of touchdown passes thrown (8 TDs). Not surprisingly, he is also fourth in Passing Efficiency (152.5 rating) compared to the other league QBs. Production wise, CJB ranks tied for third in the Big Ten with responsibility for 54 points thus far.

Plenty of room for improvements, but hardly at the bottom of the heap when more factors are considered. The ultimate objective of an offense is to score the football and overall it appears that the Iowa QB is doing his share to accomplish that through the air.

 

[iowalaw]

Pass efficiency is high every year under Greg Davis regardless of who the qb is or how bad the team is. The stat is a direct result of Throwing almost exclusively conservative super high percentage 3 yard outs and rb screens behind the line of scrimmage.

Of course he is going to have a high completion percentage on those.

 

[5Fan5]

Pass efficiency is high every year under Greg Davis regardless of who the qb is or how bad the team is. The stat is a direct result of Throwing almost exclusively conservative super high percentage 3 yard outs and rb screens behind the line of scrimmage.

Of course he is going to have a high completion percentage on those.

That would just be one more to add to the list of inaccuracies that you purport here on HR... a barrister of all people should no better than to lie.

Beathard currently ranks second in the Big Ten in yards per completion at nearly 13.5 yards each. Pretty hard to amass those type of results doing only what you claim the Iowa QB/offense is doing. I am beginning to think that you not only know very little about Iowa football, but also do not even watch much of what the team is actually doing on the field.

Did you want to completely ignore the passing touchdown totals for CJB? How is it that lowly, inferior Iowa can manage to accumulate the fourth best total out of fourteen programs in that category? Eight passes completed for TDs. That equates to 54 points that CJB has had a direct responsibility for in just four games to date.

Stick to something you have at least a scintilla of knowledge about (if there is such a thing). Going on the interwebz to pull up some stats to futilely try to prove how supposedly bad the Hawks are is not working for you.

 

[iowalaw]

5fan is right, my bad. CJ has been tearing it up this year and really showing off his arm (even though our WRs have a total of 6 catches in the past two games, and a tight end and running back have the 2nd and 3rd most catches this season)! LOL!!! Passing offense should have been ommitted from the grading because it doesn't look good for the hawks despite being a standard statistic, and the more relevant barometer that warranted a grade is touchdown passes. Very astute. 5fan gives CJ an A+...apparently so do opposing coaches, who aren't respecting the pass and are stacking the box against him.

I gave grades out for RELEVANT statistics. Total offense, rushing offense, and passing offense. No conspiracies here. No top secret agendas to prove any points. The stats are the stats and are the most objective barometer of performance we have. You are free to create your own thread with random stats that homer fans like yourself could use to slant a way that makes you feel good about yourself, and I'll stick with the standard stats. Maybe 2nd down completion percentage? Perhaps fulback catches or most touchdowns by defenses? Keep up the good work.

If you think the pass offense deserves more than a D-, explain why. It's called words. Use em.

 

[5Fan5]

5fan is right, my bad. CJ is tearing it up this year and gun slinging it all over the place (even though our WRs have a total of 6 catches in the past two games)! LOL!!! Being at the bottom of the Big 10 in passing offense is totally irrelevant, and the more accurate barometer is touchdown passes. Very astute. 5fan gives CJ an A+...apparently so do opposing coaches who are stacking the box against him and showing no respect for our passing game.

So you obviously disagree that the objective should be to score the football. Good for you!

Taking a single statistic to attempt to demean players/coaches/the program is all that you care about here - nothing else. I decided to allow you enough rope to very nearly hang yourself. Congrats on not disappointing.

Perhaps you can point to where ever you think it is that I have said I am 100% satisfied with C J Beathard and Iowa. Should I wait or do you want to admit that not to be even close to the truth (again just another example of someone supposedly sworn to uphold the law and truth by his/her profession...hmmm). The Iowa offense is a work in progress and may be for longer...no one is sitting back and saying all is well and good. Not players, not coaches and not fans. But, it is far from being as off the tracks as you wish to portray it here.

This is a perfect illustration of how stats can be for losers. You go to a website, quickly grab the first thing that seems to 'prove' the rant you are so bent on trying to champion here and run with it. Never mind trying to dig deeper to see if there might be other information available. Get to HR as quick as you can and hope no one bothers to question your analyses (read:whining).

Sorry to burst your bubble.

 

[J_Heater]

We are tied for the 2nd best w/l record.

 

[iowalaw]

We are tied for 2nd in win/loss record? I'm not sure how that can be. There are 6 undefeated teams in the Big 10. We are therefore tied for 7th best w/l record. If there were 10 running backs in the league who had 1000 yards and Wadley had 995 yards, would that mean he has the 2nd most yards in the league too?

We are tied for the 2nd best w/l record.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

There are 6 undefeated teams in the Big 10. We are therefore tied for 7th best w/l record.

But we have the 2nd bets W/L record. All a matter of perspective and how you want to frame it. Everyone knows stats can be manipulated to say pretty much whatever you want to say. You've done a nice job of cherry picking stats that fit your agenda.

 

[5Fan5]

There are 6 undefeated teams in the Big 10. We are therefore tied for 7th best w/l record.

Just because it comes from you...

If you are going to qualify a statement with conference affiliation, then be consistent in that process. IN THE BIG TEN, Iowa is undefeated having won its opening conference game last Saturday. Now, if you want to talk overall that is a different story altogether.

Carry on.... your law practice must really be booming!

 

[DavenportHawk8]

I realize that everyone is bummed that we can't go 12-0 again this year, but I'll tell ya 11-1 and even 10-2 is still pretty solid.

I was listening to a podcast with some former Iowa players and they talked about something I never thought about. They talked about their first road games and how Iowa has always played like crap on the road the first time. They stated the ASU game (woodshed), Zona game, and Pitt game. Where we lost all those games. I believe Iowa was favored in a couple of them. Said its something different and difficult to overcome. So this past weeks game they chalked that up to first time being on the road and a new environment. Said Iowa played okay and got the W. Doesn't matter who your playing, as long as you get the W.

Penalties this year have been killers. I don't know what the NCAA did to the officials, but damn they are making their jobs impossible. They have them calling questionable blocks all the time. They are calling targeting on players bumping into each other (PSU vs MICH), and just over all disrupting the flow of the game. Iowa has been their own worst enemy and they have to clean up the penalties, but Daniels should have 140 more yards and 2 TD's. Hopefully he can break one this weekend w/out a penalty.

Injuries- I think Ott was our true injury last year, now it seems like we have a lot of guys injured. If you have injuries, your year gets much more difficult. Iowa has to stay healthy in order to be competitive the rest of the way.

I was pretty down after the NDSU loss, but I think this team can turn the table and improve. KF teams always seem to struggle in September and then turn it on in October/November. I am hoping he can continue to do it. GO HAWKS!

 

[DavenportHawk8]

Offensively penalties are killing drives. Hard to get momentum in a game when you shoot yourself in the foot. Two 75 yard touchdown runs negated by penalties, Daniel's trip on CJ's foot negated another one. Bad things happening at bad times causing the offense to sputter. Defensively, I have no clue at what's wrong with the run defense since it's basically the same people back from last year. Johnson and Bazata need to get better penetration, linebackers need to do a better job at spying the quarterback. I think the offensive problems can be easily fixed. And maybe when the offense get some momentum the defense will follow suit. But I don't think there's any reason to panic at this point.

I heard a guy talking on BTN show about this issue. Apparently with these spread/power run teams its getting Jewell out of the box. He is having to line-up outside the tackle or split the difference between the slot and tackle, therefore allowing teams to double team the tackles and the RB first contact is our safeties or weak side LB. Plus the motion man has to be accounted for as does the QB! This spread run game has always been Iowa's thorn in their side, but this year it seems like its become more of an issue. I don't know if Iowa has to go more "man coverage" and free up Jewell and other LB's to fill the gaps. But something has changed and its causing teams to gash us.

 

[Freyvet]

There are 6 undefeated teams in the Big 10. We are therefore tied for 7th best w/l record.

that a boy iowalaw.. make sure everything sounds as bad as it can. 5 top 10 finishes for KF - i love me some Hawks!