Biggest Issue: Not running enough offensive plays?

[PHXIowaClub]

There are 3 main reason Iowa isn't running enough offensive plays:

1) Offense not converting 3rd downs
Iowa is 16-43 on the year (37%) in 3rd down conversions. Iowa has way too many 3rd down and 8+ yards situations and when Iowa WRs cannot get separation, it makes it nearly impossible to convert 3rd and long. Iowa needs to get around 43-45% conversions. Obviously you want to be 3rd and 5 or less.

2) Defense can't get off the field
HUGE ISSUE. It's the bend don't break defense. Iowa gives up more first downs than any other team in the B1G besides Northwestern. Iowa has done a solid job at not letting teams score points but they are giving up the rushing yards and I am afraid they will start giving up more scores as the competition gets better.

3) Pace of Play is slow (number of seconds per offensive play)
NOT A BIG ISSUE IF YOU'RE WINNING Time of Possession
You have teams like Oregon and Baylor that are always towards the top of this stat and run plays every 18 seconds. Then you have teams like Alabama and Stanford that are towards the middle or bottom that runs plays every 25-28 seconds. The advantage is more plays/more possessions/more chances of scoring. The disadvantage is if you score too quickly your defense may not get enough rest. You can have a slow pace of play but what you don't want is a slow pace of play and you're losing Time of Possession.

There are 3 stats that are very telling and not good:
1) Iowa has lost the Time of Possession 3 of the first 4 games
Miami: Lost 36:21 to 23:39 TOP | ISU: won 32 to 28 | NDSU: L 36:40-23:20 | RU: L 30:41 to 29:19
2) Iowa has lost the Total Offensive plays all 4 games
Miami: Lost 70 to 50 | ISU: 70 to 66 | NDSU: 68 to 49 | Rutgers: 77 to 61
3) Iowa has lost the Total Yards 3 of the first 4 games
Miami: Lost 424 to 404 | ISU: won 435 to 291 | NDSU: L 363 to 231 | Rutgers: L 383 to 355

I haven't been able to find a 2016 pace of play statistic but Iowa has been around 25 seconds per play over the past few years and I would guess it's very similar this year. That would put Iowa in the bottom half to bottom third in the country.

 

[David1979]

There are 3 main reason Iowa isn't running enough offensive plays:

1) Offense not converting 3rd downs
Iowa is 16-43 on the year (37%) in 3rd down conversions. Iowa has way too many 3rd down and 8+ yards situations and when Iowa WRs cannot get separation, it makes it nearly impossible to convert 3rd and long.

2) Defense can't get off the field
HUGE ISSUE. It's the bend don't break defense. Iowa gives up more first downs than any other team in the B1G besides Northwestern. Iowa has done a solid job at not letting teams score points but they are giving up the rushing yards and I am afraid they will start giving up more scores as the competition gets better.

3) Pace of Play is slow (number of seconds per offensive play)
NOT A BIG ISSUE IF YOU'RE WINNING Time of Possession
You have teams like Oregon and Baylor that are always towards the top of this stat and run plays every 18 seconds. Then you have teams like Alabama and Stanford that are towards the middle or bottom that runs plays every 25-28 seconds. The advantage is more plays/more possessions/more chances of scoring. The disadvantage is if you score too quickly your defense may not get enough rest. You can have a slow pace of play but what you don't want is a slow pace of play and you're losing Time of Possession.

There are 3 stats that are very telling and not good:
1) Iowa has lost the Time of Possession 3 of the first 4 games
Miami: Lost 36:21 to 23:39 TOP | ISU: won 32 to 28 | NDSU: L 36:40-23:20 | RU: L 30:41 to 29:19
2) Iowa has lost the Total Offensive plays all 4 games
Miami: Lost 70 to 50 | ISU: 70 to 66 | NDSU: 68 to 49 | Rutgers: 77 to 61
3) Iowa has lost the Total Yards 3 of the first 4 games
Miami: Lost 424 to 404 | ISU: won 435 to 291 | NDSU: L 363 to 231 | Rutgers: L 383 to 355

I haven't been able to find a 2016 pace of play statistic but Iowa has been around 25 seconds per play over the past few years and I would guess it's very similar this year. That would put Iowa in the bottom half to bottom third in the country.

The other problems in the last two games are the passing offense which goes to your number 1 issue and costly penalties. They haven't had many sustained drives. It seems like they either get a couple big plays and score or they go 3 and out.

 

[Im4Iowa]

There are 3 main reason Iowa isn't running enough offensive plays:

1) Offense not converting 3rd downs
Iowa is 16-43 on the year (37%) in 3rd down conversions. Iowa has way too many 3rd down and 8+ yards situations and when Iowa WRs cannot get separation, it makes it nearly impossible to convert 3rd and long. Iowa needs to get around 43-45% conversions. Obviously you want to be 3rd and 5 or less.

2) Defense can't get off the field
HUGE ISSUE. It's the bend don't break defense. Iowa gives up more first downs than any other team in the B1G besides Northwestern. Iowa has done a solid job at not letting teams score points but they are giving up the rushing yards and I am afraid they will start giving up more scores as the competition gets better.

3) Pace of Play is slow (number of seconds per offensive play)
NOT A BIG ISSUE IF YOU'RE WINNING Time of Possession
You have teams like Oregon and Baylor that are always towards the top of this stat and run plays every 18 seconds. Then you have teams like Alabama and Stanford that are towards the middle or bottom that runs plays every 25-28 seconds. The advantage is more plays/more possessions/more chances of scoring. The disadvantage is if you score too quickly your defense may not get enough rest. You can have a slow pace of play but what you don't want is a slow pace of play and you're losing Time of Possession.

There are 3 stats that are very telling and not good:
1) Iowa has lost the Time of Possession 3 of the first 4 games
Miami: Lost 36:21 to 23:39 TOP | ISU: won 32 to 28 | NDSU: L 36:40-23:20 | RU: L 30:41 to 29:19
2) Iowa has lost the Total Offensive plays all 4 games
Miami: Lost 70 to 50 | ISU: 70 to 66 | NDSU: 68 to 49 | Rutgers: 77 to 61
3) Iowa has lost the Total Yards 3 of the first 4 games
Miami: Lost 424 to 404 | ISU: won 435 to 291 | NDSU: L 363 to 231 | Rutgers: L 383 to 355

I haven't been able to find a 2016 pace of play statistic but Iowa has been around 25 seconds per play over the past few years and I would guess it's very similar this year. That would put Iowa in the bottom half to bottom third in the country.

Pretty solid points and stats to back it up. Well done. I love these posts compared to the ones that say Iowa stinks or Kirk should be fired, without having any discussion or facts.

The thing I keep asking myself about the GD passing offense is this...is it too complicated? It seems like everyone adjusts their route based on what they see and what the defense allows, but that's relying on too many people to be on the exact same page, imo. I'm no football expert but have had this passing offense explained to me by former players and it just seems they'd be better off bringing in guys and telling each person to run a certain route. The less thinking and reading the better. Let the qb read the defense, not everyone. Also, move guys around to take advantage of matchups. Too many times we've seen passes this year where there was 2-3 wrs in that same area.

I dont know...just my two cents. The whole passing offense has just seemed "off" and in slow motion the last few games.

 

[David1979]

Pretty solid points and stats to back it up. Well done. I love these posts compared to the ones that say Iowa stinks or Kirk should be fired, without having any discussion or facts.

The thing I keep asking myself about the GD passing offense is this...is it too complicated? It seems like everyone adjusts their route based on what they see and what the defense allows, but that's relying on too many people to be on the exact same page, imo. I'm no football expert but have had this passing offense explained to me by former players and it just seems they'd be better off bringing in guys and telling each person to run a certain route. The less thinking and reading the better. Let the qb read the defense, not everyone. Also, move guys around to take advantage of matchups. Too many times we've seen passes this year where there was 2-3 wrs in that same area.

I dont know...just my two cents. The whole passing offense has just seemed "off" and in slow motion the last few games.

I have thought this as well. Makes it more complicated than it needs to be. But I still think it is just that the WRs haven't been good and I don't think Beathard fully trusts Smith and Scheel yet in the passing game and McCarron is limited in what he can do. Smith has too many drops and doesn't get open enough and Scheel hasn't shown much either when I have watched him. The best options in the passing game are Vandeberg, Kittle and Wadley. But it is easy to take away Vandeberg and then you are left with a TE and RB as your biggest receiver threats. That is not going to lead to a good passing game.

 

[icantfindausernamethatisntused]

Pretty solid points and stats to back it up. Well done. I love these posts compared to the ones that say Iowa stinks or Kirk should be fired, without having any discussion or facts.

The thing I keep asking myself about the GD passing offense is this...is it too complicated? It seems like everyone adjusts their route based on what they see and what the defense allows, but that's relying on too many people to be on the exact same page, imo. I'm no football expert but have had this passing offense explained to me by former players and it just seems they'd be better off bringing in guys and telling each person to run a certain route. The less thinking and reading the better. Let the qb read the defense, not everyone. Also, move guys around to take advantage of matchups. Too many times we've seen passes this year where there was 2-3 wrs in that same area.

I dont know...just my two cents. The whole passing offense has just seemed "off" and in slow motion the last few games.

The problem I've had with GD since he got here is that we seem to be running two separate offenses: one for running (typical Iowa zone-blocking) and another for passing (GD's quick pass offense). These philosophies haven't seemed to gel together well since he's been here, although admittedly it has looked much better the past few years than it did his first year as offensive coordinator.

A consistent critique of Kirk Ferentz offenses is that they're predictable, and I think trying to fit in GD's passing scheme with our traditional zone-running scheme has exacerbated this problem. The best example I can think of is our short-yardage offense. When it's 3rd and 3, the defense should truly have no idea if we are going to run or pass. However, in these situations we often see Iowa line up in shotgun which means we're going to pass, or we line up with a couple TEs and a fullback which means we are going to run. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground to keep the defense guessing.

 

[ottumwan in tx]

3Rd down conversion rate is huge, i noticed it in nebby game last year
0 for 9. But i got told in the other thread im whining

 

[DodgerHawki]

There are 3 main reason Iowa isn't running enough offensive plays:

1) Offense not converting 3rd downs
Iowa is 16-43 on the year (37%) in 3rd down conversions. Iowa has way too many 3rd down and 8+ yards situations and when Iowa WRs cannot get separation, it makes it nearly impossible to convert 3rd and long. Iowa needs to get around 43-45% conversions. Obviously you want to be 3rd and 5 or less.

2) Defense can't get off the field
HUGE ISSUE. It's the bend don't break defense. Iowa gives up more first downs than any other team in the B1G besides Northwestern. Iowa has done a solid job at not letting teams score points but they are giving up the rushing yards and I am afraid they will start giving up more scores as the competition gets better.

3) Pace of Play is slow (number of seconds per offensive play)
NOT A BIG ISSUE IF YOU'RE WINNING Time of Possession
You have teams like Oregon and Baylor that are always towards the top of this stat and run plays every 18 seconds. Then you have teams like Alabama and Stanford that are towards the middle or bottom that runs plays every 25-28 seconds. The advantage is more plays/more possessions/more chances of scoring. The disadvantage is if you score too quickly your defense may not get enough rest. You can have a slow pace of play but what you don't want is a slow pace of play and you're losing Time of Possession.

There are 3 stats that are very telling and not good:
1) Iowa has lost the Time of Possession 3 of the first 4 games
Miami: Lost 36:21 to 23:39 TOP | ISU: won 32 to 28 | NDSU: L 36:40-23:20 | RU: L 30:41 to 29:19
2) Iowa has lost the Total Offensive plays all 4 games
Miami: Lost 70 to 50 | ISU: 70 to 66 | NDSU: 68 to 49 | Rutgers: 77 to 61
3) Iowa has lost the Total Yards 3 of the first 4 games
Miami: Lost 424 to 404 | ISU: won 435 to 291 | NDSU: L 363 to 231 | Rutgers: L 383 to 355

I haven't been able to find a 2016 pace of play statistic but Iowa has been around 25 seconds per play over the past few years and I would guess it's very similar this year. That would put Iowa in the bottom half to bottom third in the country.

It's an interesting stat. Part of it is/was skewed by the amount of big plays against Miami and Iowa State. No one would argue there was an issue with the numbers of plays when you are scoring 42 and 45 points. Against Miami, Iowa had 400+ yards on just 50 players, better than 8 yards per play. That is getting it done. Against ISU, it was 435 yards on 66 plays, good for 6.5+ yards per play. And that was diluted by garbage time runs on the last 2 series with Stanley in the game. Then against NDSU and Rutgers, Iowa was putrid on 3rd down and just never with any rhythm. Both of those games featured long stretched with Iowa up 7 points, where if Iowa goes up 2 scores at any point, things are likely over. But between penalties go take TD's off the board, poor play and good scouting of tendencies by NDSU and Rutgers, those teams could stay with their gameplans and wear out the Iowa defense.

 

[ottumwan in tx]

I think they went 3 for 12 in msu game last yr

 

[EpenesaEpenesa]

I remember when GD was hired, one of the things that came up was the complexity of his offense and the freedom receivers had to basically choose the route they ran based on coverage. That worried me.

 

[ottumwan in tx]

I remember when GD was hired, one of the things that came up was the complexity of his offense and the freedom receivers had to basically choose the route they ran based on coverage. That worried me.

the word around here in austin is the players broke free and had a.mutiny and quit listening to him

 

[PHXIowaClub]

I really think the offensive line is close. If Iowa can get the OL in sync and establish the run, they will be in such a better spot on 3rd downs most drives. They aren't a good passing team and I don't think they will be all year. But they can be a very good running team. Offense has to mix in the traditional inside and outside zone scheme with the pulling toss plays we've seen this year, as well as the counter/misdirection plays. If the offense can mix those plays up well, they should be in good shape. Add in the read option from shotgun here and there and they have the potential to rush for 250 ypg. That makes it so much easier to throw the ball and to get your WRs and TEs open on play action.

They're close guys! Defense is another thing. I have no idea how Iowa is getting ran on up the middle against Miami (OH), NDSU, and Rutgers.

 

[Phenomenally Frantastic]

they will improve. Some OL still earning their stripes.

 

[mustang_horsepower]

3Rd down conversion rate is huge, i noticed it in nebby game last year
0 for 9. But i got told in the other thread im whining

I remember this. Overall I think iowa did very well on 3rd down thru the season. I'm not too sure on a % during season but that nebby was surprising.

 

[The Sleeping Dog]

I think the boys would get a bigger adrenaline rush if the tempo was a little faster. Kind of a human nature observation. Football players are generally aggressive young men. Speed is generally just a rush.

 

[PHXIowaClub]

Iowa was 44% last year

 

[DarkThunder#61]

3Rd down conversion rate is huge, i noticed it in nebby game last year
0 for 9. But i got told in the other thread im whining

I heard it was something different.....

 

[ottumwan in tx]

I heard it was something different.....

I think it was nebby turning the ball over.

 

[TonyTheTiger.1865]

Penalties are killing us this year. Particularly by the O line. D needs to get off the field, need to blitz more and try to get more negative plays.

 

[David1979]

I really think the offensive line is close. If Iowa can get the OL in sync and establish the run, they will be in such a better spot on 3rd downs most drives. They aren't a good passing team and I don't think they will be all year. But they can be a very good running team. Offense has to mix in the traditional inside and outside zone scheme with the pulling toss plays we've seen this year, as well as the counter/misdirection plays. If the offense can mix those plays up well, they should be in good shape. Add in the read option from shotgun here and there and they have the potential to rush for 250 ypg. That makes it so much easier to throw the ball and to get your WRs and TEs open on play action.

They're close guys! Defense is another thing. I have no idea how Iowa is getting ran on up the middle against Miami (OH), NDSU, and Rutgers.

The defensive issue is a gaps and getting the right call issue as ferentz explained. It's all correctable they just need to correct it sooner rather than later.

OL and run blocking is really good. But it won't matter if they can't pass the ball. Pass protection was suppose to be a point of emphasis and they are still struggling and so far no WRs outside of the now injured Vandeberg have stepped up

 

[here_for_the_hawkeyes]

3Rd down conversion rate is huge, i noticed it in nebby game last year
0 for 9. But i got told in the other thread im whining

The problem I've had with GD since he got here is that we seem to be running two separate offenses: one for running (typical Iowa zone-blocking) and another for passing (GD's quick pass offense). These philosophies haven't seemed to gel together well since he's been here, although admittedly it has looked much better the past few years than it did his first year as offensive coordinator.

A consistent critique of Kirk Ferentz offenses is that they're predictable, and I think trying to fit in GD's passing scheme with our traditional zone-running scheme has exacerbated this problem. The best example I can think of is our short-yardage offense. When it's 3rd and 3, the defense should truly have no idea if we are going to run or pass. However, in these situations we often see Iowa line up in shotgun which means we're going to pass, or we line up with a couple TEs and a fullback which means we are going to run. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground to keep the defense guessing.

This was something I noticed as well. It looked like Ferentz and Davis for the first few years were battling between two philosophies. Davis' first year he was given a lot of free reign and the results were ugly, for whatever reasons. The next year it seemed Ferentz took the reigns back. Since then we've seen the two philosophies blend into more of a cohesive offense which at times does some pretty interesting things. But I would agree I don't like seeing such sharp swings between heavy running sets one play and the very next play empty backfield spread sets.

A) It telegraphs what we're doing, and B) If we try a "trick" the difference between sets is so big that if we try to pass out of the running set we don't have many options and if we try to run out of the passing set we don't have many blockers.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I remember this. Overall I think iowa did very well on 3rd down thru the season. I'm not too sure on a % during season but that nebby was surprising.

Agreed, but I'll say this. If I was keeping stats, any play that goes for a TD would be counted as a first down as well. How can you have a play go for 60 yards and say you never got a first down? You could have an offense that gains 600 yards, scores 8 TD's and never gets a first down if they're just cranking out big play after big play. You'd also lose TOP in that case as well. If you're D is forcing turnovers and you'r getting short field situations, you can also lose in the total yards stat too, all while dominating the game.

 

[ottumwan in tx]

This was something I noticed as well. It looked like Ferentz and Davis for the first few years were battling between two philosophies. Davis' first year he was given a lot of free reign and the results were ugly, for whatever reasons. The next year it seemed Ferentz took the reigns back. Since then we've seen the two philosophies blend into more of a cohesive offense which at times does some pretty interesting things. But I would agree I don't like seeing such sharp swings between heavy running sets one play and the very next play empty backfield spread sets.

A) It telegraphs what we're doing, and B) If we try a "trick" the difference between sets is so big that if we try to pass out of the running set we don't have many options and if we try to run out of the passing set we don't have many blockers.

there are a lot of people here in Austin who will tell you vince young went out on his own, against GD, in the rose bowl. GD was run out of here. the players did not want to run his three yard plays. If KF and GD and the players are all not on the same page..... well, you make the conclusion.

 

[ottumwan in tx]

Agreed, but I'll say this. If I was keeping stats, any play that goes for a TD would be counted as a first down as well. How can you have a play go for 60 yards and say you never got a first down? You could have an offense that gains 600 yards, scores 8 TD's and never gets a first down if they're just cranking out big play after big play. You'd also lose TOP in that case as well. If you're D is forcing turnovers and you'r getting short field situations, you can also lose in the total yards stat too, all while dominating the game.

this would be fine if everytime you touched the ball you got a TD, like you were Christian Mcafferey. ha ha

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

The problem I've had with GD since he got here is that we seem to be running two separate offenses: one for running (typical Iowa zone-blocking) and another for passing (GD's quick pass offense). These philosophies haven't seemed to gel together well since he's been here, although admittedly it has looked much better the past few years than it did his first year as offensive coordinator.

A consistent critique of Kirk Ferentz offenses is that they're predictable, and I think trying to fit in GD's passing scheme with our traditional zone-running scheme has exacerbated this problem. The best example I can think of is our short-yardage offense. When it's 3rd and 3, the defense should truly have no idea if we are going to run or pass. However, in these situations we often see Iowa line up in shotgun which means we're going to pass, or we line up with a couple TEs and a fullback which means we are going to run. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground to keep the defense guessing.

This was a huge issue early on in GD's tenure. I think trying to have a bunch of people make the same read/decision on each play is far too complicated. It takes receivers too long to get up to speed and it's error prone. Throw in a lot of short timing routes and we're susceptible to receivers being jammed with little/no big play threat to punish an overly aggressive D.

Last year we had some pretty savvy receivers that CJ trusted and we threw downfield more with quite a bit of success. CJ is a pretty smart QB. I would like to see us run packaged plays. These plays have a run/pass option based on pre and post snap reads and are designed to ensure the D always commits to what becomes the wrong decision.

 

[David1979]

It seems like on the long WR routes the WRs aren't getting open and on some of them CJ hasn't had enough time to let them develop. Both those are a huge problem.

 

[DarkThunder#61]

I think it was nebby turning the ball over.

No I was talking about you. The problem wasn't whining.....

 

[ottumwan in tx]

No I was talking about you. The problem wasn't whining.....

the problem was greg davis​