Execution of the calls by the play makers. Stanley played his best game, the line gouged the Bucks, Wadley, Butler, and Young were great.
Convince Me that Brian Ferentz isn’t the Problem…
- Thread starter BlackNGoldBleeder
- Start date
The title of the thread is "Convince Me that Brian Ferentz isn’t the Problem…" not "how can we make this offense better". Constructive discussion is great....a title that includes "the problem" is not constructive.
Might want to check time of possession stats for this year and previous years. Iowa typically owns TOP.
I just read a David Eickholt tweet that said that the Petras-led Hawkeye offense has averaged more points (31.4 so far in 2020-21) than any Hawkeye QB since Brad Banks (36.6 in 2002). That seems to be pretty good support for Petras and BF. It isn't always pretty, but it's been pretty effective.
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What's funny about cherry picking Iowa was 7th in points per game with 37.2 for 2002, the median was 27.4 points per game.
2021: Iowas total points per game ranks them 65th in the NCAA, and the median is 31.7.
I'm in no way hyper critical of what we've seen so far but in all fairness the defense has scored 23 of those points so far. Take those away and the offense is averaging only 23 points per game.
I want to go back into Hawkeye history and relive the time that Iowa scored at least 25 points in 9 straight games......that had to be a good time to be a Hawkeye....if only we could find that time.....if they only could stretch it to 10 straight games.....it would be magical....
Good point. The defense has also given the offense shorter fields. I think the Iowa punter should also get credit for flipping field position.
My bad. The offensive average for Petras includes last year's numbers too and should read 2020-21.
True, but it's still better than any starting QB at Iowa since 2002, and it includes all games for Petras as a starting QB (2020-21... my original post had mistakenly listed 2021-22). Furthermore, if we remove last year from the equation, so far this year most teams have only played out of conference competition, and Iowa has played two tough teams including a top 10 team (at the time) on the road. The fact is that BF/Petras isn't pretty but has been pretty effective still holds up, and yes they have benefitted from a very good defense and punter for the past couple of years.
it's a skewed statistic. This is the point of cherry picking, and his QBR would not have been top 50 last year, and comes in at 74 this year. I'm not sure what part of effective we are talking about . I will give Spencer this for this year, he has not turned the ball over.
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On the flip side ... earlier in the Ferentz years, the Hawks had success blocking punts, scoring with special teams AND defense.
For instance, in the 2002-03 season ... 67 of the Hawkeye points were scored by returns, blocked-kicks, picks, or safeties (including the extra-points for TD-scores that way).
Also, what is wild to consider ... is that even the 2002 squad had to "come together" to some degree.
The Hawks only narrowly defeated Miami of Ohio that year ... AND we lost to Iowa State!
It's hard to imagine how fans today would be hollering about our early-season performance that year.
The Hawks only narrowly defeated Miami of Ohio that year ... AND we lost to Iowa State!
It's hard to imagine how fans today would be hollering about our early-season performance that year.
I will never understand the separation of extra points from touchdowns in these discussions. Extra points are primarily the result of the touchdowns that preceded them. If the offense scores the touchdown they should get credit for the 7 points. If the defense scores the touchdown, they should get credit for the 7 points. If that 67 points includes a bunch of extra points after offensive touchdowns then it's kind of meaningless.
Indeed it's a topic worthy of a mini-thesis. i have wondered about this too and i've come to think kf/bf/pp have a philosophy that doesn't look at offense and defense as separate entities but as a continuum. so we don't play o and d, rather we engage in od. this sounds simple and logical but in practice we end up seeing things which are very counter-intuitive along the lines of it's not time but the speed of light which is constant in a frame of reference.
so whenever iowa spots a team that "can" (not necessarily "will") be beaten in a low-scoring slug-fest, they will take that route. keep the D fresh to the extent possible via top, and score opportnistically. they do this i think in cognizance of (1) offensive skill personnel are harder to find in sufficient numbers (2) offense in general at any level is less reliable than defense (i think a team can play great D 9 out of 10 games but even a great offense will drop a turd 3 out of 10) (3) build tendencies and cloak the playbook to increase the probability of winning the much tougher games.
so IF they manage to get past the NW, MN, NW, PU, WI, NE (which are on the whole evenly matched personnel wise) playing slow-ball, and then manage to stun the osu/psu/mi with surprise, theoretically a fantastic season. of course, in a close game, one bounce of the ball can dictate the result and most seasons it does a couple times showing the inexplicable losses. of course, there's also a great win or two thrown in which totally puzzles people. So I think KF is paradoxically trying to reach for the stars even though it appears otherwise.
Well, the coaches seem to be able to coach, pregame, scout, etc well enough to score more points than their opponents in the last 9 games.
Didn't feel the need to read this entire thread so someone probably has already made the point that OC is mostly an "honorary" title. The offense is most likely the same one Kirk ran in HS and he feels that if it worked then, it's good enough to stick with now.
“Not ready?” What in gods name are you talking about? When weren’t they “ready?”
I bet KF ran a lot of empty and single back sets in high school in the 1960’s. Sure.
Say we translate this same exact reasoning to teaching ....
The teacher (or coach) IS responsible for creating an excellent learning environment.
The teacher (or coach) IS responsible for creating assessment/evaluation strategies to discern if pupils are "learning" the material
The teacher (or coach) IS responsible for keeping up-to-date in their field ... and implementing innovations when it enhances the learning of their pupils.
The teacher (or coach) IS responsible for ensuring that the appropriate resources are available so that their pupils can empower themselves.
When you get to college though ... there IS also the expectation that the pupil starts taking an increasing amount of responsibility for themselves.
Specifically, ...
The pupil (or player) IS responsible for keeping on task, being organized, and having good study skills. [in the context of football ... this relates to BOTH drilling fundamentals on their own time AND doing film-study]
The pupil (or player) IS responsible for being detail oriented
The pupil (or player) IS responsible for putting in all the requisite work
The pupil (or player) IS responsible for remaining adequately motivated and invested
You can be the best teacher (or coach) in the world ... but that doesn't guarantee the success of all the players. Furthermore, in a team sport like football ... you're only as good as your weakest link.
So while good play by a team can be a reflection of the coaches ... it's ALSO a reflection of hard work and determination of the players themselves. A teacher (or coach) CANNOT make a student (or player) learn (or improve). Ultimately, the student (or player) is still responsible for themselves.
Similarly, the bad play of a team CAN be a reflection of the culpability of the coaches ... however, it can ALSO be a reflection of poor focus and/or execution by the players!
I'm not going to spend time reading through 7 pages of drivel to see if anyone has told you yet, but this pass to Ragaini is not a play action pass.
I don’t think that was the play I was commenting on. If it was, then I wasn’t paying attention on that play.
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And the deep TD to Charlie Jones that someone else claimed was PA - it wasn't either. (4:42 mark)
It was.
And the deep TD to Charlie Jones that someone else claimed was PA - it wasn't either. (4:42 mark)
Then I wasn’t paying close attention, which did happen a lot in that game with my sisters kids running around in circles.
To the bigger point, I would like to see some actual play action passes.
I don't see how it is skewed or cherry picking. It is comparing all of Petras' career (so far) to all of Brad Banks' career as starters, and the number of starts for each of them is very similar. I realize the two played in different eras, but Petras has led the Hawkeyes to a greater score total than any other Hawkeye QB starter since Banks graduated. He may not be what you want, but he has been more productive than anyone else if you use offensive scoring production as the metric, which may be the most important QB metric of all.
If I'm not mistaken, the '02 Hawks scored in every way you can score in football. (blocked FG returned, blocked PAT returned, fumble returned, pick six, punt return, kick off return, safety, etc.)
I think Brian had improved each year as a play caller. Iowa runs a ball control offense, even with the passing game. May have something to do with how DB’s are playing the WR‘s as far as long passes. Whether we like it or not, we value field position and no turnovers. That’s a recipe for conservative play.
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I know. I’ve seen it before too. It’s amazing. Correct me where I’m wrong, but it seems like most our play action involves a quarterback waggle where over half the field is eliminated. Do you believe that’s accurate?
Because Petras isn't responsible for the majority those points. You aren't taking into account how those points are being scored, his yards per attempt are way down, his passer rating isn't even approaching Stanley's numbers. Brad Banks had one of the greatest seasons ever as a QB for Iowa. I hope Petras ends up going off this year, and I'll happily be the first in line to eat crow if he does.
1.)Banks season 2002: 2573 yards passing, 9.8 yards/attempt, 26TDs to 5 ints, a 157.1 rating
2.) Petras in 2021: 460 yards passing, 5.5 yards/attempt, 4TDs to 0 ints, a 112.2 rating
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More of a QB being able to fit an offense that the Offense coordinator puts around him. Some QB's can be molded because they have the hips, feet, arm and processor to plug and play. Lamar can only play the type of offense Baltimore surrounds him with, in the NFL any offense with him would do the same to make him successful. He wouldn't be as successful in a Tom Brady offense and vice versa. Lamar wouldn't be successful in our offense though Tom being the GOAT would probably make ours look unstoppable.
Spencer is uncomfortable to watch if his first read is taken. His feet, hips, shoulders and eyes go in opposing directions. He's dysfunctional in a dirty pocket or rolling out with his FB or TE covered. Little things like Tom stepping up and buying a moment to make a throw or Lamar improvising. Again, they are the two best and in the NFL, Spencer shouldn't be judged like that but you need someone with the right skills and an OC who knows the limitations as well in what they have to work with. Spencer is great making strong throws off of initial reads either seams, outs, skinny posts. Problem lies if the brain has to process next level throws. Great kid, plenty of arm just needs to get out of his own way.
Spencer is uncomfortable to watch if his first read is taken. His feet, hips, shoulders and eyes go in opposing directions. He's dysfunctional in a dirty pocket or rolling out with his FB or TE covered. Little things like Tom stepping up and buying a moment to make a throw or Lamar improvising. Again, they are the two best and in the NFL, Spencer shouldn't be judged like that but you need someone with the right skills and an OC who knows the limitations as well in what they have to work with. Spencer is great making strong throws off of initial reads either seams, outs, skinny posts. Problem lies if the brain has to process next level throws. Great kid, plenty of arm just needs to get out of his own way.
Every year the defense and special teams accounts for points. Is it different the past two years compared to the past twenty?
True, but this comment was in response to the offensive production and how it compares to previous years. We shouldn't be giving credit for points to the offense that they had nothing to do with producing.
Exactly my point. Offensive efficiency is a much better representation or QBR of year to year statistics, and if you are claiming that Petras is the best QB since Banks. I think you should go have a look at the statistics.
I agree. I'm of the opinion that a TD should be worth 7 points, but with 1 point "at risk". On one untimed down you can either kick a field goal to secure the point, or advance the ball over the goal line to secure the point plus earn an extra point. Failing to do either of those, you forfeit the point. So essentially, you could have the following games:
1. 1 Off TD, missed "kick-after", 1 Def TD, missed "kick-after". Offense awarded 7 points, Defense -7 points, Special Teams -2 points.
2. 3 Off TD, 1 "kick-after", 1 missed "kick-after", 1 Off extra point ("go for two"), 1 ST TD, 1 "kick-after". Offense would earn 3x7 + 1x1 = 22 points, Special Teams earns: -1 + 7
Similarly safeties, pick-sixes, returned blocks/fumbles should count for/against whichever unit was on the field. Defense "gives up" 21 points but scores 28 off of turnovers... they get credited with -7 points (since lower is better).
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