Back by popular demand are my objective, non-homer thoughts on today's matchup against Miami of Ohio. Top 10 observations:
1. DL - Wow, Nelsen is going to be a stud! Both Nelsens, for that matter. Typical hard working Iowa boys, but with atypical frames. So tall, great motors, and good instincts. The DL is in good hands for years to come. They will still have some growing pains, and I don't see them being a force against top OLs, but really good start.
2. Special Teams/PK/Punter - Major kudos to the kicking game! Coluzzi is the man...showing a better kickoff leg than even Koehn last year. And how about the true freshmen walkon, Duncan, who is being counted on to be a top 15 team's key playin in close games. His extra points were so crisp and perfect (again, an upgrade vs. Koehn). Punting game was solid as well, with no shanks. WTF are we doing playing our top LB on the punt return team? That's a kamikaze position and we can ill afford to have jewel hurt.
3. CB - I feel bad for King. I'm not sure it was in his best interest to come back to Iowa this year after winning the Thorpe. Teams aren't going to throw at him, his stats are going to go down, and it's possible that teams may not even kick/punt to him this season. He had an amazing return called back by an illegal block. He's a man among boys, and I hope we get the ball in his hands any way we can.
4. CB - Speaking of feeling bad for a CB, Mabin is going to get picked on all year long. He was lit up today, and I don't think the schedule is going to let up on him, as this was one of the easiest WR/QB combos we will play all year.
5. RBs - RBs played great, as can be expected against such a crappy opponent. I remain on team Wadley, though, and am still mystified as to what he needs to do to start. He averaged over 10 yards per carry today, and had 121 yrds. That's not to take away from Daniels' performance, but I think it's clear just as it was all last year that Wadley is a special talent. Speaking of special talent, wtf was going on where Mitchell didn't get to play until AFTER a true freshmen, and only got 2 carries with 1 min to play? Wasn't he at the very least supposed to be our stud 3rd down back? He's obviously not hurt, as he did play in mop up duty.
6. QB - CJ had a serviceable game. While his all-Big 10 competition at QB had amazing games (OSU's QB threw for 6 TDs, and Mich's QB had a great game), CJ seemed a little like the Jake Rudock of 2 years ago. Tentative, mostly check downs, and his avg throw was 3 yrds ahead of the line of scrimmage to the sideline. He's playing Ferentz style, playing it safe and not making plays with his feet. 13-20 for 192 yrds is a good stat line, but not a stud stat line, esp when most of the yards were YAC yards.
7. Burning of Redshirts - well now we know, Stanley has gone from high school player to our #2. I'm excited about his future, though I'm not sure it made sense to burn his redshirt to hand off the ball a couple of times in mop up duty. What happens to Wiegers now? I hope Cook is taking reps at TE. We also burned the redshirt on a true frosh WR so that he could run two routes with 1 min to play without any targets. Toks looked good as a mop up RB, and I think it made sense to get him in there.
8. Scheel - oh the curious case of Jay Scheel rears its head again. Another spring game sensation (2nd yr in a row), and made waves by being named a starter, only to not play today. I hope he isn't seriously injured, as I was really really looking forward to see what he could do for us this year. He's the kind of athlete we desperately need this year.
9. WRs - I'm sorry, but Riley McCarron is not a starting Big 10 WR. It's a nice story that he works hard and walked on, but his hands are suspect, as is his speed. Smith had a solid game, and was called out by the TV guys for having some nice blocks, so let's hope he can kick it up to the next level.
10. Coaching - I'm not sure if it was new Kirk or old Kirk, but what was with going for it on 4th and 7 from like the 15 yard line with a big lead when that was the perfect chance to give the true frosh kicker game experience with a field goal? The play worked out, and we scored a TD, but it was a head scratcher call. Other than that, the play calling was decent. Loved the flea flicker, and we threw down field maybe twice, but overall, conservative play calling. No fake punts or risk taking. I suspect that was a result of the weak opponent and not showing our cards.
1. DL - Wow, Nelsen is going to be a stud! Both Nelsens, for that matter. Typical hard working Iowa boys, but with atypical frames. So tall, great motors, and good instincts. The DL is in good hands for years to come. They will still have some growing pains, and I don't see them being a force against top OLs, but really good start.
2. Special Teams/PK/Punter - Major kudos to the kicking game! Coluzzi is the man...showing a better kickoff leg than even Koehn last year. And how about the true freshmen walkon, Duncan, who is being counted on to be a top 15 team's key playin in close games. His extra points were so crisp and perfect (again, an upgrade vs. Koehn). Punting game was solid as well, with no shanks. WTF are we doing playing our top LB on the punt return team? That's a kamikaze position and we can ill afford to have jewel hurt.
3. CB - I feel bad for King. I'm not sure it was in his best interest to come back to Iowa this year after winning the Thorpe. Teams aren't going to throw at him, his stats are going to go down, and it's possible that teams may not even kick/punt to him this season. He had an amazing return called back by an illegal block. He's a man among boys, and I hope we get the ball in his hands any way we can.
4. CB - Speaking of feeling bad for a CB, Mabin is going to get picked on all year long. He was lit up today, and I don't think the schedule is going to let up on him, as this was one of the easiest WR/QB combos we will play all year.
5. RBs - RBs played great, as can be expected against such a crappy opponent. I remain on team Wadley, though, and am still mystified as to what he needs to do to start. He averaged over 10 yards per carry today, and had 121 yrds. That's not to take away from Daniels' performance, but I think it's clear just as it was all last year that Wadley is a special talent. Speaking of special talent, wtf was going on where Mitchell didn't get to play until AFTER a true freshmen, and only got 2 carries with 1 min to play? Wasn't he at the very least supposed to be our stud 3rd down back? He's obviously not hurt, as he did play in mop up duty.
6. QB - CJ had a serviceable game. While his all-Big 10 competition at QB had amazing games (OSU's QB threw for 6 TDs, and Mich's QB had a great game), CJ seemed a little like the Jake Rudock of 2 years ago. Tentative, mostly check downs, and his avg throw was 3 yrds ahead of the line of scrimmage to the sideline. He's playing Ferentz style, playing it safe and not making plays with his feet. 13-20 for 192 yrds is a good stat line, but not a stud stat line, esp when most of the yards were YAC yards.
7. Burning of Redshirts - well now we know, Stanley has gone from high school player to our #2. I'm excited about his future, though I'm not sure it made sense to burn his redshirt to hand off the ball a couple of times in mop up duty. What happens to Wiegers now? I hope Cook is taking reps at TE. We also burned the redshirt on a true frosh WR so that he could run two routes with 1 min to play without any targets. Toks looked good as a mop up RB, and I think it made sense to get him in there.
8. Scheel - oh the curious case of Jay Scheel rears its head again. Another spring game sensation (2nd yr in a row), and made waves by being named a starter, only to not play today. I hope he isn't seriously injured, as I was really really looking forward to see what he could do for us this year. He's the kind of athlete we desperately need this year.
9. WRs - I'm sorry, but Riley McCarron is not a starting Big 10 WR. It's a nice story that he works hard and walked on, but his hands are suspect, as is his speed. Smith had a solid game, and was called out by the TV guys for having some nice blocks, so let's hope he can kick it up to the next level.
10. Coaching - I'm not sure if it was new Kirk or old Kirk, but what was with going for it on 4th and 7 from like the 15 yard line with a big lead when that was the perfect chance to give the true frosh kicker game experience with a field goal? The play worked out, and we scored a TD, but it was a head scratcher call. Other than that, the play calling was decent. Loved the flea flicker, and we threw down field maybe twice, but overall, conservative play calling. No fake punts or risk taking. I suspect that was a result of the weak opponent and not showing our cards.
