i thought they were the weak link in the game. Didn't seem to fill the gaps very well.
linebackers
- Thread starter sadiehawkins
- Start date
You could be right (where is Heater and his "Things" game tape breakdown?) but Wisconsin's OL can make LB units look subpar.
Looked to me like the Dline was getting pushed downfield 5 yards every play. Not that our Dline played a bad game, I think it is a testament to how good Wisky's Oline is.
They played well enough to win this game. It all came down to errors. Iowa is not good enough to turn the ball over three times and beat a good team.
They are the weak link of the D. And yes there were again issues with positioning. Pass coverage issues from them as well. I think they're doing what they can, and their shortcomings weren't the biggest problem.
Wisconsin exposed numerous areas where this team is not Championship caliber. In a way we can thank them. Now the LB Corp and others can see where they don't measure up to great competition and work to change that. Doing so will yet lead to a good year for Iowa!
Hockaday played lights-out against Wisconsin. Welch was up and down. He made a mistake on the fullback wheel route. On the plus side he ran the guy down after he identified it. Niemann had a rough game. Overall, this was the worst game for the entire defense in regard to tackling.
I disagree with the LBs being the weakness of the defense. That would be CB. Ojemudia does a great job in run support but he has a giant target on him on passing downs.
I disagree with the LBs being the weakness of the defense. That would be CB. Ojemudia does a great job in run support but he has a giant target on him on passing downs.
So we lost because of our defense ......I must have been watching a different game??
Our defense didnt lose the game. Stupid special team mistakes and but offensive execution when we needed it.
Ojemudia was very good in run support - I was genuinely impressed with his play in that regard. As for coverage, he bit on a double-move ... most CBs in their careers have done that. All the same, he's still WAY BETTER in coverage than he was last year ... he's a young man who just keeps on improving. There's no way I'm going to fault a guy who continues to make that sort of improvement. If he keeps it up ... he could have have Bradley Fletcher sort of campaign as a SR!
The LBs demonstrated their general inexperience ... although I agree that Hockaday was solid. They'll learn.
I agree with this. The special teams mistakes were pretty bad. If those don't happen, the game has an entirely different outcome IMO.
When those mistakes happened, we were moving the ball at will on Wisconsin. I honestly believe if those mistakes don't happen, the Hawks may have won by a wide margin.
The reason we aren't seeing the epic meltdown we normally do is that maybe most fans saw a game where the better team didn't win. I know I believe Iowa was clearly the better team on Saturday.
The only complaint I have about the offense was the 4th and one early on. I agree with going for it. I just didn't agree with the QB sneak, because at that point Wisconsin knew it was coming. It definitely would have worked when we tried to hurry up and run that play. We had caught Wisconsin off guard by switching to a hurry up in that moment.
When the the play was blown dead to review the previous play, the play should have been switched. For the record, I don't believe that play needed to be reviewed. It was clear we didn't make a first down. Iowa was accepting of the spot. The officials should have let Iowa run that play being that both teams were seemingly OK with the spot.
Hindsight is 20/20 and I'm sure Brian Ferentz would like to have that play call back.
The special teams miscues were huge. In a game with such few possessions, you can't turn the ball over two times and you can't give up your own possessions. The fair catch on the 3 or whatever it was was big too.
The DL might have got pushed around a little, the LB's and DB's made some mistakes, but with those issues we still should have won the game. Now the bright side, Wisconsin really only had two good drives all night, the first and the last. Another plus is that Iowa will not face a line as good the rest of the season, and as the season goes the LB's and DB's will get better with experience.
With the 4th and 1 thing, I agree. Only problem was the sneak. They tried to motion Fant out to fake Wisconsin out but they weren't buying it. At that point they should have either called a timeout and kicked the FG or called a different play. It was a full yard and way to far for a QB sneak against their huge DL.
Then, not that Wisconsin didn't have enough beef on the field they brought in 300 lbs lineman as there three TE's. I guess that was there Jumbo where's the beef package. I was surprised that they did not continue with that as they has some success, although it does take most of there passing threat away.
The irony here is that if they hadn't blown the play dead to review, Iowa would have lost 5 yards and kicked the field goal. That could have changed the entire story of the game. If nothing else, Iowa would have been playing to get in FG range at the end instead of needing a TD.
