Oline was fantastic

[jonnyhawk]

Re-watched the game this morning. The line was awesome. They were all hitting their assignments on just about every play. Especially impressive given that OSU Dline was supposed to be outstanding.

Welsh and Daniels played great. Jackson and Wirfs looked very good too. Hard to believe they are freshman. The Reynolds/Render combo was also very good.

Also, Hockenson is a helluva blocker. And our fullbacks did well too.

The other thing is that Stanley was getting the ball out of his hands quickly. Loved the game plan and the execution was unbelievable.

 

[hawkeye54545]

The pass blocking has been mostly pretty good. I actually think it's been better than our run blocking this year which is a little odd for Iowa.

 

[Bearhawk0505]

The Freshman OTs more than held their own against future NFLers. Both our tackles are going to be monsters and possible high round picks if they work hard and avoid serious injuries.

 

[WWDMHawkeye]

Jackson and Wirfs are too big and talented not to start dominating eventually. Unfortunately, they were thrown into action prematurely due to the injuries to our starting OT's. But you could tell they started to master their assignments and technique yesterday. They really settled in and played great.

With the O-line settling into a rhythm now, I'd like our chances against MSU or NW very much right about now. Those injuries to the OT's really set us back offensively, but we're in a groove now. Next week in Madison will be very interesting. We'll be a tough out for the Badgers.

 

[hoffhawk]

Agree. I rewatched and paid a lot of attention to footwork for the OL. In previous games on the zone block, their first step was to the side and back, with the 2nd step following the same trajectory. Starting at the MN game in fits and starts, but coming through almost every play here, their first step was lateral and 2nd was down the line to slightly down the field. They were attacking the DL instead of waiting on runs. That gave them the op to get one guy off double-teams and into the second level. With a seam and a blocker (plus the FB coming, that usually left only one defender to meet the runner.....1 to 2 yards past the line. In previous games, RBs were being met at or behind. The even better news? Wirfs, while much improved as well as the rest of the line. There are several areas they can still improve in greatly and get even better. Wirfs is still missing some key blocks on runs, but actually goes on to a secondary rather than turning and looking at the guy he missed. That makes a HUGE difference to the tune of getting 1 or 2 yards on a play that 2 weeks ago would have been no gaiin or loss of 2. With some cracks and seams, we then started to see Wadley and Butler able to get some steam and still get 3 or 4 and fall forward, or break even bigger when able to put a move on a one-on-one and get by.

 

[DougFHawkeye]

Agree on the 0-line. I just re-watched it also and was very impressed with Ben Niemann...hell of a game.

 

[Bulldogs1974]

Wirfs and Jackson were not thrown into the fire. They ARE better than our injured tackles. They have been fantastic.

 

[desihawk]

Contrarian pov:
osu played us traditionally in the sense they didn't put 8 guys in the box like psu, nw, msu. So while BF called a good game and took advantage of what the Iowa D got him, I'm not sure we have solved the problem of how to deal with teams that heavily run blitz. I think we'll find out in Madison though.

Also 3rd and shorts continue to be monstrously difficult for us.

 

[nu2u]

I'm not sure we have solved the problem of how to deal with teams that heavily run blitz. I think we'll find out in Madison though

I agree - what a relief to see a standard defensive front from OSU.

I think you'll see more roll outs from Stanley next week. Wisconsin will have to account for Hockenson and Fant or they will pay a price. Hockenson over the middle should keep their LBs honest. Slant passes to Easley and MVB should be effective also.

 

[IAHWKGUY]

Contrarian pov:
osu played us traditionally in the sense they didn't put 8 guys in the box like psu, nw, msu. So while BF called a good game and took advantage of what the Iowa D got him, I'm not sure we have solved the problem of how to deal with teams that heavily run blitz. I think we'll find out in Madison though.

Also 3rd and shorts continue to be monstrously difficult for us.

Agreed, I saw and said the same thing. Our offense clearly works against a traditional D. I think OSU thought they could come in with superior athletes and beat us straight up. However, every time a team stacks the box we struggle. Blows my mind we can’t figure it out. But if Stanley is on like he was yesterday, and we throw a lot on first down, rather than try and force the run on teams, I think we can break it down and take advantage.

Also, I just can’t get over how crappy we are on third and 2 or closer. We have to figure that out. Wadley starting from 5-7 yds begins the los is not the answer. Stanley needs to learn how to pick these up, he has the size, that is for sure.

 

[Muskie5]

Contrarian pov:
osu played us traditionally in the sense they didn't put 8 guys in the box like psu, nw, msu. So while BF called a good game and took advantage of what the Iowa D got him, I'm not sure we have solved the problem of how to deal with teams that heavily run blitz. I think we'll find out in Madison though.

Also 3rd and shorts continue to be monstrously difficult for us.

When we had 2 TE's and/or a TE and FB, they most certainly did have 8 in the box. Where else would they be? Out defending air? Lol. I keep trying to explain this stuff to you folks but apparently you are incapable of understanding even the simplest scheme concepts. And people are talking about 'zone steps', but are completely wrong about proper zone steps. Also, we ran very little outside zone (stretch) and weren't real successful when we did. We ran a lot of what I said we would against a smaller, quicker D-line; a lot of 'power' lead plays with the fullback and a lot of our 'gap scheme'. This O-line is more geared for power, (drive blocking) and it showed yesterday. They were driving people off the ball going straight ahead. Jackson, Wirfs and Render do not move as well laterally (zone blocks) as most of our past O-linemen. Jackson and Wirfs are still really 'raw' to zone blocking so they should improve with experience. Zone blocking takes time to master, that is why it is so rare for us to have youngsters starting on the Oline. I hope this helped some of you.

 

[desihawk]

When we had 2 TE's and/or a TE and FB, they most certainly did have 8 in the box. Where else would they be? Out defending air? Lol. I keep trying to explain this stuff to you folks but apparently you are incapable of understanding even the simplest scheme concepts. And people are talking about 'zone steps', but are completely wrong about proper zone steps. Also, we ran very little outside zone (stretch) and weren't real successful when we did. We ran a lot of what I said we would against a smaller, quicker D-line; a lot of 'power' lead plays with the fullback and a lot of our 'gap scheme'. This O-line is more geared for power, (drive blocking) and it showed yesterday. They were driving people off the ball going straight ahead. Jackson, Wirfs and Render do not move as well laterally (zone blocks) as most of our past O-linemen. Jackson and Wirfs are still really 'raw' to zone blocking so they should improve with experience. Zone blocking takes time to master, that is why it is so rare for us to have youngsters starting on the Oline. I hope this helped some of you.

My point was that OSU did not overcrowd the los to constantly run disguised run blitzes for most of the game.Their modus operandi was unlike nw, msu, psu whose defensive schemes against us had that similarity. I'm sure you could have deduced what I meant but just in case the entire game is now on youtube to verify. I do agree that our OL was driving their DL off the los which came as a pleasant surprise and could be in part as you pontificated due to a different mix of blocking schemes -- but the lack of osu players in the backfield as a result of blitz related confusion was equally striking.

Aside: If I offended you in some other thread, be assured that it was inadvertent because regardless of the merits of your post you come off way too curmudgeonish after a big win.

 

[Muskie5]

My point was that OSU did not overcrowd the los to constantly run disguised run blitzes for most of the game.Their modus operandi was unlike nw, msu, psu whose defensive schemes against us had that similarity. I'm sure you could have deduced what I meant but just in case the entire game is now on youtube to verify. I do agree that our OL was driving their DL off the los which came as a pleasant surprise and could be in part as you pontificated due to a different mix of blocking schemes -- but the lack of osu players in the backfield as a result of blitz related confusion was equally striking.

Aside: If I offended you in some other thread, be assured that it was inadvertent because regardless of the merits of your post you come off way too curmudgeonish after a big win.

Some of the teams that were 'run blitzing' us are keying outside zone steps (stretch). 'If the line outside zone steps to the left, play side backer will immediately shoot the B gap', or, 'playside safety will crash C gap if stretching their way', etc. Ohio St. keyed the same thing, we just didn't show a lot of that. Go watch what they do when we actually run a 'stretch' play. The outside runs that we had a couple nice gains on were 'pin and pull' plays, that we haven't run much (if at all) this year, which kind of surprises me, but this game we ran mostly 'power' and 'gap scheme' (which can look like outside zone because the O lineman(men) may have to 'reach' to get to his gap responsibility. It's all quite fascinating.

 

[Muskie5]

Just rewatched the 1st qtr. and we only ran one 'outside zone' (stretch) play the whole qtr. This is why I give people a hard time when the say we just ' run up the gut' (etc.) because they don't know what they are looking at or what 'schemes' we are using. There are HUGE differences once you understand what you're looking at.

 

[jdv77]

Agreed, I saw and said the same thing. Our offense clearly works against a traditional D. I think OSU thought they could come in with superior athletes and beat us straight up. However, every time a team stacks the box we struggle. Blows my mind we can’t figure it out. But if Stanley is on like he was yesterday, and we throw a lot on first down, rather than try and force the run on teams, I think we can break it down and take advantage.

Interestingly, ESPN's article on the best college QBs of the week says that Stanley was blitzed on 15 of 32 dropbacks. I would have thought that it was a much lower percentage than that. It suggests that OSU did not play Iowa straight up as much as they were perceived to play.

 

[IAHWKGUY]

Interestingly, ESPN's article on the best college QBs of the week says that Stanley was blitzed on 15 of 32 dropbacks. I would have thought that it was a much lower percentage than that. It suggests that OSU did not play Iowa straight up as much as they were perceived to play.

Someone posted all plays video that is only 18 minutes long. It’s perfect for this kind of anslyis. I want to rewatch and log how often they play straight up, how often they blitz, etc

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

Apart from Stanley's accuracy on the Fantasy deep ball, this was the most impressive and (to me) surprising part of yesterday's performance. Both lines were stellar, and our o-line deserves much of the credit. And how many bat downs and disruptions did our d-line have?

 

[Franisdaman]

The pass blocking has been mostly pretty good. I actually think it's been better than our run blocking this year which is a little odd for Iowa.

agree with you; i am surprised Stanley has not taken more hits.

Everyone: Do you think Nate has a better pocket presence than CJ?

 

[Franisdaman]

Jackson and Wirfs are too big and talented not to start dominating eventually. Unfortunately, they were thrown into action prematurely due to the injuries to our starting OT's. But you could tell they started to master their assignments and technique yesterday. They really settled in and played great.

With the O-line settling into a rhythm now, I'd like our chances against MSU or NW very much right about now. Those injuries to the OT's really set us back offensively, but we're in a groove now. Next week in Madison will be very interesting. We'll be a tough out for the Badgers.

yeah, i just want us to continue to take steps forward and build for a great end of season, off season and 2018

 

[Franisdaman]

Agreed, I saw and said the same thing. Our offense clearly works against a traditional D. I think OSU thought they could come in with superior athletes and beat us straight up. However, every time a team stacks the box we struggle. Blows my mind we can’t figure it out. But if Stanley is on like he was yesterday, and we throw a lot on first down, rather than try and force the run on teams, I think we can break it down and take advantage.

Also, I just can’t get over how crappy we are on third and 2 or closer. We have to figure that out. Wadley starting from 5-7 yds begins the los is not the answer. Stanley needs to learn how to pick these up, he has the size, that is for sure.

when teams don't know if we are going to pass or run on 1st down, we are much better, imo

and i agree with you; i was surprised OSU did not try to blitz more and try to shake things up a bit

 

[Hawki45]

when teams don't know if we are going to pass or run on 1st down, we are much better, imo

and i agree with you; i was surprised OSU did not try to blitz more and try to shake things up a bit

I️ was thinking the same thing. Did BF play calling on first downs have anything to do with tOSU not stacking the box? I️ certainly think it did. Great win is an understatement. OLine dominated their studs.

 

[Franisdaman]

I️ was thinking the same thing. Did BF play calling on first downs have anything to do with tOSU not stacking the box? I️ certainly think it did. Great win is an understatement. OLine dominated their studs.

and when you have 2 TE's going out for passes, and the LB's have to cover, that creates some serious mismatches;