It should come as no surprise that the most dominant player on a Kirk Ferentz team might just be the punter ... "but can he punt" ... hell yeah, he can!
So this leads into this weeks "reveals" ... (last week I mentioned some reveals that got me thinking from the IU game ... continuing that theme ...)
Reveal #1: We flashed a new punt protection against ISU ... we showed it twice ... but only used it once (if memory serves).
This one is actually pretty important and pretty obvious. Tory Taylor is a freaking assassin! Opposing teams are going to start coming after him because he's such a lethal weapon. Flashing a new protection gives opposing special teams more that they have to prep for ... potentially making it harder for them to specialize in exploiting just one of our protections.
Reveal #2: Goodson continues to "keep" from the Wildcat. Obviously, a big part of having us use the Wildcat is to get the ball directly into Tyler's hands ... and then (hopefully) also give him the numbers advantage as it relates to the blockers. Thus, it's not necessarily so egregious that he has always been keeping. However, is part of the deal here that maybe he's been also instructed to keep it? Iowa has a tendency to purposely establish tendencies so that they can exploit opposing Ds when they depart from tendency. Iowa fans often lament this observation ... claiming that Iowa's O is predictable. However, this is also the very reason why the Hawks tend to have a lot of success in the play-action game. As Fitzy has always said about the Hawks ... the Hawks really try to "choose" their shots.
Reveal #3: Using I-formation personnel ... splitting Goodson out wide ... and then still giving the ball to the fullback down the middle. This affords Iowa the ability to attempt to be "multiple" ... even with our I-formation personnel. By the way ... perhaps I'm biased ... but Pottebaum really impressed me last year as a FB ... one of the best first years of starts by a FB at Iowa that I remember seeing in a while (and that was even in a covid-shortened season). I can see why the coaches want to see if they can get more flexibility and usage out of that personnel group. It not only affords us with a short-yardage running option ... but it allows us to get Goodson out in space while still providing Spencer an extra blocking in the backfield. And, of course, we can always motion Goodson back to tailback ... and Pottebaum can play the role of the lead-blocker too.
Reveal #4: Last week, one the of the surprising defensive reveals was the willingness to move VanValkenburg all over the place. I believe that I noted seeing him at LDE, RDE, ... and he even lined up for a snap at one of the DT spots. This week, one of the newer "reveals" was giving Evans every-down reps. Last week, he was used exclusively in our pass-rush package. I wonder if the "lack" of reveal last week against IU was intentional ... I actually doubt it. I anticipate that our early lead afforded the coaches an opportunity to give Craig and Hurkett extra game reps.
So this leads into this weeks "reveals" ... (last week I mentioned some reveals that got me thinking from the IU game ... continuing that theme ...)
Reveal #1: We flashed a new punt protection against ISU ... we showed it twice ... but only used it once (if memory serves).
This one is actually pretty important and pretty obvious. Tory Taylor is a freaking assassin! Opposing teams are going to start coming after him because he's such a lethal weapon. Flashing a new protection gives opposing special teams more that they have to prep for ... potentially making it harder for them to specialize in exploiting just one of our protections.
Reveal #2: Goodson continues to "keep" from the Wildcat. Obviously, a big part of having us use the Wildcat is to get the ball directly into Tyler's hands ... and then (hopefully) also give him the numbers advantage as it relates to the blockers. Thus, it's not necessarily so egregious that he has always been keeping. However, is part of the deal here that maybe he's been also instructed to keep it? Iowa has a tendency to purposely establish tendencies so that they can exploit opposing Ds when they depart from tendency. Iowa fans often lament this observation ... claiming that Iowa's O is predictable. However, this is also the very reason why the Hawks tend to have a lot of success in the play-action game. As Fitzy has always said about the Hawks ... the Hawks really try to "choose" their shots.
Reveal #3: Using I-formation personnel ... splitting Goodson out wide ... and then still giving the ball to the fullback down the middle. This affords Iowa the ability to attempt to be "multiple" ... even with our I-formation personnel. By the way ... perhaps I'm biased ... but Pottebaum really impressed me last year as a FB ... one of the best first years of starts by a FB at Iowa that I remember seeing in a while (and that was even in a covid-shortened season). I can see why the coaches want to see if they can get more flexibility and usage out of that personnel group. It not only affords us with a short-yardage running option ... but it allows us to get Goodson out in space while still providing Spencer an extra blocking in the backfield. And, of course, we can always motion Goodson back to tailback ... and Pottebaum can play the role of the lead-blocker too.
Reveal #4: Last week, one the of the surprising defensive reveals was the willingness to move VanValkenburg all over the place. I believe that I noted seeing him at LDE, RDE, ... and he even lined up for a snap at one of the DT spots. This week, one of the newer "reveals" was giving Evans every-down reps. Last week, he was used exclusively in our pass-rush package. I wonder if the "lack" of reveal last week against IU was intentional ... I actually doubt it. I anticipate that our early lead afforded the coaches an opportunity to give Craig and Hurkett extra game reps.
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