I read posts like this and am left almost speechless. It's akin to, "Our DL is bad, so change the LB/DB/etc."
Rewatch = Perspective
- Thread starter NCHawkeye24
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THAT is the one that is a head scratcher. The play is designed to get pressure on the QB but he threw it like he was scared the defensive player was coming after him hard. That had a BIG gain if not TD written all over it. It was also telling to me we did not try it again the rest of the game.
If Petras is the best we have then our QB recruiting sucks. BTW, I think it does. Along with the QB coaching.
The line was just bad overall. They will have so much film to go over. It never looked like they were all in synch.
Wasn't there a dude not long ago, maybe on Twitter, that used to break down the film of the games and some of the best and worst of the game?
He was lucky to have 2 seconds most of the time with 4 guys rushing. Yeah, he had a bad game and missed some throws he definitely should not but the OL was very, very bad.
Alex played 13 quarters with the starters, more than three full games. He certainly would have taken all the practice snaps with the starters before the Gophers, the Illini and the Bug Eaters. He played about two more full games with reserves, or reserves mixed with starters.
Alex's completed only 41.8% of attempts in his three starts. That is not cherry picking a single good or bad game. Alex remained under .500 for the entire season. That is a very inaccurate quarterback, would you not agree? Upon further reflection I think the KJ TD was a shorter difference, but still involved KJ catching an overthrown ball, breaking a tackle and then taking it in for more like 30-40 yards. Boilermaker Charlie got behind the D and Alex found and hit him. That's it, both TDs. One a terrible throw and a great play by the receiver. But that's it. Both TDs in one game and out of 112 attempts. That is one TD per 56 attempts. To put that in perspective, Petras' unacceptably bad play was twice as good-1 TD per 28.8 attempts.
Alex never showed his mobility was productive. His longest run was 6 yards and Petras, the least agile QB I can ever remember suiting up for Iowa, had longer runs than that-with a long of 9.
I'd say we saw what Alex could do all last season. He had one OK game, coming off the bench to beat the worst team in the Division (or was that Nebraska?). He had a kind of OK game, against the Gophers-certainly tossed two TDs but the rest of his play was terrible. The rest of the play was disastrously bad.
It's time to leave those two guys in the rearview mirror. Most of the offensive starters arrived in the last couple of classes. Let's get the QB recruited for that group throwing them the ball.
Alex's completed only 41.8% of attempts in his three starts. That is not cherry picking a single good or bad game. Alex remained under .500 for the entire season. That is a very inaccurate quarterback, would you not agree? Upon further reflection I think the KJ TD was a shorter difference, but still involved KJ catching an overthrown ball, breaking a tackle and then taking it in for more like 30-40 yards. Boilermaker Charlie got behind the D and Alex found and hit him. That's it, both TDs. One a terrible throw and a great play by the receiver. But that's it. Both TDs in one game and out of 112 attempts. That is one TD per 56 attempts. To put that in perspective, Petras' unacceptably bad play was twice as good-1 TD per 28.8 attempts.
Alex never showed his mobility was productive. His longest run was 6 yards and Petras, the least agile QB I can ever remember suiting up for Iowa, had longer runs than that-with a long of 9.
I'd say we saw what Alex could do all last season. He had one OK game, coming off the bench to beat the worst team in the Division (or was that Nebraska?). He had a kind of OK game, against the Gophers-certainly tossed two TDs but the rest of his play was terrible. The rest of the play was disastrously bad.
It's time to leave those two guys in the rearview mirror. Most of the offensive starters arrived in the last couple of classes. Let's get the QB recruited for that group throwing them the ball.
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Based on what we've seen, Alex isn't the best long-term option, but it's highly unlikely we would see anyone except Spencer and/or Alex on Saturday. Hopefully, though, Joey gets to make his debut, even if only a cameo, against Nevada.
If you need to again to be reminded what "were Iowa is", dvd the Iowa game against the power house program of the Kentucky Wildcats against the Spencer Petras's Iowa Hawkeyes on ESPNU tomorrow afternoon the 7th Sept. at 3pm. I'm sure it was a great accomplishment that Iowa and Kirk led Iowa to another bowl game that was totally meaningless and Iowa played like they didn't care to be there either, just like the BIG championship game against Michigan. You do remember that game, don't you? I'm sure that Kirk and his assistant coaches got a wonderful monetary reward for getting boat raced in that game....
You sound bitter. Did you write their bonus checks? You have to admit though it's always funny the people who get hung up about our play in "a totally meaningless bowl game". I mean if its really meaningless then why do people complain about what happened in the game? It doesn't matter right? It's "just a totally meaningless game". I know, I know, we all want our cake and eat it too right? So as for the conference championship game, at least we were IN the game. Thats "where Iowa is", or was last year. Or is it your claim that the other 6 teams in the west don't care if they're in the game?
That was a solid offense, when healthy, run by a fantastic quarterback.
Kirk has done well bringing back former players. Lol
Except in 2020 and were they good last year prior to Braelon Allen becoming the starter?
Not a bad assessment, and makes sense vis-a-vis playing guys from the same recruiting class together in light of current failures.
Because we've seen hes not. If you're a statue, thats fine, but it requires a decent line and surgical accuracy.
If you're inaccurate, that can be mitigated, but there needs to be other threats - preferably mobility from the QB. SP has shown to be both a statue as well as woefully inaccurate. At least put someone back that who's either/or, not both.
This is probably the best long term answer.
Yes Iowa has a young o-line - DejOng was pretty poor and Logan Jones is not ready for B1G football at the center spot - that said- i am not sure it matters.
SP misses throws that a QB of his age and experience should make in his sleep- the missed screen should NEVER be at that speed and that far off target- you practice that play everytime from mid-school on to expect a d-lineman coming at you quickly. The short out pass to the left to LaP with SP rolling that direction- was 4 + feet behind him. Almost impossible. Then- the pass late in the game to Wick on the deep in-route. That should be almost automatic and SP missed low and way away. Again the degrees to which he is missing is completely unfixable. IMO There were others of course. the pass that was intercepted SP had two other terrific open options and he was just locked onto LaP. The other ball that should he tried to force to Lachey that was knocked down- well,- it should have been picked.
SP misses throws that a QB of his age and experience should make in his sleep- the missed screen should NEVER be at that speed and that far off target- you practice that play everytime from mid-school on to expect a d-lineman coming at you quickly. The short out pass to the left to LaP with SP rolling that direction- was 4 + feet behind him. Almost impossible. Then- the pass late in the game to Wick on the deep in-route. That should be almost automatic and SP missed low and way away. Again the degrees to which he is missing is completely unfixable. IMO There were others of course. the pass that was intercepted SP had two other terrific open options and he was just locked onto LaP. The other ball that should he tried to force to Lachey that was knocked down- well,- it should have been picked.
How many times does it have to be said? Every pro and college team in America zone blocks, and so do most high schools. Iowa also used the gap scheme in the game where linemen double team to the inside and pull the backside guard. That didn’t work either. It is not the scheme, it is the players. Example: on one inside zone play vs. a five man defensive line the center and tackles were covered and the guards were uncovered. The playside guard and tackle double team combo blocked the DT to the playside backer. They did a great job and got it done. The center and backside guard were supposed to double team combo the NG to the backside backer, but the center came off the double team way too early and blocked the playside backer instead, which allowed penetration by the NG and left the backside backer unblocked. In addition, the backside tackle took a shitty angle, allowing the backside DT to penetrate. The same thing happened with different guys screwing up all game long. They looked like they had not been coached. I coached zone blocking at the high school level for years and I promise you that my guys were always better prepared than what I saw on the recorded replay. Block the right guy with the proper technique and you always have a chance. In this game, we had no chance.
The timing on that screen pass was even all f'ed up. Seems like they let the defender release too quickly and Petras turned to throw and the dude was right in his face already.
There was some interesting commentary on that play by Mark Helfrich. Clearly Petra’s was being pressured and clearly he supposed to be pressured. MH’s comment was that maybe SP was a little lazy in the drop back, maybe he needed to get a little more depth so the pressure wasn’t an issue. I think MH is right. I don’t know of SP didn’t get enough depth, or if he played it exactly liked he was coached to play it. Bottom line is that when he turned back to throw the screen, a defender was engaging him. If SP gets more depth, as MH says he should, it’s a touchdown. This is one of those details/execution things that matter. We’ll never know why - whether it be coaching or execution - what was a very good play call didn’t work.
Would have helped had the RB #4 chipped the guy blitzing off his side to give Petras another second to make the throw before going out to receive the pass.
Also would've helped if Spencer didn't whince and turn like a b**** right as he threw the ball for fear of getting hit............
Thank you for that great analysis, I can tell you really know what you are talking about, definitely more so than me. To my untrained eye they certainly do not look like they know what they are supposed to be doing. My question has been with respect to the offensive line why KF wouldn't fix that himself. Or even Brian, he was a pretty good offensive line coach wasn't he? Are the last two that bad or do you think the players are not that good? My question is what do you think the root problems are and how would you fix them?
Also, as an offensive line coach, is it easier to coach a gap blocking scheme or a zone blocking scheme or does it matter?
They should have live hits in practice. Toss the red jerseys for a practice or two a week. Make it real.
It is not easy to tell when you are not at practice. I can’t say that the players are terrible or that they are not coached well. It is likely a combination of the two with one factor being more to blame than the other. In the end a position coach has to take ownership, although that is not for public consumption.
I do not think one scheme is any easier than the other, although most teams will emphasize one scheme more than the other. Wisconsin emphasizes gap scheme, but still runs zone. Minnesota runs outside zone very well and runs a form of gap scheme with no pullers called Duo. But zone principles are part of gap scheme also because in a gap double team, one of the players will come off the block for a backer. It all boils down to execution, and frankly, the Gophers are better at outside zone now than Iowa is.
C'mon, his first and only starts were against division opponents, and it's not like Padilla ever had any significant time playing prior that wasn't "hand-off and don't fumble." You are expecting him to come out fully formed, while many good quarterbacks stumbled until they got up to speed.
No, he might not be a savior for the offense, but he just might allow for some rollout or a sidestep that helps everything while the new line gets better. The jury is still out.
When you don't have a QB that is at least somewhat mobile, you completely eliminate a possibility that on a 3rd down and 3-5 yards that your QB can get to the sticks if the play breaks down or he doesn't like the read. That is a real problem.
I’m geeking out on this stuff! Thank you for the analysis! The laughy face crew could learn a thing or two.
I’m not sure if you saw it, but Mike Tomlin was on a podcast or something, talking about how prospects are talked about during the draft process. The gist of his dialogue was that players are unfairly labeled by what they can and can’t do, because it’s up to coaches to develop those skills. When I watch our OL play, and the struggles they’re having (which are in exact correlation with the hiring of this position coach and the firing of Doyle), I can’t help but think; either the teachers aren’t teaching, or the players aren’t learning.
That doesn't change the reality of his play, terrible. Yes, his three starts were against Big Ten opponents. It is not like he was a rookie starting, 3rd year in the program, etc... His 41% completion rate as a starter is not playable. His overall percentage of 49.1% is not playable.
The mobility wasn't any different. I don't know how to find the exact stats but coincidentally ESPN show Petras was sacked 24 times and Padilla 8. It looks like the sack ratio was about the same for both. Alex is the worst QB to start for Iowa since Scott Mullen. Indeed, if you take away just two plays he might have had the lowest seasonal QB rating in the history of college football.
Maybe Alex has improved and very significantly so. At this point I'm willing to settle for Padilla if we just see something that breathes life into this offense. But Alex should be on a very short leash too. If he comes out looking the same as last year then he needs about a half before we start the new era.
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Just because the topic relates to rewatch ... my focus was more on the D ...
Morsels I found interesting
Morsels I found interesting
- DL played 9 guys ... past the 2-deeps Louie Stec was the 9th guy in
- Van Ness was "deployed" ... he played on the interior AND at both DE spots
- When Jacobs was in ... the LBs were being schemed as if they were nearly interchangeable parts. Benson was lined up on the LOS like a LEO on a number of downs ... with Jacobs playing the WILL. Similarly, when we went 4-2 ... Jacobs was staying on the field too.
- As most noted ... DeJean was a starting CB for us.
- Terry Roberts was the first extra DB in ... he acquitted himself VERY well through the game.
- DeJean and Roberts "popped out" to me in run-support
- Schulte was as "present" in the run-support as I would have expected ... but he as arguably better against the pass than I expected
- On third and longs, we mostly kept our DTs in (didn't use our pass-rush package too much)
That was an awesome post my friend! One question- how painful was it the second time you watched it? I pray the Hawks can put a drubbing on Iowa State like the Hayden Fry days….just an all out murder of the ketchup and mustard
