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Sacks...# games in from last year to this year!

I wouldn't look into it too much quite yet. Teams are scheming to do a lot of quick releases passes against us, and we're playing great defense against those schemes. I would be willing to guess that our QB pressure is about as high as it was this time of year last year, and that's almost as valuable.
 
I wouldn't look into it too much quite yet. Teams are scheming to do a lot of quick releases passes against us, and we're playing great defense against those schemes. I would be willing to guess that our QB pressure is about as high as it was this time of year last year, and that's almost as valuable.
Let’s wait & see how we do against NW before we determine if we’re covering the quick passes well or not.
 
About what you would expect with the players we lost. I think we are in pretty good shape and will continue to improve as we get injured guys back on the field. One thing I am not seeing as much is our D linemen getting their hands up to interfere with the passing game. Maybe we're saving that for Michigan...........
 
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As a few others have alluded to, there are a number of factors involved with those numbers. Two of the three teams they have played made it a priority to get out quick passes to avoided the pass rush. The one team that didn’t (Rutgers) they shut out and put a ton of pressure on.

All that really matters is how many points they are giving up. As we know, besides two uncharacteristic breakdowns by the 4th string DB against Iowa St, Iowa’s Defense has essentially given up 3 points in the last 2 games. Sacks aren’t everything. If teams have to continue to hame plan for AJ and change up their Offensive scheme for fear of him and the DL wreaking havoc, doesn’t that benefit Iowa?
 
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As a few others have alluded to, there are a number of factors involved with those numbers. Two of the three teams they have played made it a priority to get out quick passes to avoided the pass rush. The one team that didn’t (Rutgers) they shut out and put a ton of pressure on.

All that really matters is how many points they are giving up. As we know, besides two uncharacteristic breakdowns by the 4th string DB against Iowa St, Iowa’s Defense has essentially given up 3 points in the last 2 games. Sacks aren’t everything. If teams have to continue to hame plan for AJ and change up their Offensive scheme for fear of him and the DL wreaking havoc, doesn’t that benefit Iowa?

Pass D wasnt good vs. Miami(OH) or ISU. It’s not that other teams have great athletes, or that they’re making tough catches. They’re open. We’re not doing a great job of covering. It’s clear that missing players in the secondary is really hampering our ability to defend, and pressure the QB.
 
Pass D wasnt good vs. Miami(OH) or ISU. It’s not that other teams have great athletes, or that they’re making tough catches. They’re open. We’re not doing a great job of covering. It’s clear that missing players in the secondary is really hampering our ability to defend, and pressure the QB.
Agreed, low sacks and TFL are not just reflective of DL production, especially so in this case. We lost a great rushing DE in Nelson and the coverage has made it easier to avoid pressure.
 
The teams that have the personnel to execute the short pass strategy against us will do so all season long. While that strategy might work well in with the long field, it will break down in the short field. As someone mentioned previously, the most important stat is not to give up too many points. I think we have accomplished that so far.
 
Pass D wasnt good vs. Miami(OH) or ISU. It’s not that other teams have great athletes, or that they’re making tough catches. They’re open. We’re not doing a great job of covering. It’s clear that missing players in the secondary is really hampering our ability to defend, and pressure the QB.

I won’t disagree with Iowa St. There were obviously two glaring mistakes and they did find some seams on the mid-level routes. But at the end of the day Iowa bent but did not break.

Miami they were fine. The first TD was a perfect throw and great catch. That happens. Gabbert made some very good throws in the game and they made a couple of very good catches in tight coverage.

Yes, they need to improve and getting players back in the secondary should be very beneficial. But my initial point was the lack of sacks could be contributed to a few other things besides just the simple they aren’t very good.
 
We were abysmal in 2008 in terms of sacks, but that was the best defense we’ve had under Kirk.

I would like to see better coverage though, and I think we’re really close. We started jumping routes late against ISU, and they had an overall tougher time moving the ball.
 
Let’s wait & see how we do against NW before we determine if we’re covering the quick passes well or not.
It's usually more about how we do offensively against Northwestern. 10 pts isn't gonna cut it.

We held them to 14, it's just that they gashed us in the run game more than usual and our offense was in its usual middle of the conference season slumber.

We should probably try to avoid that this year..........just sayin.
 
I won’t disagree with Iowa St. There were obviously two glaring mistakes and they did find some seams on the mid-level routes. But at the end of the day Iowa bent but did not break.

Miami they were fine. The first TD was a perfect throw and great catch. That happens. Gabbert made some very good throws in the game and they made a couple of very good catches in tight coverage.

Yes, they need to improve and getting players back in the secondary should be very beneficial. But my initial point was the lack of sacks could be contributed to a few other things besides just the simple they aren’t very good.

The idea is team defense. Both Miami and Iowa State had great game plans for having their personnel attack Iowa, in some part due to the fact they could focus either the offseason or a bye week on preparing for Iowa's defense. Time will tell if is is a good Iowa defense, but I wouldn't write them off yet until we see the secondary healthy. They will be tested to the extreme against Michigan and Penn State.

I am not surprised in the least that Iowa's sack #'s and TFL totals are lower than last year. Nelson and Hooker were the two best defenders on the team last year. Hooker especially had a skill set that Iowa does not have (so far) yet this year. And Nelson was very, very good as an every down d-end. Defense needs to keep improving.
 
Iowa is definitely going to have generate more pressure as the season goes on or they won't beat teams like Wisconsin or Michigan. They also are going to need more penetration on run plays.
 
The only place I am really concerned so far is up the middle. I would have expected more out of Lattimore and Nixon so far especially with the double teams that Eppy is getting. In the long run though, our DL is designed for lane containment and assignment football, we usually are just funneling to the LBs to make the plays.
 
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I would be fine with other teams continuing these gameplans which get the ball out quickly but end up severely limiting themselves to a 20 yard box with little or no vertical threat in their offenses. Those offenses will have a real hard time scoring points.
 
The idea is team defense. Both Miami and Iowa State had great game plans for having their personnel attack Iowa, in some part due to the fact they could focus either the offseason or a bye week on preparing for Iowa's defense. Time will tell if is is a good Iowa defense, but I wouldn't write them off yet until we see the secondary healthy. They will be tested to the extreme against Michigan and Penn State.

I am not surprised in the least that Iowa's sack #'s and TFL totals are lower than last year. Nelson and Hooker were the two best defenders on the team last year. Hooker especially had a skill set that Iowa does not have (so far) yet this year. And Nelson was very, very good as an every down d-end. Defense needs to keep improving.

Yep, I agree with that. I think by the end of the year we will be saying this is another very good Parker-coached Defense.
 
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I would be fine with other teams continuing these gameplans which get the ball out quickly but end up severely limiting themselves to a 20 yard box with little or no vertical threat in their offenses. Those offenses will have a real hard time scoring points.

Exactly. That was what I was trying to allude to in previous posts but wasn't able to articulate as well :).
 
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Another consideration is the fact that our opponents have had fewer snaps compared to this time last year (155 vs 177) so there are fewer opportunities to log defensive stats. I am perfectly fine with our time of posession and differential on # of plays in lieu of defensive stats as long as we're limiting scoring.
 
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Eppy sack numbers will go down double and triple teamed. Others need to capitalize.
After watching the tape, Eppy is not getting double and triple-teamed that often. He is locking-up with the tackle and watching the edge before he goes for the QB. Teams are running at him and watching whether he leans to the inside or out and making the right cut. I see now why KF did not start him for two years. They used him on passing downs and told him to attack! He is not playing like a first-round draft choice at this time. Take a look at the replays. I would suggest they give the edge responsibility to an LB or safety. Considering the DL at this time, we will have to blitz to pressure the QB. That how we won the ISU game.
 
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After watching the tape, Eppy is not getting double and triple-teamed that often. He is locking-up with the tackle and watching the edge before he goes for the QB. Teams are running at him and watching whether he leans to the inside or out and making the right cut. I see now why KF did not start him for two years. They used him on passing downs and told him to attack! He is not playing like a first-round draft choice at this time. Take a look at the replays. I would suggest they give the edge responsibility to an LB or safety. Considering the DL at this time, we will have to blitz to pressure the QB. That how we won the ISU game.
I would love if they blitz more , but this is Iowa, sunshine.

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The d line is a huge disappointment only cuz of the expectations. Aj has not been the force everyone expected and it’s not cuz of extra blocking on him, he isn’t winning 1v1 often
 
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The d line is a huge disappointment only cuz of the expectations. Aj has not been the force everyone expected and it’s not cuz of extra blocking on him, he isn’t winning 1v1 often

He doesn’t have the sack numbers but he has still put a lot of pressure on QB’s. That has been proven. So he is in fact “winning” if he is pressuring and hurrying the QB. There are varying degrees of success. Just like in basketball, scoring more points as an individual doesn’t necessarily make you the best player - having the most sacks is great but not the only way to judge.
 
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