The Offense

[whatsup13579er]

When is the last time when Iowa had a team that you knew going into the game was going to put up at least 30 points? Probably have to go back to 2002? CJB has this unit rolling.

Not only are they scoring points, they are imposing their will on defenses. The fact that 3 different RBs have gone for over 195 yards this season speaks to how well, as a unit, the OL/TE/FB are run blocking. Austin Blythe anchoring the line has been huge.

The offense is also allowing the defense to play well. The offense is giving the defense time to rest by not having 3 and outs and having long sustained drives. It has to be comforting as a defensive unit to know that if you hold a team to 4 TDs or less, there is a very good chance you will win the game.

10-0. Man this is fun!

 

[ichawk24]

This is the first time that Iowa has ever scored 30+ in four straight B1G games. A missed extra point against Illinois would have made it five straight.

 

[lockjovi]

Offense is playing great, which is why it's crazy that Iowa actually scored more points last year against the same Big Ten opponents to date (192 vs 185) and avg. 31.25 in the Big Ten last year. I think the next two weeks changes that as they will put up 30+ in each to continue the streak.

 

[INXS83]

When is the last time when Iowa had a team that you knew going into the game was going to put up at least 30 points? Probably have to go back to 2002? CJB has this unit rolling.

Not only are they scoring points, they are imposing their will on defenses. The fact that 3 different RBs have gone for over 195 yards this season speaks to how well, as a unit, the OL/TE/FB are run blocking. Austin Blythe anchoring the line has been huge.

The offense is also allowing the defense to play well. The offense is giving the defense time to rest by not having 3 and outs and having long sustained drives. It has to be comforting as a defensive unit to know that if you hold a team to 4 TDs or less, there is a very good chance you will win the game.

10-0. Man this is fun!

Have any previous Iowa teams had 30 rushing TD's after the 10th game of the season? That's a pretty awesome accomplishment in this pass happy modern world.

 

[wyldhawk9]

CJ's ability to improvise is simply outstanding. He is deceptively difficult to tackle in the open field, is good at extending the play behind the line of scrimmage, and he can direct his receivers when they break off their routes...I heard someone say that he's playing backyard football, and that is a lot of what we're seeing when a play breaks down and he makes something happen (think the short pass to Mitchell at NW, one of the long passes to Jerminic Smith against IL, the "go long" to vandeberg against MN which was incomplete, the cross body throw to vandeberg for a first down against IN. It is really exciting to watch when that happens. Some players make big mistakes in these situations, but save the fumble against Wisconsin, he is lights out when extending the play and improvising.

To me, this has been one of the most intriguing and satisfying things to watch this season.

 

[wyldhawk9]

Just came across this little piece on BHGP that provides some tasty statistic nuggets about why the offense is having so much success primarily on 3rd downs and because of what CJB is doing on third downs. Obviously long, time-consuming drives will require numerous 3rd down conversions, but the numbers here really surprised me - check it out here if you like stats.

 

[MauiHawk]

I think perhaps the craziest stat is our last 2 min points... what is it, 44-0 in the first half? Or is that even old now?

 

[bravehawks1]

I think perhaps the craziest stat is our last 2 min points... what is it, 44-0 in the first half? Or is that even old now?

It is called "new Kirk". Of course you have to be a little bit lucky to have the ball at the end of the half in a position to make this so lopsided, but it is the difference in several games. It certainly changed the outlook for the last 2 games and Maryland too

 

[HeRKeYHoPeFuL]

It is called "new Kirk". Of course you have to be a little bit lucky to have the ball at the end of the half in a position to make this so lopsided, but it is the difference in several games. It certainly changed the outlook for the last 2 games and Maryland too

Actually, you just have to have good clock management. If you get the ball with 6 minutes left and score with 0:15 left... that is clock management. If you get the ball with 0:30 left and can engineer a drive, that is more luck. I think most of our drives have not been the latter, but the former. We tend to call plays and use tempo designed to give us the last full possession of the half.

 

[wyldhawk9]

Actually, you just have to have good clock management. If you get the ball with 6 minutes left and score with 0:15 left... that is clock management. If you get the ball with 0:30 left and can engineer a drive, that is more luck. I think most of our drives have not been the latter, but the former. We tend to call plays and use tempo designed to give us the last full possession of the half.

Hmm...given Iowa's history with clock management, if that was the only item on Kirk's post-2014 season list to re-evaluate and he overhauled the staff's approach to clock management, we'd be discussing New Kirk just as we are now. I think it must have been on the action item list along with, trust players more in certain situations, change the practice schedule, allow the special unis, name a starting qb, special press conference to announce changes...etc.

I love that we are aggressive and selfish with time at the end of the first half. A+ on clock management and going for the magic points this season!