Hey I'm back with another post as the Hawkeyes got there football season underway this past Saturday against a very solid football team in Northern Illinois. It was not an easy game and for 3 in half quarters I was thinking we were going to be 0-1 but this team showed there heart. They got the job done in the 4th quarter to survive a trip to soldier field 18 to 17 and move to 1-0. This was an all around team win that the defense and special teams saved us plus we found a very good running back. I've watched the game twice and these are my thoughts on what the problems were on Saturday and what some of the good things we did on Saturday.
First we got off to a great start on offense scoring on our first possession yeah it was only a field goal but to put points up on the opening drive was a great start for the offense. We really ran the ball well which was a very pleasant surprise as Damon Bullock was very good and we had some great blocking from the offensive line. Our passing game was a little bit frustrating partly due to the fact that Vandenberg didn't have a lot of time to throw the ball and also didn't make quick decisions. We definitely got an idea of what this offense will look like as we run a little bit more of a west coast offense with shorter routes, we really only attempted one deep ball which was broken up. I think the problems on the offensive line was partly due to the fact that our line isn't as experienced at some of our positions. Brandon Scherrf has not played a lot of left tackle, our right guard Austin Blythe was making his debut,and at Right tackle Brett Van Sloten was making his debut so we didn't have a lot of experience with this line as a whole. The line blocked extremely well when we ran the football but I think got a little bit confused on some of the blitz packages and stunts the Huskies were doing on Saturday. The offense as a whole was a little bit disappointing even though we moved the ball up and down the field we would have 1 or 2 plays that would stall the offense and force us to kick a field goal. I think the offense will continue to improve as the season goes on they didn't play great but we did find a good running back that we can trust plus I believe Vandenberg and the wide receivers will improve this weekend against Iowa State.
Defensively I thought are team did fairly good defensively in the 1st half I felt our linebackers were thinking too much and a little to slow to the holes which allowed NIU's QB Jordan Lynch to have lots of room to run. In the second half we completely shut down the Huskies except for the 73 yard TD run which was a big play. The defensive line was a pleasant surprise because in the 2nd half we really controlled the line of scrimmage and even got to the QB to force a sack and fumble which helped to change the game even though we didn't put it in the endzone. The defense all afternoon really kept us in the ball game and allowed the offense to finally get their stuff straight and score a Touchdown. I thought the secondary was fantastic even though NIU didn't throw the ball a lot our secondary was in perfect position on every pass play we did get one PI called but it was a questionable call at best. Lowery left with Bruised ribs and than Castillo came to play hero in a way knocking away a deep pass than downing the ball at the 1 yard line which changed the whole complexion of the game. I really believe this defense will be special the defensive line to me played very good for the most part, the linebackers need to improve there play a little bit but the secondary to me was the best part of the defense on Saturday and going forward this season.
Special teams made a big difference in this game last year our kickoff coverage and punt coverage wasn't the best so far this season facing a very dangerous return man they completely shut down the NIU return game. Our coverage was outstanding all day long on kickoffs and punts. We had a new punter in Kornbrath who did very well in his 1st game, and than John Weinke who made the punt that changed the game we downed at the one. Field goal wise Mike Meyer was very good going 4 for 5 including hitting a 50 yard field goal and with the winds swirling at Soldier field that was very impressive.
Overall it was the first game of the season we made some mistakes on both sides of the ball partly due to the new coordinators. I think we will improve every game this season as we got more comfortable with our new systems. We will find out a lot more on Saturday when we play a decent IA state football team who had a nice win over 38 to 23 even though they struggled a little bit. We won the turnover battle vs the Huskies 1 to 0 and could be a big factor next Saturday but I'll talk about it in my next blog.
Thanks
Andy
Jennings
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