Sometimes games go like you expect them to, this game last Saturday didn't really follow this pattern. One pattern it did follow was like all of the heartbreaking losses Iowa has suffered against Northwestern the Hawks jumped out to a 10 to 0 lead before Northwestern came back to tie it. I like everyone else was thinking here we go again the Wildcats will beat us but this time it was the Hawkeyes rising to the occasion in overtime to beat the Wildcats 17 to 10. I know this is only one victory but it felt bigger than just one win it puts Iowa in great position to make a bowl game. This game really felt like a turning point for this team, Iowa has lost a number of close games over the years where they should have won the football game. A lot of these games have taken place at Kinnick Stadium so getting a close win finally at home was huge for this team. Kinnick Stadium was as loud as it has been in the last few seasons in that overtime. This was a huge victory for the Hawks so how did they get it done on Saturday.
Offensively this was an ugly football game the winds were very strong out of the Northwest which basically crushed any hope of a consistent passing game for either team. The opening drive once again was a thing of beauty for the Hawks going 74 yards in 14 plays to score a touchdown. This was the second straight game where Iowa scored on their opening possession and really set the tone for how the game would be played. I really thought after we basically ran it right down the field for a touchdown we were going to be blowing out Northwestern but that just didn't happen. The Hawks third drive of the game resulted in a Mike Meyer field goal as they went 42 yards in 11 plays to extend the lead to 10 to 0. That was really all the action for either offense in the first half of the game. The running game for Iowa wasn't nearly as good as I thought it would be but still productive with 136 yards rushing on 41 carries. Mark Weisman led the way with 13 carries for 56 yards and Damon Bullock had 17 carries for 52 yards. The Northwestern defense was very good vs the run in the second half blowing up a lot of the things Iowa was trying on offense.
Jake Rudock didn't have a great game but he was very accurate completing 19 of 27 passes for 169 yards and one touchdown, one interception. The passing game was held down by the wind but the Hawks still were productive through the air. Keyvonte Martin Manley led the way with 5 receptions for 45 yards Tevaun Smith probably had his best game as a Hawk hauling in 3 passes for 41 yards including a huge play in overtime to get the first down on a quick slant. Jake Duzey again had a nice game with 2 catches for 27 yards I expect we see him being targeted a lot the rest of the season. CJ Fiedorowicz had a nice game with 2 catches for 26 yards including the game winning touchdown in overtime. I really like what I see from these receivers they seem to be getting better each week so if we ever run into a team where we can't run the football I think the offense will be able to move the ball and put up points. The one thing that Rudock has that I love is the guts to stand in under fire I have seen him a number of times this season just like the overtime play where a defender comes free. He doesn't get rattled stands in to throw a perfect touch pass to the end zone for the game winner. I think this offense can be very productive passing offense the rest of the year the Hawks have the running game but if they could develop a consistent passing attack they become a very dangerous offense. Those are some of my thoughts on the offense so what did the defense do on Saturday to hold Northwestern to 10 points.
Defensively Iowa got after the quarterback on Saturday sacking the Colter 5 times and Simian one time for 6 total sacks on Saturday. Kain Colter is a tough quarterback to defend and he made Iowa pay running the football 18 times for 60 yards. Northwestern ran the ball very effectively vs Iowa rushing 52 times for 225 yards rushing. Colter provided a spark to that offense and you could tell how big of a factor he is on that team. Iowa's defense was very good in the first half forcing 3 punts and a fumble in the first half. The thing that I liked was after Iowa went on their long opening scoring drive the defense came right back to get a 3 and out on Northwestern's first possession. The second half things changed the Wildcats had the ball a lot in that 3rd quarter where I could tell the defense was getting tired. The defense stopped Northwestern on their opening drive of the second half too but the Iowa offense couldn't take advantage of it. Honestly this game felt like Iowa was about to open it up but that just didn't happen. Northwestern had a very impressive drive going 8 plays in 81 yards where they ran the ball 5 of the 8 times hitting one long pass down the sideline and a TD pass to the tight end. From the 3rd quarter to the start of the 4th quarter Northwestern had a 16 play drive going 69 yards but the Iowa defense stepped up to make a play on 3rd down as Mike Hardy sacked the backup quarterback for the Wildcats to force the game tying field goal.
After Northwestern tied the game it was very encouraging to see the Hawkeyes put a nice drive together going 51 yards in 9 plays but missing a 42 yard field goal. After the missed field goal I was really thinking here we go again. The Iowa defense rose to the occasion on this drive causing a fumble on the option by the Wildcats which Desmond King dove on. A huge play by the defense which kept coming up with the play that they needed to keep the game tied. The Iowa offense stalled and Rudock threw an interception so we were heading for overtime I've seen a few overtime games in Iowa City, they haven't seemed to go our way. This time Iowa made the key play of the game on the clutch TD pass by Jake Rudock to CJ Fiedorowicz. Again the defense stepped up Drew Ott sacked Kain Colter on the opening play of Overtime. Kolter than was able to rush for 3 yards bringing it to 3rd and 8. Desmond King the true Freshman made the play of the game on defense breaking up a potential first down pass for the Wildcats. On 4th down Louis Trincas Pasat had a great pass rush forcing Colter out of the pocket where they Hawkeyes ran him down to finish off the victory.
There were a few things that I really liked seeing for the defense, the first was the pass rush Iowa generated sacking Wildcat quarterbacks 6 times. I really liked the 3rd down defense Iowa went with bringing in Nate Meir, Reggie Spearmen and Quinton Alston to specifically rush the passer. This is a wrinkle I would like to continue to see also on this formation every defensive lineman stayed up so the offense didn't know what player was going where. Iowa won the turnover battle which always a good sign forcing 2 fumbles. The best thing out of the defense is that they didn't give up many big passing plays really the only one was a 31 yard pass where B.J. Lowery was in great position the guy just made a great play. I think the wind did make it harder for a long pass to be complete but overall the secondary only allowed 104 yards passing. Iowa will see other scrambling quarterbacks later this season so what they learned in playing against Braxton Miller and Kain Colter will help them. The defense will see a completely different offensive philosophy next weekend when the Badgers come to town. One thing that seemed to be a problem was giving up big runs between the tackles especially up the middle Northwestern had a lot of success. I think the defensive line got a little tired so we might see some more rotating in that interior defensive line for the Hawkeyes.
Special teams can completely change a game but in this one that wasn't the case each team made a field goal. Northwestern averaged 25 yards per kick return including a 38 yard return Iowa has to improve the Kickoff coverage they continue to give up big returns each game. Punting was better last week as Kornbraith punted 4 times for an average of 40 yards including 2 inside the 20 and one that was downed inside the 2 yard line. Iowa didn't really get a chance to return a punt or kick Canzeri averaged 14.5 yards on 2 attempts and Martin Manley had a 10 yard punt return. The special teams can still use some improvement but they are getting better I think we will have a game this season where we say the special teams was a huge factor in the win.
So now Iowa welcomes Wisconsin to Kinnick Stadium this Saturday I'm very excited for this one. Going back to the importance for Iowa to win last weekend vs Northwestern it was a win that seemed like a turning point in the program I feel Iowa could be back on the rise. They had some down years but I think they should make a bowl game and could do a whole lot more. I mean besides Ohio State and Michigan State the Big Ten isn't full of unstoppable teams. Looking at the Legends division this conference is wide open who would of thought Nebraska would lose to Minnesota, Michigan State still has to play Michigan, Nebraska, Northwestern and Minnesota. Looking at their schedule they shouldn't lose 3 games but who knows what will happen. Iowa has everything in front of them sitting 2-2 in the conference 5-3 overall still have games vs Michigan at home plus a game on the road at Nebraska. Iowa plays Wisconsin this weekend which should be another great game I'm very excited where the team is sitting right now we are in position to make a bowl game and could make this season very special. Does that win last week start a winning streak to end this season I feel it is very possible the Hawks get on a roll. I will have a preview of the Battle for the Heartland Trophy coming up in the next few days so stop back, thanks for reading.
Go Hawks
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Friday, October 25, 2013
Iowa vs Northwestern Preview
What's up Hawk fans are you ready for the hated Northwestern Wildcats to invade Kinnick Stadium on Saturday? This is a huge game for both teams as Iowa sits 4-3 overall with a conference record of 1-2, Northwestern sits at 4-3 overall with a record of 0-3 in the conference. The Wildcats over the years have given the Hawks fits because they take what Iowa gives them throwing short passes and moving the ball down the field. This is a must win game for both teams as the winner will have a leg up in the chances to make a bowl game the team that wins only needs one more victory to make a bowl game so expect this one to be good. Northwestern is pretty banged up with there star Running back Venric Mark out for the game and QB Kain Colter questionable for the game this Saturday. I expect to see Colter under center this Saturday he has been practicing this week so he will play. So what will be the keys for Iowa having success on offense Saturday?
Iowa will do what they have done all season which is to establish the running game early on in the football game. Northwestern doesn't have a strong defensive front so the Hawkeyes should be able to run the ball early and often. I expect Iowa to have a 200 yard plus rushing performance for the first time in their last 2 weeks. Northwestern as a team is allowing 168 yards rushing per game so really look for Iowa to try to take advantage of the Northwestern front 7. Last week we saw Iowa come out in a 3 tight end package which was very successful even though we probably have as good of athletes as the Wildcats in the secondary it will be interesting to see how much we see this offense. The Wildcats are ranked 97th in the nation in pass defense allowing 257.4 yards per game.
Iowa should be able to find a rhythm in the passing game this weekend Northwestern doesn't have a strong defense but they are very opportunistic in forcing turnovers having forced 17 so far this season including 13 interceptions. Rudock will have to very careful on his passes. The Hawkeyes will have a chance to open up the passing game and I'm hoping to see them complete some passes down the field. This is the type of game where if Iowa doesn't turn the ball over they should be in a great position to win. A quick start is a huge factor on Saturday Northwestern has not played well since they lost a heart breaker at home to the Buckeyes so if the Hawks can jump on them early they should be able to win this game going away. A few things that I want to see the offense do in this game run the ball over 200 yards again they had a streak going for a while and it's time to restart the streak Saturday.
I'd like to see Damon Bullock bust a 20 yard plus ran I really feel like he is getting better and better each week so he could have a big game this Saturday. In the passing game I want to see the receivers make some plays down the field I'm talking 30 yards down the field a deep pass. Iowa needs to show Northwestern that the do have the athletes to make some plays on the outside really expect the Wildcats to put 8 in the box but with the offensive line playing well that shouldn't play a factor in the success we have running the ball. The last thing I want to see in this game is a perfect card for Jake Rudock now what does that mean? I'm not saying I want him to hit every pass but what I want to see on Saturday is 0 turnovers he has thrown interceptions in a lot of games this season so I would like to see him get through this one without throwing a pick. Those are the things I would like to see out of the offense this weekend now what does the defense need to do to slow down the wildcats?
Offensively Northwestern will do what they have always done to Iowa spread out the defense and throw the ball to the flat. The Wildcats are one of the few teams that have been able to take advantage of Iowa's soft defense so hopefully this weekend we see a little more man to man defense. I believe a lot of this game will be played in the red zone because the wildcats will be able to move the ball the key will be if they can score once they get there on the season they are number 2 in the nation scoring 28 times in 29 attempts. Iowa on the other hand has a very strong red zone defense allowing only 4 total touchdown all season long. Pass defense will be a major factor for the Hawkeyes who are in the top 30 allowing just over 200 yards passing per game. The problem this Iowa defense has had this season is the tendency to give up big plays which they must correct this weekend vs a pretty good receiving unit for the Wildcats. Northwestern is averaging 244 yards passing per game which is a decent number, I don't believe they will be able to run the football.
The wildcats average 177 yards rushing per game but if Colter is able to play he will make a major difference on the type of rushing attack Northwestern will have. The Hawks run defense only allows 114 yards per game so I think they should be able to slow down Northwestern rushing attack making them a pass first team. Trevor Seimeian and Kain Colter have combined to throw 10 TD passes and 8 interceptions. Colter has also ran the ball 53 times for 283 yards and 5 touchdowns and he even plays receiver he is the guy that really makes the Northwestern offense go so if Iowa can slow him down they should win this game. Iowa has forced 12 turnovers this season with 9 interceptions and 3 fumble recoveries. Turnovers can make a difference on who will win the football game both of these defenses are pretty opportunistic so the team that wins the turnover battle should have the upper hand in this match up.Summing up the Northwestern offense they will run most of their plays out of spread formations trying to get rid of the ball quickly. Iowa will be without Dominic Alvis who has a back injury so some other guys after step up for him on the defensive line. Containing Colter with be very important he has the scrambling ability like Braxton Miller last week where he can make plays when things break down.
Prediction Iowa wins 34 to 14. Northwestern comes into this game struggling having lost 3 straight games with 2 of the 3 at home. The only Big Ten road game they played Wisconsin crushed them 35 to 6 I think Iowa will be able to exploit the Northwestern defense and I see a huge days for Weisman and Bullock. This game is really a turning point for the Hawks if they win it I see good things ahead a loss wouldn't give Iowa a great shot to make a bowl game. The Hawks need this one with the schedule they have coming up the Wildcats are beat up as a team Iowa needs to win this game. I think they will get the job done on Saturday I see the Hawks forcing 2 turnovers both interceptions to pull away late in the game. I see a 17 to 14 type halftime score with Iowa being the team that makes the plays to win the game.
As long as Iowa doesn't turn the football over they should win this game I don't think Northwestern will be able to slow down Iowa's rushing attack. On defense Iowa has to make tackles they can't allow the Wildcats to take one yard throws and turn them into 50 yard plays. Special teams coverage will be important again they are getting better but a goal I would like to see is holding the opposing teams return men to under 20 yards a return. I also think Jordan Cotton will break one this week he has been bottled up lately but I think this is the week he breaks out with a big return. Iowa still has everything right in front of them sitting at 1-2 in the conference they need to get a win this week to get some momentum going into the final 4 conference games. This is a much better team than last year they have been close all year long it's time for the Hawkeyes to take the next step forward winning a Big Ten conference home game. I'll have a review of the game coming up next week so be sure to check it out thanks for reading
Go Hawks.
Iowa will do what they have done all season which is to establish the running game early on in the football game. Northwestern doesn't have a strong defensive front so the Hawkeyes should be able to run the ball early and often. I expect Iowa to have a 200 yard plus rushing performance for the first time in their last 2 weeks. Northwestern as a team is allowing 168 yards rushing per game so really look for Iowa to try to take advantage of the Northwestern front 7. Last week we saw Iowa come out in a 3 tight end package which was very successful even though we probably have as good of athletes as the Wildcats in the secondary it will be interesting to see how much we see this offense. The Wildcats are ranked 97th in the nation in pass defense allowing 257.4 yards per game.
Iowa should be able to find a rhythm in the passing game this weekend Northwestern doesn't have a strong defense but they are very opportunistic in forcing turnovers having forced 17 so far this season including 13 interceptions. Rudock will have to very careful on his passes. The Hawkeyes will have a chance to open up the passing game and I'm hoping to see them complete some passes down the field. This is the type of game where if Iowa doesn't turn the ball over they should be in a great position to win. A quick start is a huge factor on Saturday Northwestern has not played well since they lost a heart breaker at home to the Buckeyes so if the Hawks can jump on them early they should be able to win this game going away. A few things that I want to see the offense do in this game run the ball over 200 yards again they had a streak going for a while and it's time to restart the streak Saturday.
I'd like to see Damon Bullock bust a 20 yard plus ran I really feel like he is getting better and better each week so he could have a big game this Saturday. In the passing game I want to see the receivers make some plays down the field I'm talking 30 yards down the field a deep pass. Iowa needs to show Northwestern that the do have the athletes to make some plays on the outside really expect the Wildcats to put 8 in the box but with the offensive line playing well that shouldn't play a factor in the success we have running the ball. The last thing I want to see in this game is a perfect card for Jake Rudock now what does that mean? I'm not saying I want him to hit every pass but what I want to see on Saturday is 0 turnovers he has thrown interceptions in a lot of games this season so I would like to see him get through this one without throwing a pick. Those are the things I would like to see out of the offense this weekend now what does the defense need to do to slow down the wildcats?
Offensively Northwestern will do what they have always done to Iowa spread out the defense and throw the ball to the flat. The Wildcats are one of the few teams that have been able to take advantage of Iowa's soft defense so hopefully this weekend we see a little more man to man defense. I believe a lot of this game will be played in the red zone because the wildcats will be able to move the ball the key will be if they can score once they get there on the season they are number 2 in the nation scoring 28 times in 29 attempts. Iowa on the other hand has a very strong red zone defense allowing only 4 total touchdown all season long. Pass defense will be a major factor for the Hawkeyes who are in the top 30 allowing just over 200 yards passing per game. The problem this Iowa defense has had this season is the tendency to give up big plays which they must correct this weekend vs a pretty good receiving unit for the Wildcats. Northwestern is averaging 244 yards passing per game which is a decent number, I don't believe they will be able to run the football.
The wildcats average 177 yards rushing per game but if Colter is able to play he will make a major difference on the type of rushing attack Northwestern will have. The Hawks run defense only allows 114 yards per game so I think they should be able to slow down Northwestern rushing attack making them a pass first team. Trevor Seimeian and Kain Colter have combined to throw 10 TD passes and 8 interceptions. Colter has also ran the ball 53 times for 283 yards and 5 touchdowns and he even plays receiver he is the guy that really makes the Northwestern offense go so if Iowa can slow him down they should win this game. Iowa has forced 12 turnovers this season with 9 interceptions and 3 fumble recoveries. Turnovers can make a difference on who will win the football game both of these defenses are pretty opportunistic so the team that wins the turnover battle should have the upper hand in this match up.Summing up the Northwestern offense they will run most of their plays out of spread formations trying to get rid of the ball quickly. Iowa will be without Dominic Alvis who has a back injury so some other guys after step up for him on the defensive line. Containing Colter with be very important he has the scrambling ability like Braxton Miller last week where he can make plays when things break down.
Prediction Iowa wins 34 to 14. Northwestern comes into this game struggling having lost 3 straight games with 2 of the 3 at home. The only Big Ten road game they played Wisconsin crushed them 35 to 6 I think Iowa will be able to exploit the Northwestern defense and I see a huge days for Weisman and Bullock. This game is really a turning point for the Hawks if they win it I see good things ahead a loss wouldn't give Iowa a great shot to make a bowl game. The Hawks need this one with the schedule they have coming up the Wildcats are beat up as a team Iowa needs to win this game. I think they will get the job done on Saturday I see the Hawks forcing 2 turnovers both interceptions to pull away late in the game. I see a 17 to 14 type halftime score with Iowa being the team that makes the plays to win the game.
As long as Iowa doesn't turn the football over they should win this game I don't think Northwestern will be able to slow down Iowa's rushing attack. On defense Iowa has to make tackles they can't allow the Wildcats to take one yard throws and turn them into 50 yard plays. Special teams coverage will be important again they are getting better but a goal I would like to see is holding the opposing teams return men to under 20 yards a return. I also think Jordan Cotton will break one this week he has been bottled up lately but I think this is the week he breaks out with a big return. Iowa still has everything right in front of them sitting at 1-2 in the conference they need to get a win this week to get some momentum going into the final 4 conference games. This is a much better team than last year they have been close all year long it's time for the Hawkeyes to take the next step forward winning a Big Ten conference home game. I'll have a review of the game coming up next week so be sure to check it out thanks for reading
Go Hawks.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Iowa @ Ohio State Review
Hey Hawk fans I'm back with another blog this one on the Hawkeyes hard fought loss against the Buckeyes last Saturday. This was a game where the Hawks were right where they wanted to be tied with the number 4 team in the nation heading into 4th Quarter. During that quarter Ohio State was the team that made the plays, it was a game of two halves Iowa dominated the first half taking a 17 to 10 lead to the locker room. The second Half was all Buckeyes as they outscored Iowa 24 to 7 including outscoring Iowa 10 to 0 in the 4th quarter. This was the second game this season where Iowa had a good chance to win but just couldn't make enough plays to win the football game. Even though the Hawks came up short they still went toe to toe with one of the best teams in the nation, which has to give the team confidence for the next couple of weeks. Now is the game as simple as Ohio State just had too many athletes maybe but I think Iowa executed a perfect game plan on offense. So what was different about the Hawks offense on Saturday against Ohio State.
Iowa's offense looked a little different Saturday afternoon as the Hawks came out with a lot of 3 tight end sets. This was very effective all day long and the most impressive thing of the game was Iowa's opening drive it really set the tone going 80 yards in 12 plays to score a touchdown in the Horseshoe was huge. Iowa ran the ball 27 times for 130 yards averaging 4.8 yards per carry the Hawks leading rusher was Damon Bullock who had 10 carries for 56 yards. Weisman also had 10 carries for 52 yards and Leshun Daniels had 4 carries for 14 yards. I really thought this was Damon Bullocks best game he really ran the ball well reading the hole and cutting. I also thought Iowa should of ran the ball more in the second half they were having success but they just kind of went away from what was working. We have been saying for a long time that the tight end position may be the strength for the Hawkeyes passing game, well we finally got to see them become a big part of the offense. Throwing to the tight ends was a major part of the game plan on Saturday with Jake Duzey having his coming out party hauling in 6 passes for 138 yards and a TD, CJ Fiedorowicz also had a good game with 4 receptions for 29 yards and a TD. Jake Rudock played another good game on the road this was the 3rd hostile environment he lead us into and once again he performed hitting 19 of 34 passes for 245 yards 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. On the day Jake hit 8 different receivers including completing 11 passes to the tight ends in the ball game. The only receivers with multiple catches Tevaun Smith, Damond Powell and Don Shumpert each caught two passes each. I think this 3 tight end formation is something we will see the rest of the season it was very effective vs Ohio State who has a pretty good defense.
Iowa really controlled the time of possession in the first half with long drives 12 plays 80 yards in the opening TD drive 5:37, 9 plays 67 yards for a field goal 3:53 and the final TD drive in the second quarter which was 15 plays 69 yards taking up 6:37 seconds. The encouraging thing about each of these drives is not only did they end in points but 2 of the 3 ended in touchdowns which is big as Iowa has had some problems scoring TD's when they get into the redzone. In the second half Iowa punted twice and threw an interception, they had a chance to win the game just couldn't make the plays. I thought after Jake Duzey's long touchdown reception Iowa was going to win this game but things just didn't go the Hawks way in the 4th quarter. The running game should be there in almost all of the Hawks remaining games but vs Ohio State Iowa showed a wrinkle with the tight ends that could completely change the Hawks offense. The good thing about tight ends is they are normally lined up on a safety or linebacker and with the guys we have at that position I like our chances to take advantage of most safeties or linebackers in the passing game. Now the Hawkeyes offense struggled in the second half but I was still encouraged by the way they passed the football scoring 24 points should be enough to win a lot of games with the defense we normally play.
Defensively Iowa wasn't nearly as bad as the stats make them look, not being able to force Ohio State to punt really doesn't say a lot of good things about them. Ohio State is a very explosive offense and I felt the Iowa defense did a pretty good job for the most part of limiting big plays they just couldn't make a big play to push the Hawks to a victory. Iowa played a little bit conservative on defense allowing Braxton Miller to just throw short passes all game and he really took advantage of the Iowa defense. Braxton Miller went 22 of 27 showing why he was a Heisman candidate early on this season throwing for 202 yards two TD's, and rushing 18 times for 102 yards. Iowa's defense was good all day long but they couldn't get Braxton Miller corralled on 3rd down he had two huge scrambles on 3rd down which were really devastating for the defense. One particular scramble it was 3rd and 7 Iowa had him dead to rights in the backfield Miller went all the way to his right than ran all the way back to the left twice without one holding penalty. Carlos Hyde had a big game too rushing 24 times for 149 yards and scoring the first 2 rushing TD's against the Iowa defense although to be honest it didn't look like he got in on his first TD. Ohio State has a lot of talent and for Iowa to win this game we needed the defense to force a turnover which just didn't happen. When the Buckeyes started to find a rhythm I knew were were in big trouble because with that offense they can score very quickly. One thing that was disappointing was that Iowa did give up another big play a long touchdown, on the play it looked like Tanner Miller bit on the play fake with left a wide open Corey Brown for the touchdown. Now the defense couldn't make the play to change the game they did play pretty well the problem was the offense just couldn't keep up the pace they had in the first half allowing Ohio State to control the time of possession and tire out the defense. I still think this defense is very good they just ran into the best offense in the Big Ten.
In a big game like this sometimes special teams can turn a game in one teams favor but that wasn't the case Saturday. Jordan Cotton had 6 opportunities to return kicks averaging 19.7 yards per return including a long of 31. Iowa's kickoff coverage was better this week as Ohio State had 2 chances to return kicks averaging 24.5 yards per return I would like to see that knocked down to under 20 yard average but they still improved from where they have been. Field Goals Mike Meyer made one kick 28 yards out while Ohio State's kicker Drew Basil made 2 field goals with a long of 27. Punting was an advantage for the Buckeyes as they didn't punt at all. Connor Kornbraith punted 3 times averaging 38.3 yards I would like to see this raised by at least 5 yards if he could average 45 yards per punt I would be happy with that. Overall special teams didn't make a huge difference in this game on Saturday the good news is Iowa's coverage teams were a lot better than they have been so far this season.
As Iowa fell 34 to 24 a lot of people were very pleased with the way they played and I'm one of those, I thought if they had a chance to win it in the 4th quarter they had a shot. Now Iowa has proved they can play with a lot of teams, now the Hawks have to take the next step to finish off some of these games with victories. Now there are no moral victories but the effort the Hawks put up on Saturday should give them confidence going into the last 5 games of the season. Everything is in front of the Hawks it all starts this Saturday these games are winnable now all the Hawks have to do is win. They have been close to beating some good teams Northern Illinois, Michigan State, Ohio State the time is now to win a close game. Iowa plays Northwestern on Saturday which starts a stretch of 2 critical home games with the Wildcats and the Badgers if the Hawks can get out of this 2-0 I truly believe we could finish this season strong. The Hawks fell to 4-3 1-2 in the Conference. If you remember last season Iowa started 2-0 in the Big ten before losing 6 in a row to end the season which makes this game vs the Wildcats this weekend extremely important. Iowa needs this win so the players don't have the here we go again feeling to what happened last season. I feel there is a huge difference between this years team and last which is this team has an identity they know what they want to do on offense. I will have a preview of the Northwestern game for you in the next day so make sure you check back as always thanks for reading.
Go Hawks.
Iowa's offense looked a little different Saturday afternoon as the Hawks came out with a lot of 3 tight end sets. This was very effective all day long and the most impressive thing of the game was Iowa's opening drive it really set the tone going 80 yards in 12 plays to score a touchdown in the Horseshoe was huge. Iowa ran the ball 27 times for 130 yards averaging 4.8 yards per carry the Hawks leading rusher was Damon Bullock who had 10 carries for 56 yards. Weisman also had 10 carries for 52 yards and Leshun Daniels had 4 carries for 14 yards. I really thought this was Damon Bullocks best game he really ran the ball well reading the hole and cutting. I also thought Iowa should of ran the ball more in the second half they were having success but they just kind of went away from what was working. We have been saying for a long time that the tight end position may be the strength for the Hawkeyes passing game, well we finally got to see them become a big part of the offense. Throwing to the tight ends was a major part of the game plan on Saturday with Jake Duzey having his coming out party hauling in 6 passes for 138 yards and a TD, CJ Fiedorowicz also had a good game with 4 receptions for 29 yards and a TD. Jake Rudock played another good game on the road this was the 3rd hostile environment he lead us into and once again he performed hitting 19 of 34 passes for 245 yards 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. On the day Jake hit 8 different receivers including completing 11 passes to the tight ends in the ball game. The only receivers with multiple catches Tevaun Smith, Damond Powell and Don Shumpert each caught two passes each. I think this 3 tight end formation is something we will see the rest of the season it was very effective vs Ohio State who has a pretty good defense.
Iowa really controlled the time of possession in the first half with long drives 12 plays 80 yards in the opening TD drive 5:37, 9 plays 67 yards for a field goal 3:53 and the final TD drive in the second quarter which was 15 plays 69 yards taking up 6:37 seconds. The encouraging thing about each of these drives is not only did they end in points but 2 of the 3 ended in touchdowns which is big as Iowa has had some problems scoring TD's when they get into the redzone. In the second half Iowa punted twice and threw an interception, they had a chance to win the game just couldn't make the plays. I thought after Jake Duzey's long touchdown reception Iowa was going to win this game but things just didn't go the Hawks way in the 4th quarter. The running game should be there in almost all of the Hawks remaining games but vs Ohio State Iowa showed a wrinkle with the tight ends that could completely change the Hawks offense. The good thing about tight ends is they are normally lined up on a safety or linebacker and with the guys we have at that position I like our chances to take advantage of most safeties or linebackers in the passing game. Now the Hawkeyes offense struggled in the second half but I was still encouraged by the way they passed the football scoring 24 points should be enough to win a lot of games with the defense we normally play.
Defensively Iowa wasn't nearly as bad as the stats make them look, not being able to force Ohio State to punt really doesn't say a lot of good things about them. Ohio State is a very explosive offense and I felt the Iowa defense did a pretty good job for the most part of limiting big plays they just couldn't make a big play to push the Hawks to a victory. Iowa played a little bit conservative on defense allowing Braxton Miller to just throw short passes all game and he really took advantage of the Iowa defense. Braxton Miller went 22 of 27 showing why he was a Heisman candidate early on this season throwing for 202 yards two TD's, and rushing 18 times for 102 yards. Iowa's defense was good all day long but they couldn't get Braxton Miller corralled on 3rd down he had two huge scrambles on 3rd down which were really devastating for the defense. One particular scramble it was 3rd and 7 Iowa had him dead to rights in the backfield Miller went all the way to his right than ran all the way back to the left twice without one holding penalty. Carlos Hyde had a big game too rushing 24 times for 149 yards and scoring the first 2 rushing TD's against the Iowa defense although to be honest it didn't look like he got in on his first TD. Ohio State has a lot of talent and for Iowa to win this game we needed the defense to force a turnover which just didn't happen. When the Buckeyes started to find a rhythm I knew were were in big trouble because with that offense they can score very quickly. One thing that was disappointing was that Iowa did give up another big play a long touchdown, on the play it looked like Tanner Miller bit on the play fake with left a wide open Corey Brown for the touchdown. Now the defense couldn't make the play to change the game they did play pretty well the problem was the offense just couldn't keep up the pace they had in the first half allowing Ohio State to control the time of possession and tire out the defense. I still think this defense is very good they just ran into the best offense in the Big Ten.
In a big game like this sometimes special teams can turn a game in one teams favor but that wasn't the case Saturday. Jordan Cotton had 6 opportunities to return kicks averaging 19.7 yards per return including a long of 31. Iowa's kickoff coverage was better this week as Ohio State had 2 chances to return kicks averaging 24.5 yards per return I would like to see that knocked down to under 20 yard average but they still improved from where they have been. Field Goals Mike Meyer made one kick 28 yards out while Ohio State's kicker Drew Basil made 2 field goals with a long of 27. Punting was an advantage for the Buckeyes as they didn't punt at all. Connor Kornbraith punted 3 times averaging 38.3 yards I would like to see this raised by at least 5 yards if he could average 45 yards per punt I would be happy with that. Overall special teams didn't make a huge difference in this game on Saturday the good news is Iowa's coverage teams were a lot better than they have been so far this season.
As Iowa fell 34 to 24 a lot of people were very pleased with the way they played and I'm one of those, I thought if they had a chance to win it in the 4th quarter they had a shot. Now Iowa has proved they can play with a lot of teams, now the Hawks have to take the next step to finish off some of these games with victories. Now there are no moral victories but the effort the Hawks put up on Saturday should give them confidence going into the last 5 games of the season. Everything is in front of the Hawks it all starts this Saturday these games are winnable now all the Hawks have to do is win. They have been close to beating some good teams Northern Illinois, Michigan State, Ohio State the time is now to win a close game. Iowa plays Northwestern on Saturday which starts a stretch of 2 critical home games with the Wildcats and the Badgers if the Hawks can get out of this 2-0 I truly believe we could finish this season strong. The Hawks fell to 4-3 1-2 in the Conference. If you remember last season Iowa started 2-0 in the Big ten before losing 6 in a row to end the season which makes this game vs the Wildcats this weekend extremely important. Iowa needs this win so the players don't have the here we go again feeling to what happened last season. I feel there is a huge difference between this years team and last which is this team has an identity they know what they want to do on offense. I will have a preview of the Northwestern game for you in the next day so make sure you check back as always thanks for reading.
Go Hawks.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Iowa @ Ohio State Preview
Hey Hawk Fans we are just a few days away from a trip to the horse shoe to take on number 4 ranked Ohio State. Both teams are coming off a bye week so having the bye week doesn't help as much as it will later on this year before the Michigan game. Now Iowa is coming off a tough loss to a very physical Michigan State team so hopefully the bye week allowed the team to get healthy for this weekend. The Hawkeyes haven't won at the Horse Shoe since November 2nd of 1991 so if any team is due to pull of the shocker it would be Iowa. Ohio State owns the longest active win streak in College Football having won 18 straight games under the leadership of Urban Meyer. The Buckeyes come in to this game with a record of 6-0, 2-0 in the Big Ten with wins over Wisconsin 31 to 24, and on the road at Northwestern 40 to 31. Iowa on the other hand comes in with a record of 4-2 1-1 in the Big Ten with a win at Minnesota and a loss at home against Michigan State. Ohio State has won 12 of the last 13 meetings in this series and 4 in a row this will also be the last time Iowa plays Ohio State until the year 2017 which will be at Kinnick. That is some of the background information on the game so lets jump into the X's and Os's to see who should win this game.
I'm going to start with the Iowa Offense against the Ohio State defense, all season long Iowa has been able to run the football except for the Michigan State game 2 weeks ago where they were forced to pass. Iowa is 32nd in the nation rushing for 207.1 yards per game, that took a big hit last week when they only rushed for 30 yards against the Spartans. Everybody knows what Iowa wants to do that is run the football and for the most part this season they have been able too. This will be critical on Saturday as Iowa's best defense of an explosive Ohio State offense may just be to keep them off the field which means the offense needs to move the ball. Ohio State is number 6 in the nation in rushing defense only allowing 86 yards per game so this will come down to the battle in the trenches. The Buckeyes have been tested on the ground and passed that test vs Wisconsin only allowing 104 rushing yards on 27 carries in their win a few weeks ago. We need Weisman healthy for this game he was banged up vs Michigan State so hopefully he is healed up. I also want to see more passing to Damon Bullock out of the backfield he is a very good receiver and matched up on a linebacker has the ability to make a play with the ball in his hands.
Iowa's pass offense is ranked 85th in the nation only averaging 209 yards passing per game so getting some type of running game is critical for an Iowa victory. Ohio State is a little bit vulnerable in the secondary allowing 239 yards passing a game good enough for 77th in the nation. For Iowa to have a chance to win this game the offense needs to make some plays in the passing game to open up the running game. Usually Iowa is the opposite of that running to set up the play action pass but vs a defense like Ohio State we will have more success if we can throw the ball to set up the run. Iowa averages 29.7 points per game so controlling the time of possession will be very important if Iowa is able to come out with a victory. Iowa needs Keyvonte Martin Manley to be healthy this week, their are still some questions on whether he will be or not as we saw last week the Iowa offense struggled when he came out of the game. One thing that we may look back on as a good thing when they couldn't run the football they did throw the ball pretty well on a few of the drives the two in the second quarter and the one at the end of the game. I believe Iowa will be able to throw the football on this Buckeye defense Northwestern who probably has better skill position players than Iowa was able to go up and down the field with the pass but other teams have thrown on them too. Wisconsin who really isn't a great passing team destroyed Ohio State with the pass.
This game could rest on Jake Rudocks shoulders, I have a lot of confidence he can get the job done but we need the receivers to step up this weekend. Also with Ohio State's pass rush I would like to see more screens and passes to our backs out of the backfield this weekend. Powell needs to be on the field a lot this game he is a legit threat that can do some damage, Tevaun Smith seems to be more consistent and we really need to get the tight ends involved this weekend. For the offense to be successful Iowa needs to be able to gain positive yardage so they aren't stuck with 3rd and longs all game. I also think passing down the field on first down should be a big part of the game plan, Ohio State has athletes in that secondary but they are young a couple of double moves could get Iowa off on the right foot. This year Iowa has been very good on the play action pass on 1st down so hopefully they continue to run these plays early in the game. I will be very interested to see who comes out to start at receiver on Saturday. The Iowa defense will make plays but for Iowa to win this game they must move the chains and keep the Buckeyes offense off the field they don't have to put up a touchdown every drive but being able to put some drives together so the defense can rest will be critical.
Looking at the Ohio State offense they are so explosive scoring on one play is something they do a lot so tackling will be huge in this game. They have a number of guys on this offense that are threats to take it the distance and this starts with Braxton Miller who has rushed for 233 yards and thrown for 609 yards 6 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. They also just got Carlo Hyde back and he is a big physical back that had a very good game against Northwestern. Ohio States offense is averaging 46.1 points per game so getting in a shootout with the Buckeyes is not a good idea. Ohio State is 11th in the nation in rushing averaging 280 yards per game on the ground. They are 77th in passing only throwing for 212 yards per game so Ohio State is going to want to run the football but they do have some skill guys on the outside that we can't allow behind the defense. This is going to be a pick your poison type of game Iowa's run defense is ranked 8th in the nation only allowing 88.5 yards per game and 0 rushing touchdowns this season. Even though Iowa's pass defense has given up some big plays they are still ranked 28th in the country allowing 201 yards passing per game.
Besides Wisconsin Ohio Stats has not faced the type of defense they will see on Saturday so if we can stop the run I think Iowa will have a chance to win this game. Ohio State will be running almost exclusively out of shotgun so the defensive ends staying at home will be huge so Braxton Miller can't beat us with his legs. The Buckeyes want to play a physical brand of football on offense so this will come down to who can win the war in the trenches. Iowa has given up big plays in the passing game so eliminating those will be huge as the Buckeyes have guys on the outside to make the Hawks pay if they mess up the coverage. Northwestern just sat in a zone against the Ohio State which did keep them in the game but Ohio State still ran the ball for a lot of yards. Iowa will be aggressive like they have been all season but when they blitz they must contain Miller so he can't get outside and make a play. The key for the defense is shutting down the run and making Ohio State try to beat us throwing the ball. Although Braxton Miller is a very talented player he does take risks making bad reads and he has been known to fumble so getting 11 guys to the ball could force some mistakes from him. On the outside the main guys to watch out for are Philly Brown who has 30 catches for 382 yards 5 touchdowns and Devin Smith who has 23 catches for 362 yards 5 touchdowns. The Ohio State offense is very explosive which is why this game I believe will be on the offense to not only score points but keep the high powered Buckeye offense off the field.
This week I decided to give turnovers it's own paragraph because as always it is an extremely critical factor to determining the outcome of this game. Both Iowa and Ohio State have forced 12 turnovers on the season so the team that wins the turnover battle should win the game. Jake Rudock threw 3 interceptions last weekend so he will have to be very careful with the football as Ohio State has the athletes in the secondary to jump some of those short routes. Ohio State has 7 interceptions on the season forcing 5 fumbles while Iowa has forced 3 fumbles and has 9 interceptions. Neither team really has the edge Iowa is undefeated on the road with wins over Iowa State and Minnesota so they will be ready for what they are going to see at Ohio State.
Special Teams which has been a huge factor in both of Iowa's losses this season giving up first downs on fake punts to Northern Illinois and Michigan State. Kickoff coverage has been a problem at times this season for the Hawks so they need to get that straightened out as Ohio State averages 23 yards per kick return with 0 touchdowns. Jordan Cotton has done a pretty good job when he has been able to run the kick back and remember the last time we played Ohio State it was a kick return by DJK that almost allowed us to win the game. Mike Meyer is a very good kicker so I trust him to make big kicks hopefully we only see him a kicking PAT's this weekend but if he is needed scoring points will be critical whether thats 3 or 7. Punt Returns I'm not sure who will be back for the punts this weekend Keyvonte Martin Manley is banged up so we could see Riley McCarron back their again. Punting although it isn't what most fans think of can be very important for Iowa to win this game they need to win the field position battle. No Fakes this week Iowa can't give up another fake punt especially that changes the game and Urban Meyer is definitely known to try these so the return team needs to be ready.
My keys to an Iowa victory are to win the field position battle if we can turn the Buckeyes over a couple of times we should have a shot to win this football game. Iowa must run the ball over 100 yards if they can't get over 100 as a team that puts a whole lot of pressure on our developing passing game. Jake Rudock must complete at least 5 passes over 20 yards to open up the running game if Iowa can't throw the ball down the field it could be a long day. My prediction is Iowa pulling off a shocker winning at Ohio State for the first time since November 2nd of 1991 my score is Iowa 28 Ohio State 24. Iowa played the best defense in the Big Ten in their last game Ohio State is vulnerable on the outside so if Iowa can get Powell in some one on one situations he can win those battles. This is more of my heart prediction my brain is telling me Ohio Sate 34 to 24 but I don't believe Ohio State will blow the Hawkeyes out I think if Iowa can be in this game in the 4th quarter that is all you can ask for. I mean if you just look at 2 numbers Ohio State has won 18 games in a row and Iowa hasn't won in Columbus since 1991 eventually that streak is going to break. I think Iowa is due for a big win on the road 28 to 24. I'll have the review of this game next week so be sure to check back thanks for reading.
GO Hawks.
I'm going to start with the Iowa Offense against the Ohio State defense, all season long Iowa has been able to run the football except for the Michigan State game 2 weeks ago where they were forced to pass. Iowa is 32nd in the nation rushing for 207.1 yards per game, that took a big hit last week when they only rushed for 30 yards against the Spartans. Everybody knows what Iowa wants to do that is run the football and for the most part this season they have been able too. This will be critical on Saturday as Iowa's best defense of an explosive Ohio State offense may just be to keep them off the field which means the offense needs to move the ball. Ohio State is number 6 in the nation in rushing defense only allowing 86 yards per game so this will come down to the battle in the trenches. The Buckeyes have been tested on the ground and passed that test vs Wisconsin only allowing 104 rushing yards on 27 carries in their win a few weeks ago. We need Weisman healthy for this game he was banged up vs Michigan State so hopefully he is healed up. I also want to see more passing to Damon Bullock out of the backfield he is a very good receiver and matched up on a linebacker has the ability to make a play with the ball in his hands.
Iowa's pass offense is ranked 85th in the nation only averaging 209 yards passing per game so getting some type of running game is critical for an Iowa victory. Ohio State is a little bit vulnerable in the secondary allowing 239 yards passing a game good enough for 77th in the nation. For Iowa to have a chance to win this game the offense needs to make some plays in the passing game to open up the running game. Usually Iowa is the opposite of that running to set up the play action pass but vs a defense like Ohio State we will have more success if we can throw the ball to set up the run. Iowa averages 29.7 points per game so controlling the time of possession will be very important if Iowa is able to come out with a victory. Iowa needs Keyvonte Martin Manley to be healthy this week, their are still some questions on whether he will be or not as we saw last week the Iowa offense struggled when he came out of the game. One thing that we may look back on as a good thing when they couldn't run the football they did throw the ball pretty well on a few of the drives the two in the second quarter and the one at the end of the game. I believe Iowa will be able to throw the football on this Buckeye defense Northwestern who probably has better skill position players than Iowa was able to go up and down the field with the pass but other teams have thrown on them too. Wisconsin who really isn't a great passing team destroyed Ohio State with the pass.
This game could rest on Jake Rudocks shoulders, I have a lot of confidence he can get the job done but we need the receivers to step up this weekend. Also with Ohio State's pass rush I would like to see more screens and passes to our backs out of the backfield this weekend. Powell needs to be on the field a lot this game he is a legit threat that can do some damage, Tevaun Smith seems to be more consistent and we really need to get the tight ends involved this weekend. For the offense to be successful Iowa needs to be able to gain positive yardage so they aren't stuck with 3rd and longs all game. I also think passing down the field on first down should be a big part of the game plan, Ohio State has athletes in that secondary but they are young a couple of double moves could get Iowa off on the right foot. This year Iowa has been very good on the play action pass on 1st down so hopefully they continue to run these plays early in the game. I will be very interested to see who comes out to start at receiver on Saturday. The Iowa defense will make plays but for Iowa to win this game they must move the chains and keep the Buckeyes offense off the field they don't have to put up a touchdown every drive but being able to put some drives together so the defense can rest will be critical.
Looking at the Ohio State offense they are so explosive scoring on one play is something they do a lot so tackling will be huge in this game. They have a number of guys on this offense that are threats to take it the distance and this starts with Braxton Miller who has rushed for 233 yards and thrown for 609 yards 6 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. They also just got Carlo Hyde back and he is a big physical back that had a very good game against Northwestern. Ohio States offense is averaging 46.1 points per game so getting in a shootout with the Buckeyes is not a good idea. Ohio State is 11th in the nation in rushing averaging 280 yards per game on the ground. They are 77th in passing only throwing for 212 yards per game so Ohio State is going to want to run the football but they do have some skill guys on the outside that we can't allow behind the defense. This is going to be a pick your poison type of game Iowa's run defense is ranked 8th in the nation only allowing 88.5 yards per game and 0 rushing touchdowns this season. Even though Iowa's pass defense has given up some big plays they are still ranked 28th in the country allowing 201 yards passing per game.
Besides Wisconsin Ohio Stats has not faced the type of defense they will see on Saturday so if we can stop the run I think Iowa will have a chance to win this game. Ohio State will be running almost exclusively out of shotgun so the defensive ends staying at home will be huge so Braxton Miller can't beat us with his legs. The Buckeyes want to play a physical brand of football on offense so this will come down to who can win the war in the trenches. Iowa has given up big plays in the passing game so eliminating those will be huge as the Buckeyes have guys on the outside to make the Hawks pay if they mess up the coverage. Northwestern just sat in a zone against the Ohio State which did keep them in the game but Ohio State still ran the ball for a lot of yards. Iowa will be aggressive like they have been all season but when they blitz they must contain Miller so he can't get outside and make a play. The key for the defense is shutting down the run and making Ohio State try to beat us throwing the ball. Although Braxton Miller is a very talented player he does take risks making bad reads and he has been known to fumble so getting 11 guys to the ball could force some mistakes from him. On the outside the main guys to watch out for are Philly Brown who has 30 catches for 382 yards 5 touchdowns and Devin Smith who has 23 catches for 362 yards 5 touchdowns. The Ohio State offense is very explosive which is why this game I believe will be on the offense to not only score points but keep the high powered Buckeye offense off the field.
This week I decided to give turnovers it's own paragraph because as always it is an extremely critical factor to determining the outcome of this game. Both Iowa and Ohio State have forced 12 turnovers on the season so the team that wins the turnover battle should win the game. Jake Rudock threw 3 interceptions last weekend so he will have to be very careful with the football as Ohio State has the athletes in the secondary to jump some of those short routes. Ohio State has 7 interceptions on the season forcing 5 fumbles while Iowa has forced 3 fumbles and has 9 interceptions. Neither team really has the edge Iowa is undefeated on the road with wins over Iowa State and Minnesota so they will be ready for what they are going to see at Ohio State.
Special Teams which has been a huge factor in both of Iowa's losses this season giving up first downs on fake punts to Northern Illinois and Michigan State. Kickoff coverage has been a problem at times this season for the Hawks so they need to get that straightened out as Ohio State averages 23 yards per kick return with 0 touchdowns. Jordan Cotton has done a pretty good job when he has been able to run the kick back and remember the last time we played Ohio State it was a kick return by DJK that almost allowed us to win the game. Mike Meyer is a very good kicker so I trust him to make big kicks hopefully we only see him a kicking PAT's this weekend but if he is needed scoring points will be critical whether thats 3 or 7. Punt Returns I'm not sure who will be back for the punts this weekend Keyvonte Martin Manley is banged up so we could see Riley McCarron back their again. Punting although it isn't what most fans think of can be very important for Iowa to win this game they need to win the field position battle. No Fakes this week Iowa can't give up another fake punt especially that changes the game and Urban Meyer is definitely known to try these so the return team needs to be ready.
My keys to an Iowa victory are to win the field position battle if we can turn the Buckeyes over a couple of times we should have a shot to win this football game. Iowa must run the ball over 100 yards if they can't get over 100 as a team that puts a whole lot of pressure on our developing passing game. Jake Rudock must complete at least 5 passes over 20 yards to open up the running game if Iowa can't throw the ball down the field it could be a long day. My prediction is Iowa pulling off a shocker winning at Ohio State for the first time since November 2nd of 1991 my score is Iowa 28 Ohio State 24. Iowa played the best defense in the Big Ten in their last game Ohio State is vulnerable on the outside so if Iowa can get Powell in some one on one situations he can win those battles. This is more of my heart prediction my brain is telling me Ohio Sate 34 to 24 but I don't believe Ohio State will blow the Hawkeyes out I think if Iowa can be in this game in the 4th quarter that is all you can ask for. I mean if you just look at 2 numbers Ohio State has won 18 games in a row and Iowa hasn't won in Columbus since 1991 eventually that streak is going to break. I think Iowa is due for a big win on the road 28 to 24. I'll have the review of this game next week so be sure to check back thanks for reading.
GO Hawks.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Iowa vs Michigan State Review
Hey Hawk fans I'm back with another blog, this time a review of Iowa's first loss in the Big Ten 26 to 14. We knew points would be at a premium in this game so the team that made more plays would likely win. Michigan State's defense completely shut down the Hawks besides two drives where Iowa scored two touchdowns in just under 6 minutes. When Iowa was able to get the lead I thought the Hawks were going to pull this one out but things just didn't go Iowa's way in the second half. So what did Michigan State do on defense to completely shut down Iowa's offense.
In Iowa's first 14 plays we gained a total of 22 yards and that includes four three and outs plus an interception. Rudock made a very poor throw on the pick probably one of his worse this season as Don Shumpert looked like he was able to get behind the Spartans defensive back but the throw was so far under thrown that he had no chance to make a play on the ball. That ball was 5 yards short of where it needed to be maybe the wind played a little bit of a factor but that just wasn't a good throw. Iowa couldn't run the football at all only gaining 23 yards on 16 carries. It isn't a good thing when the Quarterback leads the team in rushing with 11 total yards. I knew coming into this game that it would be tough to run the football like the Hawks had all season. In the first 5 games of the year they rushed for 200 yards plus but on the first drive I could tell we were going to have to win this game on the arm of Jake Rudock. The other huge factor in this game was field position Michigan State kept Iowa backed up all day long. It seemed that Iowa was starting inside their own 20 on most drives where as the Spartans were starting at the 40 yard line or better. In a defensive game field position becomes extremely important because putting together a long drive on either on of these defenses is very difficult.
I knew coming into this game that MSU would be the most physical defense we probably will see all season they love to play press coverage and blitz more than any other team in the Big Ten. Since the Iowa run game couldn't get going the Hawks had to try to win it by throwing the football over 40 times which just didn't happen on Saturday. Iowa on 3rd and 4th down conversions combined went 5 for 16 which wasn't going to get it done the problem was Iowa just couldn't get ahead of the chains and faced a number of 3rd and longs. Jake Rudock was 26 for 46 with 241 yards 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He didn't have his best game but I thought he still played a pretty good game. He played great in those two drives at the end of the half completing 11 straight passes including the long 47 yard touchdown pass where he read the corner blitz perfectly getting the ball to Bullock who made one man miss and was gone. The second touchdown pass was a superb throw to Fiedorowicz fitting the ball in between the linebacker and safety for a touchdown to give the Hawks their first lead of the game. The wide receivers did have some trouble getting open against the Michigan State defense but the Spartans defense came in number one in the nation vs the pass. It didn't help Iowa's offense when Keyvonte Martin Manley and Mark Weisman both went out with injuries which changed the Hawks offense. One of the things Iowa did well on those 2 drives at the half is they threw the ball to their running backs out of the backfield I would like to see more of this especially vs teams who rush the passer well.
Bullock led the Hawks in receiving hauling in 5 passes for 71 yards and a touchdown, Tevaun Smith had a breakout performance with 6 catches for 59 yards. Another new name emerged as Matt Vandeberg had his first extended action catching 4 passes for 36 yards, and we even had CJ Fiedorowictz get involved with 3 catches for 21 yards and a touchdown. This was the first game where Damond Powell ran two very good routes to get open for first downs he hauled in 2 passes for 19 yards. Losing Martin Manley early in the football game hurt the offense a lot as Keyvonte was the leading receiver coming into the game with 26 catches for 225 yards averaging 8.7 yards per catch. Losing Martin Manley hurt as he was Rudock's safety valve coming into the game but it was nice to see some of the other guys step up. Both of the turnovers hurt the first one was a bad throw and the second one Iowa was down 26 to 14 so Rudock knew he had to get the offense going and forced a pass to Powell which was intercepted. This was the difference between a veteran QB and a younger QB he forced a pass when he just didn't need too. Now that we have looked at what the offense did or didn't do vs the Spartans defense what went wrong on defense.
Big Plays, Big Plays, Big Plays, I just don't understand how this defense continues to get beat deep for touchdowns. Here's the thing Iowa is blitzing more now than ever which means we are playing more man to man defense. Iowa used to play a zone defense exclusively now we play way more man to man defense so if the corner gets beat usually it ends in a big play. Iowa also missed some big tackles when the game was 3 to 0 Iowa had a 3rd and long the Spartans threw a pass to the flat to Fowler Sean Draper came up to make the tackle but missed him to allow the drive to continue. On another 3rd down later that drive Iowa blitzed both safeties on 3rd and 7 this time Michigan State beat the blitz with a skinny post to Mcgarret Kings who beat Sean Draper on the play. Iowa fans for so many years said why do we just sit in a zone well they are seeing first hand why a lot of defenses play more zone because man to man can give up a number of big plays. The second touchdown this time a first down play action pass was a little stick and go route Fowler cut right than ran right by BJ Lowery for a touchdown. Iowa's defense played a decent game keeping Iowa in the game and when James Morris came up with the interception I really thought Iowa was going to get back in the game. The problem was Iowa moved the ball one yard than missed a 50 yard field goal after this play the game was pretty much over. The defense did give up 135 yards rushing but they only gave up 3.5 yards per carry on 37 carries. This game reminded me a lot of last year where the defense played basically the entire game but this time Iowa's defense was good the problem was the Spartans defense was great. The biggest thing that went Michigan State's way was special teams which let the Hawks down yet again.
Special teams like Big plays has killed this team all season long whether that be coverage or fake punts special teams just haven't been that good. The biggest play in the game Michigan State had the ball 4th and 7 on their own 37 yard line Dantonio called the fake which worked picking up 37 yards and a first down leading to another field goal to put the Spartans up 2 scores early in the 4th quarter. Punting was actually pretty decent as Korbraith averaged 45 yards a punt the coverage did give up a 30 yard punt return which set up another score for the Spartans. Field goal kicking Meyer went 0-1 and their kicker Geiger made 4 of 5 field goals. This game was loss in 3 areas special teams they dominated, turnovers they won the battle 2 to 1 and field position Iowa started with the ball once in Michigan state territory and only one time at their own 35, Michigan State got the ball at the 40 yard line and above 3 times in Iowa Territory once and they just controlled the field position game. Also Iowa had 10 3 and outs plus two interceptions thrown where as Michigan State had 4 three and outs. This game just didn't go the way the Hawks needed it to go to win this football game Iowa needs to be able to run at least a little bit and that just didn't happen. So what's next should we give up on the season absolutely not?
Iowa was really banged up coming out of the game so the bye week comes at a great time to get healthy before a very difficult stretch the final 6 games of the season and that starts in the Horse Shoe a week from Saturday vs the Buckeyes. I know a lot of people are disappointed with this loss and I was too but I still have a lot of hope for the rest of the season. This was the best defense Iowa will play all season but the Hawkeyes must clean up the secondary as we start to play more top skill position players. I believe Iowa will be able to run the football against almost every team left on the schedule and if they don't the good thing is Iowa had to throw the football a lot today they didn't win the football game but actually a number of guys stepped up. I think vs the Buckeyes you will see a lot more Powell and Vandeberg on the field they both looked very good and hopefully Tevaun Smith can become a consistent number 2 threat. Ohio State won't be an easy game but I'll have that preview next weekend so be sure to stop back thanks for reading as always.
Go Hawks.
In Iowa's first 14 plays we gained a total of 22 yards and that includes four three and outs plus an interception. Rudock made a very poor throw on the pick probably one of his worse this season as Don Shumpert looked like he was able to get behind the Spartans defensive back but the throw was so far under thrown that he had no chance to make a play on the ball. That ball was 5 yards short of where it needed to be maybe the wind played a little bit of a factor but that just wasn't a good throw. Iowa couldn't run the football at all only gaining 23 yards on 16 carries. It isn't a good thing when the Quarterback leads the team in rushing with 11 total yards. I knew coming into this game that it would be tough to run the football like the Hawks had all season. In the first 5 games of the year they rushed for 200 yards plus but on the first drive I could tell we were going to have to win this game on the arm of Jake Rudock. The other huge factor in this game was field position Michigan State kept Iowa backed up all day long. It seemed that Iowa was starting inside their own 20 on most drives where as the Spartans were starting at the 40 yard line or better. In a defensive game field position becomes extremely important because putting together a long drive on either on of these defenses is very difficult.
I knew coming into this game that MSU would be the most physical defense we probably will see all season they love to play press coverage and blitz more than any other team in the Big Ten. Since the Iowa run game couldn't get going the Hawks had to try to win it by throwing the football over 40 times which just didn't happen on Saturday. Iowa on 3rd and 4th down conversions combined went 5 for 16 which wasn't going to get it done the problem was Iowa just couldn't get ahead of the chains and faced a number of 3rd and longs. Jake Rudock was 26 for 46 with 241 yards 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He didn't have his best game but I thought he still played a pretty good game. He played great in those two drives at the end of the half completing 11 straight passes including the long 47 yard touchdown pass where he read the corner blitz perfectly getting the ball to Bullock who made one man miss and was gone. The second touchdown pass was a superb throw to Fiedorowicz fitting the ball in between the linebacker and safety for a touchdown to give the Hawks their first lead of the game. The wide receivers did have some trouble getting open against the Michigan State defense but the Spartans defense came in number one in the nation vs the pass. It didn't help Iowa's offense when Keyvonte Martin Manley and Mark Weisman both went out with injuries which changed the Hawks offense. One of the things Iowa did well on those 2 drives at the half is they threw the ball to their running backs out of the backfield I would like to see more of this especially vs teams who rush the passer well.
Bullock led the Hawks in receiving hauling in 5 passes for 71 yards and a touchdown, Tevaun Smith had a breakout performance with 6 catches for 59 yards. Another new name emerged as Matt Vandeberg had his first extended action catching 4 passes for 36 yards, and we even had CJ Fiedorowictz get involved with 3 catches for 21 yards and a touchdown. This was the first game where Damond Powell ran two very good routes to get open for first downs he hauled in 2 passes for 19 yards. Losing Martin Manley early in the football game hurt the offense a lot as Keyvonte was the leading receiver coming into the game with 26 catches for 225 yards averaging 8.7 yards per catch. Losing Martin Manley hurt as he was Rudock's safety valve coming into the game but it was nice to see some of the other guys step up. Both of the turnovers hurt the first one was a bad throw and the second one Iowa was down 26 to 14 so Rudock knew he had to get the offense going and forced a pass to Powell which was intercepted. This was the difference between a veteran QB and a younger QB he forced a pass when he just didn't need too. Now that we have looked at what the offense did or didn't do vs the Spartans defense what went wrong on defense.
Big Plays, Big Plays, Big Plays, I just don't understand how this defense continues to get beat deep for touchdowns. Here's the thing Iowa is blitzing more now than ever which means we are playing more man to man defense. Iowa used to play a zone defense exclusively now we play way more man to man defense so if the corner gets beat usually it ends in a big play. Iowa also missed some big tackles when the game was 3 to 0 Iowa had a 3rd and long the Spartans threw a pass to the flat to Fowler Sean Draper came up to make the tackle but missed him to allow the drive to continue. On another 3rd down later that drive Iowa blitzed both safeties on 3rd and 7 this time Michigan State beat the blitz with a skinny post to Mcgarret Kings who beat Sean Draper on the play. Iowa fans for so many years said why do we just sit in a zone well they are seeing first hand why a lot of defenses play more zone because man to man can give up a number of big plays. The second touchdown this time a first down play action pass was a little stick and go route Fowler cut right than ran right by BJ Lowery for a touchdown. Iowa's defense played a decent game keeping Iowa in the game and when James Morris came up with the interception I really thought Iowa was going to get back in the game. The problem was Iowa moved the ball one yard than missed a 50 yard field goal after this play the game was pretty much over. The defense did give up 135 yards rushing but they only gave up 3.5 yards per carry on 37 carries. This game reminded me a lot of last year where the defense played basically the entire game but this time Iowa's defense was good the problem was the Spartans defense was great. The biggest thing that went Michigan State's way was special teams which let the Hawks down yet again.
Special teams like Big plays has killed this team all season long whether that be coverage or fake punts special teams just haven't been that good. The biggest play in the game Michigan State had the ball 4th and 7 on their own 37 yard line Dantonio called the fake which worked picking up 37 yards and a first down leading to another field goal to put the Spartans up 2 scores early in the 4th quarter. Punting was actually pretty decent as Korbraith averaged 45 yards a punt the coverage did give up a 30 yard punt return which set up another score for the Spartans. Field goal kicking Meyer went 0-1 and their kicker Geiger made 4 of 5 field goals. This game was loss in 3 areas special teams they dominated, turnovers they won the battle 2 to 1 and field position Iowa started with the ball once in Michigan state territory and only one time at their own 35, Michigan State got the ball at the 40 yard line and above 3 times in Iowa Territory once and they just controlled the field position game. Also Iowa had 10 3 and outs plus two interceptions thrown where as Michigan State had 4 three and outs. This game just didn't go the way the Hawks needed it to go to win this football game Iowa needs to be able to run at least a little bit and that just didn't happen. So what's next should we give up on the season absolutely not?
Iowa was really banged up coming out of the game so the bye week comes at a great time to get healthy before a very difficult stretch the final 6 games of the season and that starts in the Horse Shoe a week from Saturday vs the Buckeyes. I know a lot of people are disappointed with this loss and I was too but I still have a lot of hope for the rest of the season. This was the best defense Iowa will play all season but the Hawkeyes must clean up the secondary as we start to play more top skill position players. I believe Iowa will be able to run the football against almost every team left on the schedule and if they don't the good thing is Iowa had to throw the football a lot today they didn't win the football game but actually a number of guys stepped up. I think vs the Buckeyes you will see a lot more Powell and Vandeberg on the field they both looked very good and hopefully Tevaun Smith can become a consistent number 2 threat. Ohio State won't be an easy game but I'll have that preview next weekend so be sure to stop back thanks for reading as always.
Go Hawks.
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Iowa Vs Michigan State Preview
Hey Hawk fans I'm back with another blog this time previewing Iowa's Big Ten home opener vs Michigan State. This game will be a real test for the Hawks improving offense as Michigan State has a very good defense. Michigan State is the number one defense in the nation only allowing 188 total yards a game and their defense is only allowing just over 13 points a game. Iowa's defense is only allowing 15 points per game so this could be a defensive struggle with two very good defenses. Before we take a look at this weeks game lets look back at last seasons game where Iowa won 19 to 16 in double overtime. That was a game where Iowa continued to run the football finally breaking through late in the 4th quarter to tie the game than winning on a second field goal by Meyer. As you remember Iowa won on an interception by Greg Castillo in Michigan State's second drive in overtime to seal the game. Michigan State really hasn't played anybody they beat Western Michigan 26 to 13, South Florida 21 to 6 and Youngstown State 55 to 17. In their only real test this season they came up short losing to Notre Dame 17 to 13. Michigan State had the week off so I think they will be focused on shutting down Weisman which makes Rudock making plays with his arm that much more important. Now lets look at Iowa's offense against the Spartans defense.
Iowa is 19th in the nation rushing for 244 yards a game which has been the identity for the Hawkeyes all season. So expect Iowa to try to run the football the problem this week is Michigan State is second in the nation only allowing 58.3 rushing yards per game. So something has to give in this one either the Hawkeyes will run the ball well or Michigan State will slow down Iowa's rushing attack. Iowa's pass offense is ranked 92nd in the nation at 203 yards per game but they look to be improving each week. Michigan State in ranked number 1 in pass defense only allowing 130 yards per game and 10 yards per catch. Iowa comes into the game scoring 32.8 points per game which ranks 55th in the nation while Michigan State is again ranked number 10 in scoring defense only allowing 13.3 points per game. This is the first game where the Hawks will have a big test on offense Michigan State is a very good defense and they are for real. This will be a drag it out fist fight and the team that controls the line of scrimmage will win this football game. Iowa's offensive line has been very good all season long allowing them to run for over 200 yards in every game so far this season. I think the passing game will be very important this weekend we need more than Martin Manley to make plays this week. Michigan State likes to play very physical at corner so if we can get Powell on the field and run him on some deep routes he may be able to beat the press coverage on Saturday. Now this is if the weather is good which that doesn't look to be the case as most places are calling for rain. Taking care of the football will be critical in this game Michigan State doesn't have the type of offense that will score on Iowa's defense but Michigan State has an opportunistic defense forcing 8 turnovers and actually scoring on a few of the turnovers. Rudock has been very good for the Hawks but has made a few bad decisions that have caused interceptions. Finishing drives will be important but really if Iowa can score 21 points in this game I don't believe Michigan State will score enough to beat us. Now that we have looked at Iowa's offense against Michigan States defense lets look at the Spartans offense vs the Hawkeyes defense.
Michigan State has been built around there defense this season and there offense is just not very good. The Spartans on the season are 57th in rushing averaging 187 yards per game so Michigan State is going to try to be the more physical team and run the football. There pass offense hasn't been good all this season ranking 113th at just over 153 yards per game. The Spartans do have some receivers that can make plays Macgarret King Jr. is their leading receiver with 13 catches for 136 yards and 2 touchdowns. Other receivers to watch out for are Aaron Burbridge 12 catches for 100 yards and Benny Fowler who has 8 catches for 100 yards. They do have some speed at the receiver position so look for the Spartans to test Iowa's secondary early in the game. The biggest issue Michigan State has had all season is there quarterback play they really play 2 guys Conor Cook and Andrew Maxwell. Cook on the season has thrown for 411 yards and 5 touchdowns to zero interceptions. The interesting thing about Cook is that he doesn't throw the ball down the field as well as Maxwell demonstrated by the fact he was pulled from the Notre Dame game because Maxwell was a better passer. Cook can run a little gaining 74 yards on 19 carries this season but he isn't a huge threat to run. Jeremy Langford is the Spartans main ball carrier running the ball 58 times for 268 yards and 4 touchdowns. We will also see two other backs Nick Hill who has 38 carries for 213 yards and a touchdown plus Riley Bullough who has 22 carries for 74 yards. Michigan State is a lot like Minnesota in that they will run the football but they do have better players on the outside. This game is a battle of possibly the two best linebacker units in the Big Ten if not in the nation. Iowa's defense has been very good all season only allowing 79.2 rushing yards good enough for 7th in the nation. Iowa's pass defense hasn't been that great still a top 30 unit ranking 29th in the nation allowing 186 yards through the air. So what are the keys to this football game?
The biggest key in this game will be who controls the line of scrimmage both teams pride themselves on being the most physical team on the field. Iowa likes to make you break mentally by continuing to pound the football until the defense is too tired to stop them. Michigan States defense is very good at forcing turnovers with 8 this season but Iowa's defense has forced 11 turnovers so the team that doesn't turn the ball over will have the upper hand. Iowa needs the passing game to balance out the run making some plays down the field is huge for both teams as each team likes to run even though Iowa's passing and running game is better than the Spartans. With the pass rush that the Spartans can generate don't be surprised if you see Iowa running more screens and draws in this game to try to get the pass rushers up the field. Weisman will get his 20 to 25 carries and so far this season Iowa has gone over 200 yards every game. Special Teams could be the unit that wins this game for either team kick and punt coverage is very important for the Hawks who have allowed some big kick returns this season. If Iowa can force Michigan State to put together long scoring drives I think Iowa will be just fine on Saturday if they give them short fields the Spartans could put up some points. Now it's prediction time?
I see Iowa winning a close game 21 to 13 with Jake Rudock being the difference once again this week I see his ability to create plays with his arm and legs should give the Hawks the upper hand. Both defenses are even and this will be the first game I'm a little nervous that the running game won't be what it has been all season. This is the game I've been waiting for if the Spartans slow down the rushing attack is Jake Rudock good enough to win the game with his arm. We will find out on Saturday if he is because the Spartans are coming off a bye week and have to be focused on stopping Iowa's rushing attack. Another thing I want to see is can the receivers continue to take steps forward they have improved so far this season and I believe that Powell, Smith or Hillyer are close to having that breakout game. The weather could be a factor if it's rainy like it was last season at Michigan State this could be an ugly drag it out old school type game. I just don't think the Spartans offense is good enough to take advantage of Iowa's weak points on defense which is defending the pass but not just defending it they have given up big plays. If Iowa forces Michigan State to put together long drives to score they will win this game. I have the Hawks moving to 5-1 before the bye week and with a Big Ten home victory 21 to 13. Those are my thoughts on the game be sure to check back next week as I'll have a full review of this game thanks for reading.
Go Hawks.
Iowa is 19th in the nation rushing for 244 yards a game which has been the identity for the Hawkeyes all season. So expect Iowa to try to run the football the problem this week is Michigan State is second in the nation only allowing 58.3 rushing yards per game. So something has to give in this one either the Hawkeyes will run the ball well or Michigan State will slow down Iowa's rushing attack. Iowa's pass offense is ranked 92nd in the nation at 203 yards per game but they look to be improving each week. Michigan State in ranked number 1 in pass defense only allowing 130 yards per game and 10 yards per catch. Iowa comes into the game scoring 32.8 points per game which ranks 55th in the nation while Michigan State is again ranked number 10 in scoring defense only allowing 13.3 points per game. This is the first game where the Hawks will have a big test on offense Michigan State is a very good defense and they are for real. This will be a drag it out fist fight and the team that controls the line of scrimmage will win this football game. Iowa's offensive line has been very good all season long allowing them to run for over 200 yards in every game so far this season. I think the passing game will be very important this weekend we need more than Martin Manley to make plays this week. Michigan State likes to play very physical at corner so if we can get Powell on the field and run him on some deep routes he may be able to beat the press coverage on Saturday. Now this is if the weather is good which that doesn't look to be the case as most places are calling for rain. Taking care of the football will be critical in this game Michigan State doesn't have the type of offense that will score on Iowa's defense but Michigan State has an opportunistic defense forcing 8 turnovers and actually scoring on a few of the turnovers. Rudock has been very good for the Hawks but has made a few bad decisions that have caused interceptions. Finishing drives will be important but really if Iowa can score 21 points in this game I don't believe Michigan State will score enough to beat us. Now that we have looked at Iowa's offense against Michigan States defense lets look at the Spartans offense vs the Hawkeyes defense.
Michigan State has been built around there defense this season and there offense is just not very good. The Spartans on the season are 57th in rushing averaging 187 yards per game so Michigan State is going to try to be the more physical team and run the football. There pass offense hasn't been good all this season ranking 113th at just over 153 yards per game. The Spartans do have some receivers that can make plays Macgarret King Jr. is their leading receiver with 13 catches for 136 yards and 2 touchdowns. Other receivers to watch out for are Aaron Burbridge 12 catches for 100 yards and Benny Fowler who has 8 catches for 100 yards. They do have some speed at the receiver position so look for the Spartans to test Iowa's secondary early in the game. The biggest issue Michigan State has had all season is there quarterback play they really play 2 guys Conor Cook and Andrew Maxwell. Cook on the season has thrown for 411 yards and 5 touchdowns to zero interceptions. The interesting thing about Cook is that he doesn't throw the ball down the field as well as Maxwell demonstrated by the fact he was pulled from the Notre Dame game because Maxwell was a better passer. Cook can run a little gaining 74 yards on 19 carries this season but he isn't a huge threat to run. Jeremy Langford is the Spartans main ball carrier running the ball 58 times for 268 yards and 4 touchdowns. We will also see two other backs Nick Hill who has 38 carries for 213 yards and a touchdown plus Riley Bullough who has 22 carries for 74 yards. Michigan State is a lot like Minnesota in that they will run the football but they do have better players on the outside. This game is a battle of possibly the two best linebacker units in the Big Ten if not in the nation. Iowa's defense has been very good all season only allowing 79.2 rushing yards good enough for 7th in the nation. Iowa's pass defense hasn't been that great still a top 30 unit ranking 29th in the nation allowing 186 yards through the air. So what are the keys to this football game?
The biggest key in this game will be who controls the line of scrimmage both teams pride themselves on being the most physical team on the field. Iowa likes to make you break mentally by continuing to pound the football until the defense is too tired to stop them. Michigan States defense is very good at forcing turnovers with 8 this season but Iowa's defense has forced 11 turnovers so the team that doesn't turn the ball over will have the upper hand. Iowa needs the passing game to balance out the run making some plays down the field is huge for both teams as each team likes to run even though Iowa's passing and running game is better than the Spartans. With the pass rush that the Spartans can generate don't be surprised if you see Iowa running more screens and draws in this game to try to get the pass rushers up the field. Weisman will get his 20 to 25 carries and so far this season Iowa has gone over 200 yards every game. Special Teams could be the unit that wins this game for either team kick and punt coverage is very important for the Hawks who have allowed some big kick returns this season. If Iowa can force Michigan State to put together long scoring drives I think Iowa will be just fine on Saturday if they give them short fields the Spartans could put up some points. Now it's prediction time?
I see Iowa winning a close game 21 to 13 with Jake Rudock being the difference once again this week I see his ability to create plays with his arm and legs should give the Hawks the upper hand. Both defenses are even and this will be the first game I'm a little nervous that the running game won't be what it has been all season. This is the game I've been waiting for if the Spartans slow down the rushing attack is Jake Rudock good enough to win the game with his arm. We will find out on Saturday if he is because the Spartans are coming off a bye week and have to be focused on stopping Iowa's rushing attack. Another thing I want to see is can the receivers continue to take steps forward they have improved so far this season and I believe that Powell, Smith or Hillyer are close to having that breakout game. The weather could be a factor if it's rainy like it was last season at Michigan State this could be an ugly drag it out old school type game. I just don't think the Spartans offense is good enough to take advantage of Iowa's weak points on defense which is defending the pass but not just defending it they have given up big plays. If Iowa forces Michigan State to put together long drives to score they will win this game. I have the Hawks moving to 5-1 before the bye week and with a Big Ten home victory 21 to 13. Those are my thoughts on the game be sure to check back next week as I'll have a full review of this game thanks for reading.
Go Hawks.
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Iowa Vs Minnesota Review
Hey Hawk fans I'm back with my review of Iowa's second big road win of the season and first Conference win over Minnesota 23 to 7. Coming into this game I knew a couple of things one if Minnesota tried to run the ball right at Iowa's defense they would be in a lot of trouble. Sure enough that is exactly what Minnesota tried to do running the ball right at the Hawks defense for only 30 total yards rushing. The other advantage I thought Iowa had coming into this game was quarterback play and that definitely was the case as Rudock had a big game for the Hawks. Rudock was outstanding on Saturday which was one of the main reasons the Hawkeyes came out with the victory. Lets take a look at what the offense was able to do to a Gopher team that was very good at stopping the run in their first four games.
Iowa ran the ball very effectively once again going for 246 yards on 45 carries. The run has been our identity all season but the key in this game was the improvement in the passing game. Weisman ran for 147 yards on 24 carries and Damon Bullock added 11 carries for an additional 47 yards. The run game has been there all season long but the way Rudock played gave me hope that later on in the season if we can't run the ball at will, he has the ability to win a game with his arm. Rudock went 15 for 25 for 218 yards scoring one touchdown rushing and throwing one to Damond Powell. He made one bad read on the interception in the End zone where he stared down his receiver. Watching the game Iowa made play after play on 3rd down which was the difference in the game. Minnesota put the Hawks in a number of 3rd and longs but Rudock wasn't phased converting a number of them. Iowa was 8 of 14 on 3rd down conversions compared to Minnesota who went 4 of 13. Rudock did it a number of ways on Saturday scrambling for some first downs and also with his arm as he was throwing strikes on Saturday. We can't forget about the Offensive line who was outstanding giving Rudock plenty of time to throw the football and opening up some big holes for all of our backs. We were very good running to the left side of the offensive line which is right behind potential first round pick Brandon Scherff. Iowa ran the ball to the left side 22 times for 129 yards rushing. Now that we talked about Rudock and the rushing attack which receivers stepped up to make big plays on Saturday.
The play that really took a lot of air out of the Gophers sails was the 74 yard touchdown pass to Damond Powell on a perfect screen pass. It was really nice to see Powell continuing to get a bigger role in the offense as we move into conference season I see him becoming more of a weapon. This play really crushed any hope of the Gophers getting back into the game and it put Iowa up 17 to 0 at the half. Rudock threw 15 completions to 8 different receivers leading the way was Kevonte Martin Manley who had 6 catches for 56 yards. Martin Manley could of had an even bigger game but he dropped a long pass that probably would of gone for a touchdown. As we have seen all season Kmart seems to be Jake's safety valve when he is back to pass. The key to more success in the BIG Ten is having more of the receivers step up to make more than one catch. A lot of guys are contributing the good thing is that out of the 8 guys that caught passes 7 of them caught passes over 8 yards. The big one obviously was the 74 yard screen pass to Powell but other guys made some plays too. I like that a lot of people are contributing and so far Iowa has not had to throw the ball a lot which may be why we don't have multiple wide receivers with more than one catch. The next step for this receiving core is to have a Hillyer, Smith or Powell really have a breakout game to complement what Martin Manley has been doing all season. Michigan State will be a good test on Saturday for this very reason, if they slow down the rushing attack will we see guys like Smith, Hillyer, and Powell rising to the level Kmart has been playing at. Now that we have looked at what Iowa's offense did how did the defense completely shut down the Gophers.
The Gophers came into this game rushing for 282 yards per game which ranked in the top ten in the nation. Iowa held them 252 yards under their average only allowing 30 total rushing yards. Iowa completely controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball but especially defense. The defensive line specifically the tackles completely dominated. Carl Davis and Louis Trinca Pasat basically lived in the backfield all day completely neutralizing the Gophers rushing attack. The defensive line also got to the quarterback sacking Phillip Nelson 4 times on the afternoon which was a big step forward for the defense who only had 2 sacks coming into the game. The linebackers were excellent again I think Morris had one of his better games gathering 8 tackles with a sack and an interception to seal the game. The Hawks also forced one more turnover on a diving interception by Christian Kirskey. Iowa's defense held Minnesota under 200 yards total offense only allowing 165 total yards with 135 of that coming through the air. The defense continues to be very good improving each week to not allow big plays, the front 7 is a big strength for this team and I don't see anyone just running all over Iowa that includes teams like Wisconsin who are built that way. Now that we went over the positives for the defense what are some things they need to improve on .
The Secondary gave up some big plays again. Minnesota had a number of open receivers which was disappointing especially on the flag route Nelson was dropping the ball in behind the corner and the Safeties looked a little bit slow on those plays which were big completions for the Gophers. BJ Lowery was beat a lot later in the game which makes you wonder if the team just relaxed a little bit when they had a big lead. The problem is a lead can vanish quickly when you allow your opponent to create big plays. The one touchdown Minnesota had Lowery was lazy in his bump and run coverage allowing a quick release for Engle who scored a touchdown. Lowery was beaten one more time where the Engle was behind him again but Nelson overthrew him or Minnesota could of been right back in the football game. The secondary must continue to improve as we will be facing a lot better passing attacks than what we have seen from the Cyclones or Gophers. Northern Illinois passing game the first game is good but we will see teams that are just as good if not better in the coming weeks. Iowa can't allow big plays on defense those are big momentum plays so that is the biggest thing the Hawks defense needs to work on. The way this defense has played if the secondary improves this could be one of the best defenses we've had in a while probably not as good as 2010 for the defensive line but you can see them improving every week. Now lets talk about special teams which had some positives and negatives on Saturday.
First for the positives Mike Meyer made 3 of 4 field goals on the day which were big in the game as he put us on the board first with a 49 yard field goal than made a big one to the put the Hawks up 23 to 7 in the fourth quarter. He did miss one so he wasn't perfect but still Meyer made some big kicks for the Hawks on Saturday and I have total confidence he will make the big kicks later in the season. Now on to the negatives the kickoff coverage was a problem once again allowing two 50 plus yard kick returns. This has to be cleaned up because even though this defense is very good we don't want to give up great field position. The only touchdown Minnesota scored was setup by the long kick return. Iowa had problems with kickoff coverage last season so they will have to get this cleaned up quickly. The problem I see on the first big return we were out of our lanes and a missed tackle allowed him to spring free. The second one again we missed some tackles which allowed the return man to get to the sideline and set Minnesota up in good field position again. I want to see this unit continue to improve because special teams can cause big momentum shifts in a game. The return units didn't get much of a chance but Jordan Cotton did have a very nice kick return where he was one broken tackle away from breaking one. After Martin Manley's big day last week Minnesota didn't give him a lot of space to run.
So week one of Big Ten play is in the books the Hawks sit 1-0 in conference and 4-1 overall. Next up will be a very strong defense as the Hawks face off against the Michigan State Spartans on Saturday. This was another big road win for Iowa and the Hawks have now proved they can win on the road so far this season winning in two hostile environments Ames and Minneapolis. This season is starting to feel kind of special but I'm trying to temper my expectations on what Iowa can do this season. If Iowa beats Michigan State on Saturday I might not be able to temper them anymore Iowa has an identity Kirk's good teams have always ran the ball great and played great run defense. That is what this team has done so far this season with Rudock showing how good of quarterback he is the sky is the limit for the rest of this season. I will have a preview of the Michigan State game coming up in the next few days so make sure you check that out.
Go Hawks.
Iowa ran the ball very effectively once again going for 246 yards on 45 carries. The run has been our identity all season but the key in this game was the improvement in the passing game. Weisman ran for 147 yards on 24 carries and Damon Bullock added 11 carries for an additional 47 yards. The run game has been there all season long but the way Rudock played gave me hope that later on in the season if we can't run the ball at will, he has the ability to win a game with his arm. Rudock went 15 for 25 for 218 yards scoring one touchdown rushing and throwing one to Damond Powell. He made one bad read on the interception in the End zone where he stared down his receiver. Watching the game Iowa made play after play on 3rd down which was the difference in the game. Minnesota put the Hawks in a number of 3rd and longs but Rudock wasn't phased converting a number of them. Iowa was 8 of 14 on 3rd down conversions compared to Minnesota who went 4 of 13. Rudock did it a number of ways on Saturday scrambling for some first downs and also with his arm as he was throwing strikes on Saturday. We can't forget about the Offensive line who was outstanding giving Rudock plenty of time to throw the football and opening up some big holes for all of our backs. We were very good running to the left side of the offensive line which is right behind potential first round pick Brandon Scherff. Iowa ran the ball to the left side 22 times for 129 yards rushing. Now that we talked about Rudock and the rushing attack which receivers stepped up to make big plays on Saturday.
The play that really took a lot of air out of the Gophers sails was the 74 yard touchdown pass to Damond Powell on a perfect screen pass. It was really nice to see Powell continuing to get a bigger role in the offense as we move into conference season I see him becoming more of a weapon. This play really crushed any hope of the Gophers getting back into the game and it put Iowa up 17 to 0 at the half. Rudock threw 15 completions to 8 different receivers leading the way was Kevonte Martin Manley who had 6 catches for 56 yards. Martin Manley could of had an even bigger game but he dropped a long pass that probably would of gone for a touchdown. As we have seen all season Kmart seems to be Jake's safety valve when he is back to pass. The key to more success in the BIG Ten is having more of the receivers step up to make more than one catch. A lot of guys are contributing the good thing is that out of the 8 guys that caught passes 7 of them caught passes over 8 yards. The big one obviously was the 74 yard screen pass to Powell but other guys made some plays too. I like that a lot of people are contributing and so far Iowa has not had to throw the ball a lot which may be why we don't have multiple wide receivers with more than one catch. The next step for this receiving core is to have a Hillyer, Smith or Powell really have a breakout game to complement what Martin Manley has been doing all season. Michigan State will be a good test on Saturday for this very reason, if they slow down the rushing attack will we see guys like Smith, Hillyer, and Powell rising to the level Kmart has been playing at. Now that we have looked at what Iowa's offense did how did the defense completely shut down the Gophers.
The Gophers came into this game rushing for 282 yards per game which ranked in the top ten in the nation. Iowa held them 252 yards under their average only allowing 30 total rushing yards. Iowa completely controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball but especially defense. The defensive line specifically the tackles completely dominated. Carl Davis and Louis Trinca Pasat basically lived in the backfield all day completely neutralizing the Gophers rushing attack. The defensive line also got to the quarterback sacking Phillip Nelson 4 times on the afternoon which was a big step forward for the defense who only had 2 sacks coming into the game. The linebackers were excellent again I think Morris had one of his better games gathering 8 tackles with a sack and an interception to seal the game. The Hawks also forced one more turnover on a diving interception by Christian Kirskey. Iowa's defense held Minnesota under 200 yards total offense only allowing 165 total yards with 135 of that coming through the air. The defense continues to be very good improving each week to not allow big plays, the front 7 is a big strength for this team and I don't see anyone just running all over Iowa that includes teams like Wisconsin who are built that way. Now that we went over the positives for the defense what are some things they need to improve on .
The Secondary gave up some big plays again. Minnesota had a number of open receivers which was disappointing especially on the flag route Nelson was dropping the ball in behind the corner and the Safeties looked a little bit slow on those plays which were big completions for the Gophers. BJ Lowery was beat a lot later in the game which makes you wonder if the team just relaxed a little bit when they had a big lead. The problem is a lead can vanish quickly when you allow your opponent to create big plays. The one touchdown Minnesota had Lowery was lazy in his bump and run coverage allowing a quick release for Engle who scored a touchdown. Lowery was beaten one more time where the Engle was behind him again but Nelson overthrew him or Minnesota could of been right back in the football game. The secondary must continue to improve as we will be facing a lot better passing attacks than what we have seen from the Cyclones or Gophers. Northern Illinois passing game the first game is good but we will see teams that are just as good if not better in the coming weeks. Iowa can't allow big plays on defense those are big momentum plays so that is the biggest thing the Hawks defense needs to work on. The way this defense has played if the secondary improves this could be one of the best defenses we've had in a while probably not as good as 2010 for the defensive line but you can see them improving every week. Now lets talk about special teams which had some positives and negatives on Saturday.
First for the positives Mike Meyer made 3 of 4 field goals on the day which were big in the game as he put us on the board first with a 49 yard field goal than made a big one to the put the Hawks up 23 to 7 in the fourth quarter. He did miss one so he wasn't perfect but still Meyer made some big kicks for the Hawks on Saturday and I have total confidence he will make the big kicks later in the season. Now on to the negatives the kickoff coverage was a problem once again allowing two 50 plus yard kick returns. This has to be cleaned up because even though this defense is very good we don't want to give up great field position. The only touchdown Minnesota scored was setup by the long kick return. Iowa had problems with kickoff coverage last season so they will have to get this cleaned up quickly. The problem I see on the first big return we were out of our lanes and a missed tackle allowed him to spring free. The second one again we missed some tackles which allowed the return man to get to the sideline and set Minnesota up in good field position again. I want to see this unit continue to improve because special teams can cause big momentum shifts in a game. The return units didn't get much of a chance but Jordan Cotton did have a very nice kick return where he was one broken tackle away from breaking one. After Martin Manley's big day last week Minnesota didn't give him a lot of space to run.
So week one of Big Ten play is in the books the Hawks sit 1-0 in conference and 4-1 overall. Next up will be a very strong defense as the Hawks face off against the Michigan State Spartans on Saturday. This was another big road win for Iowa and the Hawks have now proved they can win on the road so far this season winning in two hostile environments Ames and Minneapolis. This season is starting to feel kind of special but I'm trying to temper my expectations on what Iowa can do this season. If Iowa beats Michigan State on Saturday I might not be able to temper them anymore Iowa has an identity Kirk's good teams have always ran the ball great and played great run defense. That is what this team has done so far this season with Rudock showing how good of quarterback he is the sky is the limit for the rest of this season. I will have a preview of the Michigan State game coming up in the next few days so make sure you check that out.
Go Hawks.
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