In regards to play calling, I remember one of the most "pleasantly surprising" play calls that I have ever witnessed from a McCarney coached team.It was the year that the Insight.Com team went up against Neb (in Ames), and the first play call was on the kick off. We did an onside kick and recovered it. I remember that the JACK just went nuts!! The fans in my section started conversing about the fact that since Mac was now getting some high quality players, he could execute those types of plays and that they could actually work and surprise some teams. We were excited that, just perhaps, we were seeing a new & improved Dan McCarney (in regards to play calling).
Alas, we were wrong. Now, I am not suggesting that we RELY on trick plays or that we attempt an onside kick to start the game in Texas, but we need to be aggressive and more risky than we have been. Heck, Austin Flynn is a former QB - line him up in the backfield sometime and see if this confuses the Defense / keeps them guessing. It doesn't mean that we even have to give him the ball to throw - but it would be a change from the same old same old! It would give the scouts another factor to ponder, another thing to have to prepare for.
That being said, I really was impressed by our running attack against
EIU. Go Stevie, Go Jason - thanks for proving this skeptic wrong (I shamefully admit that I agreed with some of my Hawkeye co-workers that Stevie would be lucky to gain 25 yards. However, I also stated that this would be a huge game for Meyer and Blythe.)
