O-Line Woes

**Aclone** · 12-31-2011, 08:18 PM

I'm not going to do a deep, indepth analysis of this. I just know that since the days that Mac hired Marty Fine, this area has been no more than passable for the Cyclones. Mediocre. Even this year, with a couple fo NFL prospects among the starting five. All right, so injuries didn't help (though they may in the long run), but I was tired of ISU quarterbacks having to run for their lives back when Seneca was doing it.

Well, apparently the coaches are too. I have to admit that I rejoiced, back in two-a-days when Oni Omoile went back to the offensive side of the ball, after a brief visit on defense. I know that last year the coaches pointed out OSU's line as one they wanted to model after, as athletic and proficient in both run blocking and pass protection--if not highly recruited.

Er, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that after what our usually paltry pass rush did to those guys...But I digress.

Well, it seems to me that the staff has seen a problem, and is taking steps to rectify it. Not only with Jacob Dunning and Duaron "Big Dawg" Williams, but with a couple of targets at other positions committing elswhere, they seem to be hot after another athletic, under-recruited player in Floridian Forrest Lamp:

Forrest Lamp - Yahoo! Sports

...who has already visited Miami. Anyway, I'm not sure that this bodes well for a couple of the bigger guys who have yet to push their way onto the field.

And I'm happy to see it. Let alone what will doubtless be a free-for-all, a scramble for the starting positions, when Bill Bleil opens up his part of Spring practice. Here's to Winter Conditioning! Let the weight room roll!

**wartknight** · 12-31-2011, 09:28 PM

Originally Posted by Aclone

I'm not going to do a deep, indepth analysis of this. I just know that since the days that Mac hired Marty Fine, this area has been no more than passable for the Cyclones. Mediocre. Even this year, with a couple fo NFL prospects among the starting five. All right, so injuries didn't help (though they may in the long run), but I was tired of ISU quarterbacks having to run for their lives back when Seneca was doing it.

Well, apparently the coaches are too. I have to admit that I rejoiced, back in two-a-days when Oni Omoile went back to the offensive side of the ball, after a brief visit on defense. I know that last year the coaches pointed out OSU's line as one they wanted to model after, as athletic and proficient in both run blocking and pass protection--if not highly recruited.

Er, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that after what our usually paltry pass rush did to those guys...But I digress.

Well, it seems to me that the staff has seen a problem, and is taking steps to rectify it. Not only with Jacob Dunning and Duaron "Big Dawg" Williams, but with a couple of targets at other positions committing elswhere, they seem to be hot after another athletic, under-recruited player in Floridian Forrest Lamp:

Forrest Lamp - Yahoo! Sports

...who has already visited Miami. Anyway, I'm not sure that this bodes well for a couple of the bigger guys who have yet to push their way onto the field.

And I'm happy to see it. Let alone what will doubtless be a free-for-all, a scramble for the starting positions, when Bill Bleil opens up his part of Spring practice. Here's to Winter Conditioning! Let the weight room roll!

A lot of our issues this year have been scheme-based and not entirely on OL. Have we had some issues? sure. But the OL has taken a lot of blame and not rightfully so. KState had a lot of inside zone plays that, if reads, were read incorrectly by QB. If they were straight gives, we were outnumbered and the unblocked guys several times made the tackle.
The issue yesterday was whoever was calling the offense's ineptness at having any plan on how to attack the Rutgers blitz. On several occasions, they had 2 guys off the read side blitzing and we had no chance. Never once did we hit a hot read over there or run a tb screen. The only screens we ran were to opposite side of that.
On a lot of blitz packages, there is going to be a LB come free. If there isn't a hot route run, or it is missed, it makes the OL look bad.
I actually think that next to our LB corp, OL is the next strongest part of the team. Maybe DB's.
Not a perfect unit, but one of the better ones around IMHO

**Cyclonepride** · 12-31-2011, 10:38 PM

I'm very happy with the prospects for our offensive line (and with the overall job they did this year). Losing Hicks and KO certainly hurts, but the young guys who stepped in from time to time this year showed a lot of promise, and I'm excited about the kids who red shirted, and also the recruits. CPR is definitely building something, and you can tell he knows it starts with the line.

Yesterday, I think they ran into a scheme that they were unprepared for.

**swarthmoreCY** · 01-01-2012, 07:36 AM

The line was fine the past three years. Better than most DMac years

**bigsag** · 01-01-2012, 08:23 AM

I was sort of surprised yesterday, when I read an analysis of Big 12 recruiting, and it stated that the prize recruit (so far) on Iowa State's verbal committment list was Daniel Burton (OL from Oklahoma). Does anyone know what is so special about Burton ? I really have not read much about him.

**acgclone** · 01-01-2012, 08:53 AM

The OL was a disappointment on Friday but overall they played solid football this year, IMO. My biggest complaint was too many penalties at crucial times from that group. Hicks was good for at least 2 penalties/game.

**jdoggivjc** · 01-01-2012, 08:55 AM

I think the biggest issue with the OL this season was not with the talent, but with the discipline. Way too many false starts and holding penalties put the offense in far too many 3rd and longs, which is something even the best offenses have problems converting.

**SouthJerseyCy** · 01-01-2012, 09:39 AM

Originally Posted by jdoggivjc

I think the biggest issue with the OL this season was not with the talent, but with the discipline. Way too many false starts and holding penalties put the offense in far too many 3rd and longs, which is something even the best offenses have problems converting.

And 90% of those false starts were on KO or Hicks. Not happy to see them gone by any means, but those two racked up a lot of penalties.

**Clonefan94** · 01-01-2012, 11:06 AM

Originally Posted by SouthJerseyCy

And 90% of those false starts were on KO or Hicks. Not happy to see them gone by any means, but those two racked up a lot of penalties.

I still think that had a lot to do with the scheme we ran as well. When you see guys who are undisciplined, it doesn't help to hurry up to the line and make them sit in their splits for the remaining 20 seconds while every one else looks back to see the play that's being called. And the most frustrating part about it all, is that the defense was still not recognized often enough. The hardest thing for a lineman to do is sit and wait. Hard counts are one thing, but just sitting there ready to go is really tough when you are in your stance for that long. If you don't believe me, do it. Set a timer and get into a stance and sit there for 20 seconds. Then do it again, then again. It's actually a great way to get your legs in shape and get gassed pretty quick.

**clonedude** · 01-01-2012, 11:15 AM

On Friday, it was not the OL's fault. Rutgers was blitzing on nearly every down, and bringing 7 or 8 guys. You can't block that.

It was the fact that our QB's couldn't hit a wide open WR 8 yds down the field to beat the blitz that killed us. And Mensa's inability to read what Rutgers was doing and find a way to beat it. A simple RB screen for big yards would have taken Rutgers out of that blitz pretty quick. Or a few quick slants into the open spots vacated by the blitzing LB's. But was Mensa smart enough to do that... no.

**WeedCyntist** · 01-01-2012, 11:17 AM

Originally Posted by acgclone

The OL was a disappointment on Friday but overall they played solid football this year, IMO. My biggest complaint was too many penalties at crucial times from that group. Hicks was good for at least 2 penalties/game.

Agreed. If overall line play hasn't been that bad. Otherwise we wouldn't have had the wins we did and we have showed enough promise in the other games as well.

**CascadeClone** · 01-01-2012, 02:22 PM

Originally Posted by clonedude

On Friday, it was not the OL's fault. Rutgers was blitzing on nearly every down, and bringing 7 or 8 guys. You can't block that.

It was the fact that our QB's couldn't hit a wide open WR 8 yds down the field to beat the blitz that killed us. And Mensa's inability to read what Rutgers was doing and find a way to beat it. A simple RB screen for big yards would have taken Rutgers out of that blitz pretty quick. Or a few quick slants into the open spots vacated by the blitzing LB's. But was Mensa smart enough to do that... no.

THIS.

I was begging for a screen, think we ran one. Didn't seem like we had any strategy or plan to defeat the blitzing and stunts. And it did not help that Barnett got hurt and Jantz had to come in with less practice reps vs that scheme. Double whammy. Maybe we should have just given it to Woody 30 times at that point...

"What is this stunting and blitzing sorcery??"

**Aclone** · 01-01-2012, 07:50 PM

Originally Posted by wartknight

A lot of our issues this year have been scheme-based and not entirely on OL.

I LIKE you! You rationalize even more than I do! Sweet!

Yayah, bay-bee! All those guys just running by a lineman who too slow to keep up, or bowling over another who wasn't strong enough, or the holding, or the false starts, that's SCHEME based!

You know what my grandpa would have called that? The same kinda stuff you don't wanna step in in the cow pasture!

Originally Posted by clonedude

It was the fact that our QB's couldn't hit a wide open WR 8 yds down the field to beat the blitz that killed us. And Mensa's inability to read what Rutgers was doing and find a way to beat it.

You can't have it both ways. You can't say in one breath that the problem was the quarterback who didn't hit the open guy, then the next rag on the very person who called the play that HAD a wide open receiver!

Originally Posted by swarthmoreCY

The line was fine the past three years. Better than most DMac years

"Fine", huh? Strange that you should use that word...

Originally Posted by WeedCyntist

Agreed. If overall line play hasn't been that bad. Otherwise we wouldn't have had the wins we did and we have showed enough promise in the other games as well.

"hasn't been that bad" is a heckuva long distance from "Has been a strength".

That's what I'm getting at. This group CAN be a strength. But things like this don't change between night and day. Even at Oklahoma, it took Stoops several years to make the offensive line a strength again after he took over--and we sure as heck don't recruit like OU!

**Cyclonz** · 01-01-2012, 07:53 PM

O line absolutely did not show up for the bowl game. Very disappointing.

**D UP Clones** · 01-01-2012, 08:03 PM

Originally Posted by Aclone

I'm not going to do a deep, indepth analysis of this. I just know that since the days that Mac hired Marty Fine, this area has been no more than passable for the Cyclones. Mediocre. Even this year, with a couple fo NFL prospects among the starting five. All right, so injuries didn't help (though they may in the long run), but I was tired of ISU quarterbacks having to run for their lives back when Seneca was doing it.

Well, apparently the coaches are too. I have to admit that I rejoiced, back in two-a-days when Oni Omoile went back to the offensive side of the ball, after a brief visit on defense. I know that last year the coaches pointed out OSU's line as one they wanted to model after, as athletic and proficient in both run blocking and pass protection--if not highly recruited.

Er, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that after what our usually paltry pass rush did to those guys...But I digress.

Hicks was terrible against Rutgers. Most of the pressure came from him and the center not passing off guys and leaving a wide open lane to the quarterback.

I went back and slowed down every play. Oh, and Jacues Washington didn't hit a soul all game while not being blocked most of the time.
Well, it seems to me that the staff has seen a problem, and is taking steps to rectify it. Not only with Jacob Dunning and Duaron "Big Dawg" Williams, but with a couple of targets at other positions committing elswhere, they seem to be hot after another athletic, under-recruited player in Floridian Forrest Lamp:

Forrest Lamp - Yahoo! Sports

...who has already visited Miami. Anyway, I'm not sure that this bodes well for a couple of the bigger guys who have yet to push their way onto the field.

And I'm happy to see it. Let alone what will doubtless be a free-for-all, a scramble for the starting positions, when Bill Bleil opens up his part of Spring practice. Here's to Winter Conditioning! Let the weight room roll!