Let’s talk Offensive Line

[EvilBetty]

And that is the problem, he is only a home run threat. He missed so many 2 to 3 yard gains in the Iowa game that it very well could have cost us the game. Not giving up on him by any means, but he needs to study film and become more consistent.

If the Iowa game is the barometer, Carson was worse. He didn't get many carries, but the ones he had were not good. plus he fumbled right in front of 4 iowa defenders that fortunately kicked the ball out of bounds. That likely would have cost ISU the game. Much more than a few missed holes to run through.

Carson has been really solid the past two games though for sure.

 

[VeloClone]

Let's talk offensive line.

 

[nrg4isu]

Let's talk offensive line.

We lose 2 bookends next year in Travis and Miller. Hufford will be gone at Center.

Neal, Buhr, Barrett, Jim Bonifas, Black are all back. Not to mention Hasert, Maro and a bunch of other dudes who are up and coming.

I'm just as excited about our growth this year as I am about the future of our OL.

 

[cyclonespiker33]

I'd like to see Sama as a kick returner since he is not getting RB reps. This would give him open field opportunities like the bears did with Gale Sayers. Noel is fair catching too much lately. Noel all 3 conference games: 1 KR 22 yd 2 PR 2 yd. Announcers keep saying Noel is an excellent returner - one of the nation's best ??

I would be very surprised if Noel isn't be told to call those fair catches.

 

[CycloneVet]

Abu is struggling to get the tough yards and to go North and South. In high school he could run circles around everyone. Hopefully he gets it figured out as he is a great open field runner and a home run threat.

The Iowa game showed he can get the tough yards.

 

[CyCloned]

Rushing numbers this year.

ND 22-86, 3.9
Iowa 28-89, 3.2
Ark St 48-237, 4.9
Bay 45-265, 5.9
Hou 38-240, 6.3
WV 45-129, 2.9

I think it tells me that teams with good front 7s can stop them running much. But then you have a real good pass game, so you can still score enough to win. I don't think too many teams can really shut down both.

Also, averaging 40+ rpg in conference play is nuts. Some of that is killing clock up 2 or 3 scores, but still...

Surprised that the running numbers against WVU are not better, but it also seemed like ISU was purposely not throwing the ball to burn up the clock in the second half. Felt like they could have gotten behind the defense a lot if they tried.

 

[Aclone]

We lose 2 bookends next year in Travis and Miller. Hufford will be gone at Center.

Neal, Buhr, Barrett, Jim Bonifas, Black are all back. Not to mention Hasert, Maro and a bunch of other dudes who are up and coming.

I'm just as excited about our growth this year as I am about the future of our OL.

I’ll add that walkon Gabe Greenlee, a former AHS wrestler whose dad (Joel?) starred at UNI, is also starting to make a move. He deserves the notice.

I may not see the next Travis at LT on the roster, but everywhere else looks good.

Kinda curious how they manage having Black, Buhr and a fully healthy Hasert all back inside next season. One slides to center?

 

[MJ271]

Surprised that the running numbers against WVU are not better, but it also seemed like ISU was purposely not throwing the ball to burn up the clock in the second half. Felt like they could have gotten behind the defense a lot if they tried.

They definitely could have. You don't end up with a 10 play, 33 yard, nearly 7-minute long drive by pushing the ball downfield.

On the running numbers, it's worth noting that the non-Becht rushing numbers look quite a bit better--130 yards on 35 carriers for an average of 3.7 yards per carry (which also was higher before the last couple drives to burn clock). Becht had 8 carries for a total of 0 yards, but that was because he lost 15 yards on two sacks (9 of those came on the sack at the end of the first half that really didn't matter).

 

[nrg4isu]

That 10 play 33 yard drive was a "Killing in the Name of" type drive. (IYKYK, if you don't look up the lyrics)

It makes our stats look bad as far as yards per play and yards per carry, but it was absolutely a thing of beauty. There's nothing better than telling your opponent what you're going to do, do it anyway and getting 3.5 yards.

 

[superiorcyclone]

The Iowa game showed he can get the tough yards.

I am not sure that one game makes a career either way. I am rooting for the guy.

 

[CyHans]

We have a mauler at left tackle. I feel bad for James Neal, but Jalen is an upgrade. He can really move people, and is more polished. As for everyone else, they seem to be adopting Clanton’s violent philosophy. Carson Hansen has the right speed and timing; allowing the blocking to develop before he hits the hole. “Action” Jackson is shifty and hard to find amongst the trees. My hunch is that Abu is seeing less snaps because he’s too darned fast. He arrives at the lane before it’s there. I hope for his sake he gets some more reps because he’s such a home run threat.

Mouse probably deserves a ton of credit as well. Rather than just throwing all of our tight ends to one side of the formation telegraphing where the play is going, we’ve been mixing things up with power I formations under center as well as taking deep shots early in the game so defenses can’t just load the box.

I think Sama has some learning to do on reading the blocks and patience. He likes to run to the sideline alot too. I'd like to see them get him the ball in the open like a screen pass and let him use his speed. Maybe he could do kick returns too and save some wear on tear on Noel assuming he can consistently catch the ball.

 

[Cyforce]

The smaller, slot-type receiver to replace Noel next year, will be a combination of Eli Green, Carson Brown, and maybe Eskildsen? Anybody else? Any true speed guys, like Noel? Noel has just been so good this year and last. He will be hard to replace but we've got some guys.

We will also really miss Jayden Higgins! He catches everything and has a knack for getting open and/or positioning himself well against a defender. There again, we've got some guys waiting in the wings. But Higgins is special and will be fun to watch on Sundays!

Both Higgins and Noel are great mentors for our 2nd and 3rd unit receivers and the young ones coming up.

Kudos to the OL as well!

Brown is really fast

 

[CyHans]

Personally, I think the OL play is the #1 reason we are 6-0

We are winning the TO battle, we are committing very few penalties & we are leading TOP - this is win-in-the-margin stuff & I think this all starts up front

After last night, I'm a true believer - we are playing really good, SOUND football, we aren't shooting ourselves in the foot & we have homerun hitters on O & absolute DAWGS on D

I think this is exactly Campbells definition of winning in the margins.

 

[ScottyP]

I think Sama has some learning to do on reading the blocks and patience. He likes to run to the sideline alot too. I'd like to see them get him the ball in the open like a screen pass and let him use his speed. Maybe he could do kick returns too and save some wear on tear on Noel assuming he can consistently catch the ball.

The problem is he thinks he can outrun everyone to the edge just like he did in high school. He doesn't know how to read his blocks and get downhill. He is still pretty inexperienced at the position so he might figure it out still.

 

[cyfan964]

I think the O-Line has absolutely gotten better in every single facet that they could. Tyler Miller had a penalty against him about 1 out of every 10 plays the last few years, the dude is an absolute force at right tackle this year. I'm excited to see the group keep progressing, because we have a lot of young talent behind the starters as well. I love the aggression they've been showing. Our O-line unit will be bigger than any D-Line we face this year.... show it.

 

[ScottyP]

I think the O-Line has absolutely gotten better in every single facet that they could. Tyler Miller had a penalty against him about 1 out of every 10 plays the last few years, the dude is an absolute force at right tackle this year. I'm excited to see the group keep progressing, because we have a lot of young talent behind the starters as well. I love the aggression they've been showing. Our O-line unit will be bigger than any D-Line we face this year.... show it.

Tyler got called for a holding penalty against Baylor that seemed a little week. Rocco scrambled out of the pocket and put Tyler in a bad spot. I honestly wasn't even too upset about with him about the penalty. It also helped that we still ended up getting the first down. In years past, a holding penalty was an automatic drive killer.

 

[bosco]

Surprised that the running numbers against WVU are not better, but it also seemed like ISU was purposely not throwing the ball to burn up the clock in the second half. Felt like they could have gotten behind the defense a lot if they tried.

This is where our offense is undervalued. I think this is a very good offense and if they're goal is to score as many points they can then we would be averaging 40+pts a game.

Their goal is to win the game so instead they often possess the ball to chew up time. They do this because of the defense, given the health issues it reduces the number of possessions the opposing offense has.

This team has covered 5 games in a row. That is an anomaly. Doesn't matter how good you are the lines are set to be roughly 50/50. This usually happens due to teams out performing their metrics. If a team "sandbags" then the metric isn't a true reflection of how good a team is.

 

[Montgomery-Magic]

… you were saying???

 

[EvilBetty]

[lets talk offensive line]

I'd rather not.

 

[stewart092284]

So, we were pretty good in the second half (over 250 yards of offense, well over 100 yards rushing) largely because what did we do?


Ran outside the tackle box
Used some boot legs
And had protections to some of our stuff


First half, we tried running head first straight ahead , head down like a bull.
Didn't work.


Same players helped us score 24 points that were maligned in the first half. Same kids.

Are they the best line in the Big 12? Heck no. But you saw how a little more diverse of an approach, a toss here, a sweep there, an option here, passsing to the TE and slot receiver... opened up Cincinnati's defense. Same players. Rocco was protected better in the second half.

Why? Cause the play calling made the defense pause, rather than teeing off.


You can give me KO, Anthony Munoz, Trent Williams, Larry Allen and a sack of potatoes and if you give me 3-4 above average to good NFL quality defensive linemen and tell them " okay, boys, 80% of the time on 1st, 2nd and 3rd down this is exactly what that are doing" and those guys will struggle to block consistently.

Yes, the offensive line can be better. But I will say it till my last day, y'all have no idea how hard it is blocking people (or getting off blocks) when they know exactly what you are doing. Its already hard. But you become predictable?

Good night sweet prince its over.