Cyclone Sunday Bruns

clonedude

Well-Known Member
Apr 16, 2006
33,053
29,307
113
Bruns is great, and definitely knows his OL stuff. He's also been quite critical of our OL play over the years... I have no idea what some on here have been listening to? But he's not an a-hole about it... it's an intelligent analysis on what guys need to be doing to get better... it's not being a jerk and just calling out kids. And I appreciate that about Ben.
 

jsb

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Mar 7, 2008
33,378
39,471
113
Bruns is great, and definitely knows his OL stuff. He's also been quite critical of our OL play over the years... I have no idea what some on here have been listening to? But he's not an a-hole about it... it's an intelligent analysis on what guys need to be doing to get better... it's not being a jerk and just calling out kids. And I appreciate that about Ben.

Last year he talked extensively about why the online was good on passing plays and not as good on running plays. And why that wasn’t a huge surprise with a new coach.
 

trevn

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Apr 10, 2006
5,490
11,718
113
Eastern Iowa
Bruns has great insight and is extraordinarily qualified to do what he’s doing. I don’t particularly care whether or not his analysis comes off positive or negative. He’s an informed person with lots of experience and a ton of credibility.
 

Cyched

CF Influencer
May 8, 2009
38,543
66,622
113
Colorado
if not now, when?

idk-i-dont-know.gif
 
  • Like
Reactions: besserheimerphat

TitanClone

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Dec 21, 2008
3,601
2,963
113
Don’t twist my words. He’s one of the best O Linemen we’ve had. Up there with KO. Your response has nothing to do with my original post. Just pointing out his analysis is sometimes more than optimistic.
This is no disrespect to Bruns, up there with KO? I'd love to hear his take on that comment. My subjective comment is 1 has the best offensive resume of any ISU player in the NFL (maybe best overall but Matt Blair would be a tough argue) and the other was "just" a really good player for us in college. KO is on his own planet in the history of ISU O linemen
 

isufbcurt

Well-Known Member
Apr 21, 2006
27,548
44,521
113
46
Newton
This is no disrespect to Bruns, up there with KO? I'd love to hear his take on that comment. My subjective comment is 1 has the best offensive resume of any ISU player in the NFL (maybe best overall but Matt Blair would be a tough argue) and the other was "just" a really good player for us in college. KO is on his own planet in the history of ISU O linemen

"A Really Good Player" who was an All American.
 

Steve

Well-Known Member
Apr 11, 2006
4,211
778
113
This is no disrespect to Bruns, up there with KO? I'd love to hear his take on that comment. My subjective comment is 1 has the best offensive resume of any ISU player in the NFL (maybe best overall but Matt Blair would be a tough argue) and the other was "just" a really good player for us in college. KO is on his own planet in the history of ISU O linemen
Nothing against KO, but Karl Nelson deserves to be in this conversation. He had a solid career as an OT in the NFL that would have been extended longer if he didn't have to battle being diagnosed with Hodgkins.
 

hiltonisheaven

Well-Known Member
Apr 11, 2006
1,148
1,093
113
Ankeny
He’s a notorious sunshine pumper, especially when it comes to O line play. Wish somebody with a more jaundiced eye would take over the podcast.
You clearly weren’t listening the last couple years. He was critical of the Oline coaches in the 2022 season. Last season his comments were the scheme is better, players are improving but still learning and lacking depth.
 

Cloneon

Well-Known Member
Oct 29, 2015
3,018
3,124
113
West Virginia
While the majority of this thread are isolated personal misinterpretations, there's one area I hope Bruns can address. The most dramatically different play which returned outstanding results was that 'stacked I' short yardage play. What could he expect other teams do to counter that? And, is there an option out of that which could further complicate countering that play?
 

ScottyP

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Jan 24, 2007
5,315
7,732
113
Urbandale, IA
While the majority of this thread are isolated personal misinterpretations, there's one area I hope Bruns can address. The most dramatically different play which returned outstanding results was that 'stacked I' short yardage play. What could he expect other teams do to counter that? And, is there an option out of that which could further complicate countering that play?
It will be interesting to see how effective the formation will be once we play stronger run defenses. I like this more than an extra tight end. In the past, we would load up on one side and let the defense know which side we were running to.
 

madguy30

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Nov 15, 2011
57,393
55,308
113
While the majority of this thread are isolated personal misinterpretations, there's one area I hope Bruns can address. The most dramatically different play which returned outstanding results was that 'stacked I' short yardage play. What could he expect other teams do to counter that? And, is there an option out of that which could further complicate countering that play?

Someone out to the flats.

I also really liked some of the simple roll outs and basically a dump off to a TE type.
 

CascadeClone

Well-Known Member
Oct 24, 2009
10,927
14,037
113
I took it as Campbell was wanting to push the ball downfield, be aggressive more so than actually calling the plays.
They did a BUNCH of super aggressive things early in that game.
The opening play. Going for hard for the punt block. There was a play designed to be a TE(iirc) slant with no safety help that almost broke free. A few other things.

I just remember somewhere around end of Q1 thinking "they are really trying to shock and awe these guys early".
 

khaal53

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Apr 13, 2006
2,894
618
113
41
I recall when Bruns was the sideline reporter during a game ten or so years ago when Walters threw it to him on the sideline after a poor offensive series.

"Everything about that possession made me want to puke on my shoes." - Ben Bruns, documented sunshine pumper
 

CascadeClone

Well-Known Member
Oct 24, 2009
10,927
14,037
113
Meh, he has good analysis that tends to be on the optimistic side. The only time I would say he waded into sunshine pumping territory was after the 2022 win in Iowa City. He thought the OL was going to kick ass the rest of the year. But that was after a big win when the OL played well against a great defense.

I would not call him a sunshine pumper. He is an optimistic Cyclone and likes to give the benefit of the doubt.
This. "optimistic" is a good read.

I'd also add, that he isn't going to tear down some 20yo kid who isn't there yet. He has been that guy, and he has coached those guys, so he isn't going to lay into Neal or Bonifas or whoever with a flamethrower.

He's not going to say "he sucks, shouldn't be on the field, should give his scholarship back" kind of crap.
 

CascadeClone

Well-Known Member
Oct 24, 2009
10,927
14,037
113
It will be interesting to see how effective the formation will be once we play stronger run defenses. I like this more than an extra tight end. In the past, we would load up on one side and let the defense know which side we were running to.
It's handy to have options, to have different ways to attack wherever there might be a weakness, and to make opponents prepare for more things.

"Being multiple" is a phrase I once heard...
 

bozclone

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Nov 18, 2011
5,717
8,621
113
Indiana
Ben is one of my favorite listens. I can tell he has an engineering mind. He doesn't really dwell on the issues he sees. He will point out the issues or concerns, but he always quickly moves onto what needs to be done to fix them. I think his evaluations of our in game performance are always detailed and fair. He may seem optimistic at times, but I only think that is because he is a "can do" kind of guy.
 

Big_Sill

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Aug 4, 2008
1,591
2,426
113
44
What you hear is what Ben really thinks. His comments are not influenced by any need to sunshine pump or anything else.

You'll have to go with "trust me bro" on this one.