the **** out of the UNI O-line. My goodness. Go checkout the replay, and watch him destroy his defender/s. He needs a lot more love on this board for his play. If Dutch can get healthy, it will be hard to double team them both.
Jake McDonough blew
- Thread starter ISUonthemove
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At second view of the game I was very encouraged by the D-line play, minus Neal on run plays. Woods and Jensen both played good with limited snaps, Neal got good penetration on pass plays but just did not hold his ground well against the run....
I thought the Jensen kid played fairly well also, not a lot of stats, did knock down a pass, which ISU tends to do twice a season. Also, he wasn't getting manhandled in there like Neal was. Neal has been a very good player for us, but he is not a DL, no matter how you slice it.
Yeah, whoever made that decision to move Neal to DT rather than play Woods or Jensen overthought that one a bit.
Yeah, I thought that McDonough did well too. Kinda tough when you go into the season figuring on a three man rotation (at least until Simon/Pompey are ready or Woods/Jensen improve) and two of the three don't play in the first game. That's a hard thing to overcome. And then the starting DE goes down when the guy he's supposed to be rotating with plays DT all game. Not to mention, almost every time they DID get to Rennie, he sidestepped the rush and ran for 20 yards.
The good thing is that depth will be better from here on out. And, they're going to have their better players available. Not to mention, there are probably only 2-3 more QBs on the schedule that would be considered "mobile" in the elusive sense. And only one that would compare with Rennie as far as being a running threat. I'll say that if the ISU DL gets to Vandenburg, you can bet he's going down. The guy is a statue compared to Rennie.
The good thing is that depth will be better from here on out. And, they're going to have their better players available. Not to mention, there are probably only 2-3 more QBs on the schedule that would be considered "mobile" in the elusive sense. And only one that would compare with Rennie as far as being a running threat. I'll say that if the ISU DL gets to Vandenburg, you can bet he's going down. The guy is a statue compared to Rennie.
Not enough pressure from the edge, and not enough contain on the QB. Other than that, the DL did a very good job, especially considering the injuries/suspensions. McDonough was a beast, and he does deserve more props for his performance. He and Dutch will make a very nice starting pair of DTs when both are heathy. Laing is clearly the first one off the bench, and now I don't think any of us will be absolutely terrified if Woods and/or Jensen get on the field. And Simon is the wild card. DL could be ok afterall....
True, but even if Iowa's OL was less than stellar in their opener, that is only because their standards are quite high and I'm sure they're lightyears ahead of UNI's line. That said, I do have confidence that at least our starters (including Neal at DE now over Maggitt) will be able to hold their own against Iowa.
I'm interested to see this defense this weekend against a team that doesn't have a big threat to take off at QB. Off topic, but I'm surprised with the direction we are going at LB against Iowa... But maybe they will use Tauafoo/George they just didn't put it on the depth chart.
I'm more concerned about how the interior DL will stand up to the running attack up the middle than putting presser on the QB.
