Key Iowa State Stats

[Clonefan94]

Penalties are not THE problem, but they definitely are a problem. As other posters have said, Our offense is what it is. We aren't going to be breaking any yardage or scoring records this year. Which is even more the case why we can't afford dumb penalties, especially in the red zone. Turnovers are another problem as well. I really don't think that many people think if we get rid of the penalties we are scoring 38 points a game. I think most probably think like me. Eliminate the penalties and it gives us a good shot at one or two more touchdowns a game. It keeps our D off the field for a few more minutes. And at the end of it all, gives us a better shot at winning a game.

There are more than one issue with this Offense. But to me, this seems like the most easily fixed item on there. On this note though, has anyone else seem to find we are getting a really high rate of Offensive pass interference and or receiver holding calls compared to other teams? I've watched a lot of college football, and granted, I'm a huge homer, but it seems like other teams get away with a lot more. Maybe the refs are making up for the Todd Blythe years. Who knows, but it seems like we get called for some pretty ticky tacky stuff some times. (I'm not trying to cry Woe Is ISU on this.) I'm really asking this question. I just don't see the reason why we get called for stuff that others get away with regularly.

 

[Clonefan94]

Sorry, double post.

 

[jbhtexas]

So that is why I continue to say that penalties is the last thing I am worried about with ISU. Better offensive execution and talent upgrade is needed

Better offensive execution will come with better talent, but this is a long term fix. Getting rid of penalties is something that could happen in the short term, and will improve the chances of winning games this year. Got to win some games in order to attract better talent...

 

[Al_4_State]

Better offensive execution will come with better talent, but this is a long term fix. Getting rid of penalties is something that could happen in the short term, and will improve the chances of winning games this year. Got to win some games in order to attract better talent...

Exactly. We can't increase our players talent level. However, I think our offense has enough talent to put more points on the boards, if they just played smarter football. This includes QBs making better reads, running backs finding their holes, and linemen not committing so many damn penalties.

If the penalties quit, we'd score more points. Period.

 

[tazclone]

I have seen a lot of talk on the message boards about how penalties are the reason our offense is struggling. Sure they hurt but they are hardly the reason why we are struggling.

Rushing Yards Per Game- 84th in the country
Passing Yards Per game- 97 in the country
Yards Per Game Total -106th in the country (119 teams)
Points Per Game- 99th in the country (this actually goes to 115 if you take out defensive TD's)

Now on the other hand we are averaging 6.5 penalties a game. Not great, not horrible either. We rank 63rd in the country in penalty yards a game.

These are some of the teams that currently rank in the bottom 20 in penalty yards a game

USC
Nebraska
Arizona
Michigan St
Boise St
Oklahoma St
Missouri
Maryland
Florida State

Combined record of those teams is 34-2. And some of them have some of the top offenses in the country.

My point is that you can overcome 6 penalties a game. 6 penalties a game doesn't stop you from passing for more than 100 yards against UNI. It doesn't stop you from only scoring 3 offensive TD's in the last 3 games. Does it hurt a little? Sure, but it's not the reason our offense is in the gutter right now. Execution is the problem.

I could be wrong but I don't think aanyone is saying penalties are THE reason for our offensive woes. They are definitely ONE issue. And rankeright up there with OL, WR, and QB play.




With that said, your stats are completely worthless because

1. They do not breakdown offensive and defensive penalties- How many of ISU's penalties occur while on offense compared to the other schools? I know over 85% of our penalties are on the offense. Are the other schools special teams,offensive or defensive? Your stats are worthless until this breakdown is done. Absolutely worthless.
2. How many of our penalties are inside the opponents 35 (scoring position) compared to the other school's? I know that over 60% of our penalties have occurred inside the opponent's 35. I believe the number jumps to 75% when you factor in opposing territory. I do know that all of our TDs except one have come on penalty free drives.
3. How many of our penalties are on 2nd and 3rd down compared to other schools? It is easier to overcome 1st and 15 or 2nd and 7 than 3rd and 15 or 3rd and 20 and we actually over come the 1st and 15 sometimes. Our one TD when we had a penalty was a 1st and 15.
4. What are the penalties and how many yards compared to those schools? The majority of our penalties have been OPI, illegal block and holding. Those are 10-15 yarders. We have had some false starts which are easier to overcome (and we actually have over come those). Again, 1st and 15 is easier that 2nd and 20.
5. Our offense is not set up to pick up 15-20 yards and yes, that is an issue itself. We are more likely to over come a false start on 1st down (1st and 15) when we have 3-4 shots at picking up 5-8 yards than we are a 3rd and 20. Our offense is dink and dunk and our QB has issues with the 15-20 yard pass. If your QB can't throw that pass and your WRs can't get separation, the worst thing for your offense is a penalty on 2nd or 3rd down that forces you to throw the 20 yard pass on 3rd down when the defense only has to defend that. Look at AA's INTs and most come on 3rd and long when he feels forced to make a play. Most(not all) come on 3rd when he is throwing 15 yards across the middle in a compressed field. Guess where the compressed field is located? Again see scoring position penalties.
6. What plays are erased due to the penalties? NIU, AAs 50+ TD run was erased. Against iowa, our first time in the red zone was erased due to a 15 yard penalty. That was a 25 yard field position swing. KSU we had a first down in the red zone erased due to a penalty so instead of 1st and 10 inside the 20, we get 2nd and whatever outside the 20.
7. Our offense is not good enough to overcome mistakes let alone mistakes that put us in long yardage situations. If a WR and OL want to ***** about AA then they can't have a stupid penalty that forces him to do something he doesn't do well. It would be like AA being upset with Lenz for not out jumping a taller more athletic CB. Yes, AA should be able to throw that pass but let's be honest...he doesn't do it well.

Again no one is saying it is THE reason. They are saying it is ONE of many. Playcalling, QB play, WR play, OL play and to an extent RB play are all reasons our offense sucks. As far as the penalties...people continue to ask why Herman makes Arnaud do something he is not good at but then poo poo penalties that make AA attempt what he does worst. AA can throw the short stuff contrary to some's beliefs. AA can throw the deep ball, he just never gets the opportunity. AA cannot and has never thrown the 20 yard pass well, especially across the middle and even worse across the middle on a compressed field when there is more traffic. So when you put him in 2nd and 20 and 3rd and 20 in scoring position, you are forcing him to do what he can't do. It was like asking Shaggy to kick a 44 yard field goal instead of a 35. Shaggy was 90% inside 40, 50% beyond.

 

[Clones85']

Stats are worthless? 106th in YPG is not a worthless stat. It shows what our real problems are. Rank the problems we have on offense. I bet you rank penalties down towards the bottom.

And I have seen plenty of people blame penalties for our lack of offense production. It's just not true. Our lack of offensive production is do to lack of talent, execution, play calling, etc. Penalties are just an additional kick to the stones

 

[ISUFan22]

Geez guys, no need to get snarky. The problem is ISU FB - not this site or generally not the fans.

 

[HILLCYD]

Stats are worthless? 106th in YPG is not a worthless stat. It shows what our real problems are. Rank the problems we have on offense. I bet you rank penalties down towards the bottom.

And I have seen plenty of people blame penalties for our lack of offense production. It's just not true. Our lack of offensive production is do to lack of talent, execution, play calling, etc. Penalties are just an additional kick to the stones

I AGREE WITH YOU!!!



I am writing down the date.

 

[tazclone]

Stats are worthless? 106th in YPG is not a worthless stat. It shows what our real problems are. Rank the problems we have on offense. I bet you rank penalties down towards the bottom.

And I have seen plenty of people blame penalties for our lack of offense production. It's just not true. Our lack of offensive production is do to lack of talent, execution, play calling, etc. Penalties are just an additional kick to the stones

I was referring to your stats on penalties. I thought that was obvious when I went on to explain why. I am guessing you didn't read the rest of the post as I detail it well.

It is worthless when making the comparison between other schools and worthless when discussing offensive stats because the penalties are not broken down between offense and defense.
OU might have 85% of their penalties on defense and special teams whwere ours is 85% offense. Therefore, OU's penalties would have absoultely no effect on their offense.

 

[Wesley]

It can be both. It probably is a LITTLE of both. I just think the lack of offensive scoring is 10% penalties, 90% poor execution

THe oline is too stodgy or they have not woirked together long enough. They do not look crisp like a line should. One oline penalty is too much for an offense that can only gain 4-5 yards a play.

 

[ISUFan22]

The upside is, at least we have (so far) cleaned up the personal foul penalties that had become a common thing on defense.

 

[Clones85']

I was referring to your stats on penalties. I thought that was obvious when I went on to explain why. I am guessing you didn't read the rest of the post as I detail it well.

It is worthless when making the comparison between other schools and worthless when discussing offensive stats because the penalties are not broken down between offense and defense.
OU might have 85% of their penalties on defense and special teams whwere ours is 85% offense. Therefore, OU's penalties would have absoultely no effect on their offense.

We are averaging 6 penalties a game. It's not a ton. Other teams have the same penalties that we have. People just don't notice them because they can move the ball. We can't move the ball. So you blame penalties on our lack of scoring. I will blame turnovers, dropped passes, OL play, bad reads by the QB.

 

[Wesley]

Stats are worthless? 106th in YPG is not a worthless stat. It shows what our real problems are. Rank the problems we have on offense. I bet you rank penalties down towards the bottom.

And I have seen plenty of people blame penalties for our lack of offense production. It's just not true. Our lack of offensive production is do to lack of talent, execution, play calling, etc. Penalties are just an additional kick to the stones

As BB aptly said, lack of explosive plays running or passing results in poor offensive production.

 

[Clones85']

As BB aptly said, lack of explosive plays running or passing results in poor offensive production.

Agree with that.

 

[tazclone]

Stats are worthless? 106th in YPG is not a worthless stat. It shows what our real problems are. Rank the problems we have on offense. I bet you rank penalties down towards the bottom.

And I have seen plenty of people blame penalties for our lack of offense production. It's just not true. Our lack of offensive production is do to lack of talent, execution, play calling, etc. Penalties are just an additional kick to the stones

YPG on offense and YPG on defense are overrated. Scoring offense and Scoring defense are much, much more important. As Rhoads has said, we can give up a ton of yards as long as we don't give up points.

We have plenty of drives that have reached scoring position this year. Once in scoring position, you are limited as to how many yards you can get by the length of the field. When we ge a play that takes us to the opponents 20, then there are only 20 yards left to get. 3 trips to the red zone per game killed by penalties would only net us 60-90 more yards for a YPG rank of 60th-75th. However, if we were to get 21 points instead of nine, our points per game would increase 12 PPG. That would take us from 20.54 points per game to 32 points per game and put us in the top half of the NCAA. if we scored 12 PPG game more right now...none of us would be ********.

With all of that said...penalties are not the reason our offense sucks. It is one reason. That and our most talented player on offense seems to be the most guilty party.

 

[Tornado man]

THe oline is too stodgy or they have not woirked together long enough. They do not look crisp like a line should. One oline penalty is too much for an offense that can only gain 4-5 yards a play.

That's a nice way to put it. The o-line is just way overweight - Lemaak and Alvarez in particular. Don't we have nutritional guidelines and discipline as part of our conditioning program?

 

[tazclone]

We are averaging 6 penalties a game. It's not a ton. Other teams have the same penalties that we have. People just don't notice them because they can move the ball. We can't move the ball. So you blame penalties on our lack of scoring. I will blame turnovers, dropped passes, OL play, bad reads by the QB.

AGAIN, penalties per game are absolutely worthless when talking about offensive stats. HOW MANY OF THOSE OTHER TEAM'S PENALTIES ARE OFFENSIVE AND AFFECT THEIR OFFENSE? You don't know this you assume the % are the same. That is a ridiculous assumption. Our offense has an inordinant amount of penalties.

PENALTIES ARE NOT EQUAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If a defense gets an offside penalty when the offense has 3rd and 20, it doesn't hurt or limit the defense. The defense can actually have a pass intereference penalty that saves a TD. When there is a block in the back on a punt return, it doesn't put the offense in 3rd and long and doesn't hurt the offense except field position. 85% of our penalties are on our offense. 85 feraking %. That is crazy! 60% of our penalties happen in scoring position. 60 freaking % that is crazy!


AGAIN, I DON'T BLAME PENALTIES FOR OUR LACK OF OFFENSIVE PRODUCTION! IT IS ONE OF MANY THINGS INCLULDING POOR PLAY FROM EVERY SINGLE OFFENSIVE UNIT INCLUDING COACHES!

You must have a reading comprehension problem

 

[tazclone]

That's a nice way to put it. The o-line is just way overweight - Lemaak and Alvarez in particular. Don't we have nutritional guidelines and discipline as part of our conditioning program?

Our OL is slimmer this year than last. Stephens was bigger than Lamaak and Haughton bigger than Burris.

 

[Clones85']

AGAIN, penalties per game are absolutely worthless when talking about offensive stats. HOW MANY OF THOSE OTHER TEAMS PENALTIES ARE OFFENSIVE AND AFFECT THEIR OFFENSE? You don't know this you assume the % are the same. That is an ridiculous assumption.

PENALTIES ARE NOT EQUAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If a defense gets an offside penalty when the offense has 3rd and 20, it doesn't hurt or limit the defense. When there is a block in the back on a punt return, it doesn't put the offense in 3rd and long and doesn't hurt the offense except field position.


AGAIN, I DON'T BLAME PENALTIES FOR OUR LACK OF OFFENSIVE PRODUCTION! IT IS ONE OF MANY THINGS INCLULDING POOR PLAY FROM EVERY SINGLE OFFENSIVE UNIT INCLUDING COACHES!

You must have a reading comprehension problem

Or you do. Where did I say all penalties are the same? I didn't. You need to chill buddy.

I'm just saying 6 penalties a game, regardless of how they come about, doesn't kill a team. It just doesn't. It hurts them but doesn't kill them. Turnovers kill a team. Missed blocking assignments routinely kill a team. A QB that can't hit the open WR kills a team. Get my point? If you were to rank our issues on offense, penalties would not be in the top 5. That's my point

And for your comment that scoring is the most important stat, I agree!!! We rank 99th in the country in the category. 115th if you take only offensive TD's. What is the reason we are so bad in that category?

 

[jbhtexas]

I'm just saying 6 penalties a game, regardless of how they come about, doesn't kill a team. It just doesn't.

If it's a team like ISU, it just does. If it makes you feel better to deny it, then fine.

Missed blocking assignments routinely kill a team.

Lost yardage is lost yardage, whether it comes via missed block or penalty.