Nine observations from tonight

[hawkfan]

Fixed

Either way...we're both in agreement that ISU isn't scoring 31 next week. :wink:

 

[Bubbahotep]

Either way...we're both in agreement that ISU isn't scoring 31 next week. :wink:

yep, I was just bringing you back to reality

 

[edr247]

When will our LB's be covering your LB's? Just don't see that happening.

Oh, just you wait. It's our new offensive strategy. I mean, our defense is the best part of our team, so why not have them play all the time?

 

[Wesley]

Hope we do not overlook Iowa for the following big game.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Would have had 10 observations, but evidently he lost a toe.

 

[edr247]

Hope we do not overlook Iowa for the following big game.

Fixed that for ya!

 

[IowaSTATCyclone]

1. ISU's OL, without any doubt, is not as strong as it was last season. As of my writing of this, Arob would only be averaging about 2.5 YPC if it weren't for his one big run and NIU is regularly pressuring Arnaud while only rushing 4. Arnaud is running the ball effectively with the zone read, but that is about the only thing the ISU ground game has going for it.

Uh-huh. And as of this writing Warren Holloway would only have lost the Capital One Bowl, if it weren't for the fact that he caught the ball.

I don't think you understand the meaning of "averaging."

 

[timappelgate]

I agree with...2...4....7 and 8

Other than that your an idiot

This.

 

[woodie]

northern illimios got away with a lot of dirty football-they had at least 5-6 face mask violations that were never called by the officials- and on offense nothern illinios offensive lineman got away with several holding situations that were never called.i thought they were a little chicken $#@t when they whacked austen arnaud after austen threw one of his passes in the second half.

 

[Rods79]

I will say, there are a lot of good points there, but overall that's just like...your opinion...man.

My opinion...really glad we broke in the new season with a good showing against a legitimate team rather than Eastern Illinois. Clean up the mistakes, and this game is 41-10.

 

[Al_4_State]

1. ISU's OL, without any doubt, is not as strong as it was last season. As of my writing of this, Arob would only be averaging about 2.5 YPC if it weren't for his one big run and NIU is regularly pressuring Arnaud while only rushing 4. Arnaud is running the ball effectively with the zone read, but that is about the only thing the ISU ground game has going for it.

2. ISU's DL still cannot get any pressure on the QB. While rushing four, the NIU QB had all day to throw the ball.

3. ISU's DL held their own in run support more than I thought they would...that was a positive for ISU tonight.

4. ISU's young LB's look promising, but have a long way to go with regard to learning how to tackle and taking proper angles. ISU's LB's will be inconsistent this year...making a big play on one down, and giving up a 30+ yard TD on the next because they are out of position.

5. ISU's DB's did a very poor job sticking to the NIU WR's when they went deep...NIU had 2-3 TD's easy if their QB didn't look like he was trying to do his best impression of Jake Christiansen.

6. Arnaud still has his maddeningly frustrating habits of staring down WR's and throwing into blanketed zone coverage. His throws seem more accurate, but he still makes terrible decisions at times.

7. ISU's WR's had some impressive grabs tonight, and showed some good agility to gain YAC (Johnson/Darks in particular).

8. Colin Franklin is definitely going to be one of Arnaud's favorite targets this year. I'm actually very glad he had a big game tonight....the Iowa coaches will definitely try to cover him up next week.

9. ISU's DL is not deep...they wore down considerably as the game went on.

Overall, I think Wally has done one hell of a job with this defense. I expected to see "terrible", but instead what I saw was "average"....that guy does a hell of a job considering the talent he has to work with. Two things that appear to be "areas for improvement" for ISU: Tackling needs to improve and they need to either a.) get more pressure on the QB or b.) play better in the defensive backfield. The one thing I think ISU is going to get beat on this year consistently is the passing game. The DB's left guys wide open downfield tonight (though that was to somewhat be expected since ISU was playing run first), and I don't think NIU has any world beater WR's. Further, I think the green LB's could really struggle next week covering Iowa's LB's....getting Sims back will certainly help, but I don't see Benton holding his own against McNutt...I expect McNutt to have a big game next week.

ISU's offense actually looked pretty formidable at times....but then inconsistency struck. ISU kept shooting themselves in the foot with penalties and the inability to run the ball consistently like they could last season. Arnaud's INT's continue to kill the ISU offense...he needs to iron those out. Overall, I don't think NIU has a great defense, and ISU struggled to run the ball as the game wore on...if that is the case...it will be a long season for ISU, because I am not convinced Arnaud can put this team on his shoulders and win them games.

Final thoughts: Offense looked better than expected for the 1st quarter, then looked like what I thought it would in quarters 2-4. Defense looked better than expected throughout the entire game....but they did where down in the 4th quarter. I won't make any prediction about next week's game before watching Iowa, but these are my thoughts on ISU. I will say I am slightly more nervous about this game simply from what I saw out of ISU's offense in the 1st quarter than I was before tonight....but if ISU plays as inconsistently next week as they did tonight, next week's game won't be close. If ISU plays as well next week as they did in the 1st quarter tonight, it will probably be a game. I'll make my actual prediction sometime next week.

Let me guess:
Iowa: 1,004
ISU: -3

ISU is favored by 3 points, wins by 17, and all we get to hear is how bad we suck. Never thought I'd see the day.

 

[IAm4State]

Let me guess:
Iowa: 1,004
ISU: -3

Somebody please explain why we are listening to anything "Hawkfan" has to say on our website!

Now get the heck outta here you stupid deadbird idiot!!! I can't wait to see you get your tail feathers kicked all over your own lawn next weekend!

Then on Oct 30th you're gonna get it kicked again when my alum matter comes to town!

 

[zach]

I have really enjoyed reading this thread...not sure why but this was funny. Maybe it is that I just got back from the game and drinking a little something something. I hope we kick the crap out of the flying varmints!

Z

 

[Bigman38]

Serious question, is there an Iowa State fan who writes arrogant, biased game summaries on the Iowa fansite like anybody cares?

 

[azn4cy]

I thought his analysis was fair for the most part. If you just ignored his name and the paragraph involving the hawks, it's pretty legit.

 

[hawkfan]

Let me guess:
Iowa: 1,004
ISU: -3

ISU is favored by 3 points, wins by 17, and all we get to hear is how bad we suck. Never thought I'd see the day.

You're typically a pretty reasonable poster....this kind of surprises me. Read the entire post....it certainly isn't a "how bad you suck" post...in fact I point out multiple places where I thought ISU looked better than expected. The reality, though, is that this is a team that is expected to finish somewhere around 5-7....a team with those expectations isn't going to look perfect. Hell, I don't expect Iowa to look perfect against EIU. ISU played better, overall, then I expected them to (as I said in the OP), but you can tell the team has some glaring weaknesses that will hurt them when they are playing BCS level competition.

If I had to make a guess for next week right now....I'd say 31-13 Iowa....but I need to see Stanzi first. If he and DJK/McNutt has a strong connection Saturday....I'll stand by that prediction....if Stanzi has some sloppy throws Saturday, then I think it could be more of a 26-17 type game that might be close throughout. I definitely think Iowa will win the game, but after watching last night, I think it will be closer than I thought it would be before.

 

[weR138]

1. ISU's OL, without any doubt, is not as strong as it was last season. As of my writing of this, Arob would only be averaging about 2.5 YPC if it weren't for his one big run and NIU is regularly pressuring Arnaud while only rushing 4. Arnaud is running the ball effectively with the zone read, but that is about the only thing the ISU ground game has going for it.

Too early for this statement.

2. ISU's DL still cannot get any pressure on the QB. While rushing four, the NIU QB had all day to throw the ball.

Too long, yes. But Pat Neal had a sack... maybe too early for this statement too.

3. ISU's DL held their own in run support more than I thought they would...that was a positive for ISU tonight.

4. ISU's young LB's look promising, but have a long way to go with regard to learning how to tackle and taking proper angles. ISU's LB's will be inconsistent this year...making a big play on one down, and giving up a 30+ yard TD on the next because they are out of position.

True. Very promising but are going to have to grow up in a hurry with no help (depth). Knott is a stud.

5. ISU's DB's did a very poor job sticking to the NIU WR's when they went deep...NIU had 2-3 TD's easy if their QB didn't look like he was trying to do his best impression of Jake Christiansen.

I found the DB play in the third quarter troubling, that unit should be a strength. I was scratching my head a bit.

6. Arnaud still has his maddeningly frustrating habits of staring down WR's and throwing into blanketed zone coverage. His throws seem more accurate, but he still makes terrible decisions at times.

Hey, **** happens,

Pretty Ricky

7. ISU's WR's had some impressive grabs tonight, and showed some good agility to gain YAC (Johnson/Darks in particular).

8. Colin Franklin is definitely going to be one of Arnaud's favorite targets this year. I'm actually very glad he had a big game tonight....the Iowa coaches will definitely try to cover him up next week.

CF is my new favorite Cyclone.

9. ISU's DL is not deep...they wore down considerably as the game went on.

Now THIS is in-depth analysis.

Overall, I think Wally has done one hell of a job with this defense. I expected to see "terrible", but instead what I saw was "average"....that guy does a hell of a job considering the talent he has to work with. Two things that appear to be "areas for improvement" for ISU: Tackling needs to improve and they need to either a.) get more pressure on the QB or b.) play better in the defensive backfield. The one thing I think ISU is going to get beat on this year consistently is the passing game. The DB's left guys wide open downfield tonight (though that was to somewhat be expected since ISU was playing run first), and I don't think NIU has any world beater WR's. Further, I think the green LB's could really struggle next week covering Iowa's LB's....getting Sims back will certainly help, but I don't see Benton holding his own against McNutt...I expect McNutt to have a big game next week.

ISU's offense actually looked pretty formidable at times....but then inconsistency struck. ISU kept shooting themselves in the foot with penalties and the inability to run the ball consistently like they could last season. Arnaud's INT's continue to kill the ISU offense...he needs to iron those out. Overall, I don't think NIU has a great defense, and ISU struggled to run the ball as the game wore on...if that is the case...it will be a long season for ISU, because I am not convinced Arnaud can put this team on his shoulders and win them games.

Final thoughts: Offense looked better than expected for the 1st quarter, then looked like what I thought it would in quarters 2-4. Defense looked better than expected throughout the entire game....but they did where down in the 4th quarter. I won't make any prediction about next week's game before watching Iowa, but these are my thoughts on ISU. I will say I am slightly more nervous about this game simply from what I saw out of ISU's offense in the 1st quarter than I was before tonight....but if ISU plays as inconsistently next week as they did tonight, next week's game won't be close. If ISU plays as well next week as they did in the 1st quarter tonight, it will probably be a game. I'll make my actual prediction sometime next week.

Blah Blah Blah...




It was the first game of the season so I was exepcting some miscues. If a team does indeed make the most improvement from week one to week two I expect the Clones to hang with the hawks. Depth is a serious issue with the DL and LBs but there's nothing we can do about that now. Wally is just going to have to continue to work his magic.

 

[hawkfan]

Blah Blah Blah...




It was the first game of the season so I was exepcting some miscues. If a team does indeed make the most improvement from week one to week two I expect the Clones to hang with the hawks. Depth is a serious issue with the DL and LBs but there's nothing we can do about that now. Wally is just going to have to continue to work his magic.

The only thing I don't think you can deny is that you say "it is too early for this statement" with regard to ISU's OL. If you remove that 63 yard run...Robinson had a VERY difficult time running the ball last night (his average was BARELY over 2.0 YPC if you remove that one run)....that certainly wasn't the case last season against NDSU...where Robinson easily ran for 4-6 yards per carry on almost every run (yes, I know NDSU is FCS....but it isn't like NIU is a BCS caliber defense - ISU could run the ball on just about every team they played last season).

I'll say this with quite a bit of certainty: ISU won't average 5 YPC this year against Iowa considering what I saw from ISU's OL last night....take that one to the bank.

 

[clonedude]

I agree completely with the original post.

I was VERY disappointed with our OL as well. One good run, and other than that we could not run the ball at all. And their front 4 put really good pressure on AA all night. It scares me to think what Iowa's could do to us?

I will take a win, don't get me wrong, but there are a LOT of things the coaches are not going to like on the tape of this game... a lot. 3 turnovers, dumb penalties, dropped passes, very poor tackling (we could not bring down Spann at all, and he's 5-9" and 189 lbs), bad OL play, lots of negative yard plays, wide open NIU WRs running down the field past our safeties, a 19 yd punt, a missed FG, and not keeping the foot on the gas pedal.

We won the game, but for some reason did not put it away with NUMEROUS opportunities to do so. NIU kept shooting themselves in the foot. Their OL played a lot better than ours did. Spann could have had 150 yds if they would have just given him the ball like they should have.

It was a good win, but we'll get spanked next week if we play like that again.

 

[TavernHawk]

1. ISU's OL, without any doubt, is not as strong as it was last season. As of my writing of this, Arob would only be averaging about 2.5 YPC if it weren't for his one big run and NIU is regularly pressuring Arnaud while only rushing 4. Arnaud is running the ball effectively with the zone read, but that is about the only thing the ISU ground game has going for it.

2. ISU's DL still cannot get any pressure on the QB. While rushing four, the NIU QB had all day to throw the ball.

3. ISU's DL held their own in run support more than I thought they would...that was a positive for ISU tonight.

4. ISU's young LB's look promising, but have a long way to go with regard to learning how to tackle and taking proper angles. ISU's LB's will be inconsistent this year...making a big play on one down, and giving up a 30+ yard TD on the next because they are out of position.

5. ISU's DB's did a very poor job sticking to the NIU WR's when they went deep...NIU had 2-3 TD's easy if their QB didn't look like he was trying to do his best impression of Jake Christiansen.

6. Arnaud still has his maddeningly frustrating habits of staring down WR's and throwing into blanketed zone coverage. His throws seem more accurate, but he still makes terrible decisions at times.

7. ISU's WR's had some impressive grabs tonight, and showed some good agility to gain YAC (Johnson/Darks in particular).

8. Colin Franklin is definitely going to be one of Arnaud's favorite targets this year. I'm actually very glad he had a big game tonight....the Iowa coaches will definitely try to cover him up next week.

9. ISU's DL is not deep...they wore down considerably as the game went on.

Overall, I think Wally has done one hell of a job with this defense. I expected to see "terrible", but instead what I saw was "average"....that guy does a hell of a job considering the talent he has to work with. Two things that appear to be "areas for improvement" for ISU: Tackling needs to improve and they need to either a.) get more pressure on the QB or b.) play better in the defensive backfield. The one thing I think ISU is going to get beat on this year consistently is the passing game. The DB's left guys wide open downfield tonight (though that was to somewhat be expected since ISU was playing run first), and I don't think NIU has any world beater WR's. Further, I think the green LB's could really struggle next week covering Iowa's LB's....getting Sims back will certainly help, but I don't see Benton holding his own against McNutt...I expect McNutt to have a big game next week.

ISU's offense actually looked pretty formidable at times....but then inconsistency struck. ISU kept shooting themselves in the foot with penalties and the inability to run the ball consistently like they could last season. Arnaud's INT's continue to kill the ISU offense...he needs to iron those out. Overall, I don't think NIU has a great defense, and ISU struggled to run the ball as the game wore on...if that is the case...it will be a long season for ISU, because I am not convinced Arnaud can put this team on his shoulders and win them games.

Final thoughts: Offense looked better than expected for the 1st quarter, then looked like what I thought it would in quarters 2-4. Defense looked better than expected throughout the entire game....but they did where down in the 4th quarter. I won't make any prediction about next week's game before watching Iowa, but these are my thoughts on ISU. I will say I am slightly more nervous about this game simply from what I saw out of ISU's offense in the 1st quarter than I was before tonight....but if ISU plays as inconsistently next week as they did tonight, next week's game won't be close. If ISU plays as well next week as they did in the 1st quarter tonight, it will probably be a game. I'll make my actual prediction sometime next week.

You should of went with nein observations.