Nine observations from tonight

[weR138]

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.

Give NIU some credit; no they're not BCS but they're close (I can see them win the MAC). Great story about the Marine on their DL, two tours in Iraq!

I can guarantee that you care about the Iowa game more than me. I think this OL will gel and be ready by the KSU game. My hope for these guys is to do well in the B12N and the NIU game made me feel good about their chances.

 

[Wesley]

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.

Both defenses looked like they were mixing things up to confuse the OLs. Until AA proves that he can thow accurately long we may be watching low scoring games.

 

[jburke]

Wow, what an incredible tool, #1 is completely false, with SH we would be more deep but as a whole we are way better than last year, I believe you will see it next week when Clayborn goes for all of 2 tackles and get dominated by KO..... The other point I want to speak to is LB, IMO the highlight of the game, with our style of Defense there will not be too many missed tackles for +30 yds, they will miss tackles but you get Sims back putting the stick on those. Very impressive.... I see overall offense and dfense clicking a lot more next week and the rest of the year forward, AA does hold the true direction of the team in his hands, he needs to not stair down receivers and see the whole field, blinders are his killer.... Bring on the HAWGKS!!!!

 

[weR138]

You should of went with nein observations.

JAAA-WOHL, ZING!

 

[clonedude]

Wow, what an incredible tool, #1 is completely false, with SH we would be more deep but as a whole we are way better than last year, I believe you will see it next week when Clayborn goes for all of 2 tackles and get dominated by KO..... The other point I want to speak to is LB, IMO the highlight of the game, with our style of Defense there will not be too many missed tackles for +30 yds, they will miss tackles but you get Sims back putting the stick on those. Very impressive.... I see overall offense and dfense clicking a lot more next week and the rest of the year forward, AA does hold the true direction of the team in his hands, he needs to not stair down receivers and see the whole field, blinders are his killer.... Bring on the HAWGKS!!!!

Our OL could not dominate NIU's DL, so I hardly think we can dominate Iowa's?

Outside of Arob's one big run, tell me another good run he had? 18 carries for 35 yds if you take away his long one. 2 yds per carry is BAD. And AA was flushed from the pocket numerous times as well. I really think this OL is going to get chewed pretty good in the video room.

Our OL was dominating Iowa in the first half last year in the run game. ARob was ripping off 6+ yds a crack last year against Iowa in the first half. I didn't see that kind of dominance last night at all. I hope to see a big improvement next week.

 

[jburke]

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.

The OL did no have a great game on the ground I will agree there but I guarantee that will change as the year goes on. Oh yeah, KO will make Clayborn his Beatch for a 3rd year......

 

[3GenClone]

Our OL could not dominate NIU's DL, so I hardly think we can dominate Iowa's?

Outside of Arob's one big run, tell me another good run he had? 18 carries for 35 yds if you take away his long one. 2 yds per carry is BAD. And AA was flushed from the pocket numerous times as well. I really think this OL is going to get chewed pretty good in the video room.

Our OL was dominating Iowa in the first half last year in the run game. ARob was ripping off 6+ yds a crack last year against Iowa in the first half. I didn't see that kind of dominance last night at all. I hope to see a big improvement next week.

I'm not going to disagree with you - but it's the first game! Don't let HawkFan get in your head with his analysis of ISU beating a quality opponent by 17 points. I believe it was just last year a certain BCS team in the state stumbled out of the gate the first week against an FCS opponent...2 blocked FGs later, and a season full of defense and a lot of luck, they went on to win the Orange Bowl. The goal for this week should be improvement in all areas and put the best product possible on the field.

 

[bawbie]

I'll put my random observations in this thread, because I don't want to start another one:

- I'm really surprised by the number of people complaining about the OL. I thought they played fairly well. NIU has a good run defense, and we ran for 140 yards. Also, I didn't see all of the pressure on Arnaud. It didn't seem to me like he was hit very often at all, except the two late hits that were called, but sometimes you can't see that on TV. The only sack they had was when Burris stepped on Arnauds foot, and that could have been considered a run, since I think Arnaud was taking off. They have some room to improve, but the OL looked OK to me.

- I thought AA looked more accurate, but he has to quit making 2-4 bonehead plays a game.

- I was glad to see Woody and Shontrelle get in the game and get a touch each.

- Sed had a horrible first half, but played better in the second. At one point AA was 9-13, and all 4 incompletions were throws to Sed (and may all have been the receiver's fault).

- We only punted once. Thank God.

- Mahoney's kickoffs were much better than last year. He consistently landed them on the goal line with plenty of hangtime. Can he punt?

- the O did a great job on 3rd down conversions, given the length of most of them.

- The D played great, but I have a feeling it was in some part due to the horrid play of the NIU QB. Anyway, the Burham's were an amazing set of hires for CPR.

- As many have pointed out, the D-line struggled again at times, but I thought Rump and Neal played well. Especially Neal. I was disappointed in Parker.

- Knott and Klein are awesome. Knott had 9 tackles, 2 ints, 1 FF and 1 pass breakup. Klein was only credited with 15 (!!!) tackles. They each had a TFL too. Ho hum.

- I thought the dbacks played fine. They cleaned it up when a runner got through the LBs and only gave up 93 yards passing. I know in the 3rd a couple receivers got open deep, but if the QB can't make that throw (which he couldn't), you give that up and take away the short stuff. They'll be better with Sims back too, as CPR said on the pregame, they have a 3 safety rotation, and only 2 were available today.

- the depth on the defense and AA's turnovers are my two biggest concerns with the team.

 

[djcubby]

How soon you forget that it took not one, but TWO muffed FG's for Iowa to beat UNI last year and you are judging ISU on how they played in the first game of the season? You are sorely mistaken to assume that things won't change between now and next week.

Our OL will improve and A-Rob will get his yards. The TD shut out will end and I expect ISU to make a game of it next week.

 

[Al_4_State]

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.

IF ISU wins the turnover battle (and for anyone playing Iowa, that's a huge "if") then we have every chance in the world of beating Iowa. That's how you beat the Hawks. Win the turnover battle.

Unfortunately that's a hell of a lot more difficult than it sounds on paper.

As far as Arnaud putting the team on his shoulders and winning games, you should go watch the final drives of the 2008 UNLV game and 2009 KSU games. He lead drives that would make Stanzi blush, only to be let down by A) the defense in 2008 and B) the kicking game in 2009. I know there are Hawk fans that would say if AA was a great leader, the kicking game wouldn't have ****ed up against KSU, but that's completely ludicrous. I thought last night, when Northern Illinois scored to make it 17-10, he did a great job of putting the team on his shoulders, and marching 80 yards for the 6. We NEEDED a touchdown, and we GOT us a touchdown. That's good leadership, and clutch play. That's the one aspect of his game that I've been most impressed with. He's going to make 1 or 2 idiotic plays a game. Period. But when we need a drive, he's got one.

 

[clonedude]

How soon you forget that it took not one, but TWO muffed FG's for Iowa to beat UNI last year and you are judging ISU on how they played in the first game of the season? You are sorely mistaken to assume that things won't change between now and next week.

Our OL will improve and A-Rob will get his yards. The TD shut out will end and I expect ISU to make a game of it next week.

I never said the OL wouldn't improve next week... and I fully expect every position to improve from week 1 to week 2.

But if anyone thinks the OL was a strength last night is kidding themselves. Trust me, they are going to get a good a#% chewing in the video room. On a majority of ARob's runs, he had nowhere to go. He had no chance. That has to change. And yes, AA was getting good protection on some plays, and then other plays he was flushed from the pocket with NIU only rushing 4 guys.

I don't think the coaching staff will sugarcoat the play of the OL in the video room like a lot of people on here are trying to do.

 

[MNCyGuy]

IF ISU wins the turnover battle (and for anyone playing Iowa, that's a huge "if") then we have every chance in the world of beating Iowa. That's how you beat the Hawks. Win the turnover battle.

Unfortunately that's a hell of a lot more difficult than it sounds on paper.

As far as Arnaud putting the team on his shoulders and winning games, you should go watch the final drives of the 2008 UNLV game and 2009 KSU games. He lead drives that would make Stanzi blush, only to be let down by A) the defense in 2008 and B) the kicking game in 2009. I know there are Hawk fans that would say if AA was a great leader, the kicking game wouldn't have ****ed up against KSU, but that's completely ludicrous. I thought last night, when Northern Illinois scored to make it 17-10, he did a great job of putting the team on his shoulders, and marching 80 yards for the 6. We NEEDED a touchdown, and we GOT us a touchdown. That's good leadership, and clutch play. That's the one aspect of his game that I've been most impressed with. He's going to make 1 or 2 idiotic plays a game. Period. But when we need a drive, he's got one.

This makes me nervous though. I feel like teams are going to use the defensive gameplan, "sell out to stop the run and wait for Arnaud to go on his stupid streak and kill the offense's momentum."

 

[Wesley]

When Iowa and ISU play, anything can happen and it usually does. Few blowouts either way.

If Iowa wins 75-0 this Saturday, that may make them over confident.

 

[dtclones]

People can talk all they want about our OLine sucking, but I thought they did a good job on the pass rush. I don't think AA got sacked once did he? He only got hurried a few times. Thats gotta be worth something.

 

[hawkeyescott]

As far as Arnaud putting the team on his shoulders and winning games, you should go watch the final drives of the 2008 UNLV game and 2009 KSU games. He lead drives that would make Stanzi blush,

I doubt that, Stanzi lead a drive against the 3rd ranked team in the country knowing he only needed a FG and led another one 80 yards with 1:30 to go knowing he needed a TD and both against better D's.

As far as ISU last night, I didn't think they looked that bad, the D still has issues though and the LB's make mistakes (which is expected) plus as the saying goes "Teams make their most improvement from week 1 to week 2" and Iowa will see an improved ISU team in Kinnick next Saturday.

 

[bawbie]

People can talk all they want about our OLine sucking, but I thought they did a good job on the pass rush. I don't think AA got sacked once did he? He only got hurried a few times. Thats gotta be worth something.

NIU was credited with one sack, but I'm pretty sure it was the play where Burris got pushed back and stepped on AA's foot. Other than that, I don't think they had any plays close to a sack. I don't get the ripping on the OL.

 

[clonedude]

I doubt that, Stanzi lead a drive against the 3rd ranked team in the country knowing he only needed a FG and led another one 80 yards with 1:30 to go knowing he needed a TD and both against better D's.

As far as ISU last night, I didn't think they looked that bad, the D still has issues though and the LB's make mistakes (which is expected) plus as the saying goes "Teams make their most improvement from week 1 to week 2" and Iowa will see an improved ISU team in Kinnick next Saturday.

You can't rip Stanzi for not leading game winning drives... that's for sure. He's done it quite a few times. In fact, that is when he seems to be at his best IMO. It's the first 3 quarters of play that he has to work on. AA reminded me so much of Stanzi last night in terms of making some great plays and leading a game clinching drive near the end, but also making some throws where you just sit back and say... "What in the world was that?".

 

[djcubby]

I never said the OL wouldn't improve next week... and I fully expect every position to improve from week 1 to week 2.

Clonedude, my post wasn't directed at you, but at the OP. Hawkfan made it sound like what we saw last night is what will see throughout the season and that no improvements will be made from week 1 to week 2.

 

[Clone9]

There were quite a few problems, but the good news is that we didn't get "out-talented" at any position. i.e. - I think almost all of our problems are fixable with a little coaching.

The two biggest problems.....

- The DB's were out of position a few times (mostly the safeties...we need Sims), but I don't think they got "beat". They just need to be in better position which is coachable.

- We missed a lot of tackles, but were in the right position to make them. Just need to work on technique. Again, coaching.

Now, with those two things being said....we only gave up 10 pts. Obviously, Iowa will take advantage of our mistakes better than NI did, but lets face it...the Iowa offense isn't gonna light the world on fire as long as we don't give them 4+ turnovers again.

Our biggest problem next week will be scoring points. How long has it been since we scored a TD against Iowa? That has to be remedied to have any chance of being in the game.

 

[hawkfan]

People can talk all they want about our OLine sucking, but I thought they did a good job on the pass rush. I don't think AA got sacked once did he? He only got hurried a few times. Thats gotta be worth something.

That was more off a compliment to Arnaud's mobility than it was to the ISU OL. Arnaud got forced out of the pocket quite a few times last night and he was rushed on more than 1 throw.

Let me get something straight: I never said ISU's OL would suck...I said it is quite clear they are not as strong as last years unit...which should have been expected. I just think that ISU's OL last year was the only reason ISU moved the ball last season...without that OL last year, I think the game would have been uglier than it actually was.

My point is this: based on what I saw last night, ISU's OL will be weaker than last year....thus it is rather logical to conclude that they will not be averaging 5 YPC against Iowa next week. What that means, in my mind, is that Arnaud is going to have to play pretty damn good next week for ISU to win.