*** Official North Dakota vs IOWA STATE Game(Day) Thread ***
- Thread starter CycloneRulzzz
- Start date
Yep anything over 7 wins take it and run. We don't need the Nebby Curse to transfer to ISU.
I have to imagine they’ll recognize they have to speed things up for Iowa’s ST.
Just off the top of my head but hasn’t Iowa blocked a punt or FG in (at least) the last three games?
Last year they blocked the early FG, 2022 blocked a punt, and 2021 blocked another FG. I don’t have super high hopes for a rapid improvement in that department
Matt proved in 21 what he is capable of. Now with a 12 team playoff, and a weaker conference this a serious opportunity. Writing is all over the wall.
The d line looked good? Just asking for a friend.
Yep. And specifically in 2022, I remember we looked slow to get punts off against SEMO and almost had a couple blocked.
Several posters called it out too and said “that will need to get fixed or Iowa will definitely block one.” Then we proceed to go 3 and out and our first punt is blocked setting up a short field for Iowa.
I fully expect a kick to be blocked next Saturday.
I've been pretty busy this weekend traveling and what not, but did finally get to watch the game last night.
Overall impressions...
1. The offense was better than I thought it sounded on the radio broadcast. Run blocking needs to improve though, or Iowa will shut our run game down. The passing game, however, I think can be VERY dangerous and lethal. Especially if we can start mixing in other receiving options besides just Noel and Higgins. If we can add in the TE's into the passing game, and even some dump offs to RBs out of the backfield... we'll be nearly impossible to cover IMO.
2. Defense was worrisome overall. Pass defense was fine, and actually really good. Run defense was awful. If that same run defense shows up this week, Iowa may not even need to attempt a pass. Both John and Eric, and Bruns, commented about our DL getting pushed around by an FCS inexperienced OL, and Bruns also said our LBs and safeties at times were also getting "flatbacked" by their OL... which he had rarely ever seen from an ISU defense. With all the injuries at LB... the staff is going to have to get very creative with their scheme for this week to shut Iowa's run game down. The one good thing though... is for the majority of the Iowa game, Illinois St was able to shut Iowa's run game down. If they can do it, we should be able to..... right???
Some other observations...
*our end rushers couldn't seem to get much pressure on their QB... most of our QB pressures came from our inside guys it seemed like.
*I was impressed with Eli Green with the ball in his hands... although CMC ripped him for his ball security afterwards.
*I wanted to see more of Alston... and the TEs for sure in the pass game.
*Was impressed with Klosterman at LB... although he is very undersized.
*I don't know that we'll be able to run on Iowa much... so we better use the pass to set up the run.
*Dylan Lee is very impressive looking physically at RB... would like to see more of him, but I'm guessing he still probably has work to do on the intangibles like pass blocking, etc.
*Moberly must be the clear #2 at QB (unless Kohl is injured?)... which honestly doesn't surprise me at all. I was never all that impressed with Kohl's HS highlights... and I thought Moberly looked a lot better as a prospect coming out of HS. If Kohl is healthy... there's no way you would burn one of Moberly's 4 "free" games to keep his RS just to come in and hand the ball off and kneel if he wasn't the #2. I thought that was very interesting.
Overall impressions...
1. The offense was better than I thought it sounded on the radio broadcast. Run blocking needs to improve though, or Iowa will shut our run game down. The passing game, however, I think can be VERY dangerous and lethal. Especially if we can start mixing in other receiving options besides just Noel and Higgins. If we can add in the TE's into the passing game, and even some dump offs to RBs out of the backfield... we'll be nearly impossible to cover IMO.
2. Defense was worrisome overall. Pass defense was fine, and actually really good. Run defense was awful. If that same run defense shows up this week, Iowa may not even need to attempt a pass. Both John and Eric, and Bruns, commented about our DL getting pushed around by an FCS inexperienced OL, and Bruns also said our LBs and safeties at times were also getting "flatbacked" by their OL... which he had rarely ever seen from an ISU defense. With all the injuries at LB... the staff is going to have to get very creative with their scheme for this week to shut Iowa's run game down. The one good thing though... is for the majority of the Iowa game, Illinois St was able to shut Iowa's run game down. If they can do it, we should be able to..... right???
Some other observations...
*our end rushers couldn't seem to get much pressure on their QB... most of our QB pressures came from our inside guys it seemed like.
*I was impressed with Eli Green with the ball in his hands... although CMC ripped him for his ball security afterwards.
*I wanted to see more of Alston... and the TEs for sure in the pass game.
*Was impressed with Klosterman at LB... although he is very undersized.
*I don't know that we'll be able to run on Iowa much... so we better use the pass to set up the run.
*Dylan Lee is very impressive looking physically at RB... would like to see more of him, but I'm guessing he still probably has work to do on the intangibles like pass blocking, etc.
*Moberly must be the clear #2 at QB (unless Kohl is injured?)... which honestly doesn't surprise me at all. I was never all that impressed with Kohl's HS highlights... and I thought Moberly looked a lot better as a prospect coming out of HS. If Kohl is healthy... there's no way you would burn one of Moberly's 4 "free" games to keep his RS just to come in and hand the ball off and kneel if he wasn't the #2. I thought that was very interesting.
I feel like some blame lays at the feet of our safeties also for allowing UND'S long drives , after rewatching the game. Soft coverage allowing them to comfortably complete passes for first downs underneath. 2 of them against Cooper on 3rd downs to extend drives, & 1 on Verdon as well as a 1st down vs Patton where he was playing way off and missed a tackle short of the sticks. #1 for Bo Belquist for UND is a stud and had most of these catches.
Game kind of reminded me of the game vs SEMO 2 yrs ago, from a defense stand point at least. Remember there QB racked up all sorts of yards on us & we could could not contain him. That defense turned out to be damn good.
Game kind of reminded me of the game vs SEMO 2 yrs ago, from a defense stand point at least. Remember there QB racked up all sorts of yards on us & we could could not contain him. That defense turned out to be damn good.
We missed a lot of tackles Saturday that allowed for first downs instead of getting them off the field. We struggle getting pressure with just 3 rushers and its much harder to hold the point of attack on running plays with just 3 down lineman. I was hoping to see us jump into more 4 man fronts, and I don't recall ISU doing it at all. LB have to come up and fill the hole better this week than we did on Saturday, because if given the opportunity EIU will run and chip us out the entire game, with a bootleg pass every now and then to keep us honest.
We had a few plays where it looked like a linebacker was up just off the line on the outside and was essentially acting as a fourth lineman, but I don't recall any plays on Saturday where we had four defensive linemen in the game.
My very basic understanding of the "three down linemen" scheme is those three guys are supposed to pick a gap then the linebackers react and pick whatever's left (vs. in a more typical four-linemen scheme where each defensive lineman and linebacker is usually assigned a specific gap). On Saturday it seemed like the linebackers missed a lot of tackles/bad angles in those gaps and that's where a lot of the running yards for UND came from.
My very basic understanding of the "three down linemen" scheme is those three guys are supposed to pick a gap then the linebackers react and pick whatever's left (vs. in a more typical four-linemen scheme where each defensive lineman and linebacker is usually assigned a specific gap). On Saturday it seemed like the linebackers missed a lot of tackles/bad angles in those gaps and that's where a lot of the running yards for UND came from.
I’m not sure if our rush offense should be over analyzed for its performance.
1. I feel like we never really committed to running. Passing offense was thriving really well.
2. Abu went out early. When he did run the ball, he was running at 7 yards a pop. Hansen was fine, but I think it’s clear he’s the lead back in this offense. He stays in, and I feel like we at least hit the century mark on the ground.
3. I only saw a couple of negative plays rushing (one of them looked like a miscommunication on a Rocco QB keeper) Usually we were always able to move the ball while running. We weren’t getting huge holes, but enough to get the job done.
4. We were still missing two linemen in this game, and one of the starters was reportedly dinged up. (Miller) Missing a guy like Travis on the left end starts a chain link of movements on the line. Neal has to shift back outside, Hufford moves back over to guard, and this leaves a revolving door between Barrett, Bonifas and Buhr at center. Barrett did okay, but the other two struggled.
It doesn’t look likely that Travis will be back for Iowa, but ideally Hasert returning can stabilize the inside of the line where we can shift Hufford back to center.
1. I feel like we never really committed to running. Passing offense was thriving really well.
2. Abu went out early. When he did run the ball, he was running at 7 yards a pop. Hansen was fine, but I think it’s clear he’s the lead back in this offense. He stays in, and I feel like we at least hit the century mark on the ground.
3. I only saw a couple of negative plays rushing (one of them looked like a miscommunication on a Rocco QB keeper) Usually we were always able to move the ball while running. We weren’t getting huge holes, but enough to get the job done.
4. We were still missing two linemen in this game, and one of the starters was reportedly dinged up. (Miller) Missing a guy like Travis on the left end starts a chain link of movements on the line. Neal has to shift back outside, Hufford moves back over to guard, and this leaves a revolving door between Barrett, Bonifas and Buhr at center. Barrett did okay, but the other two struggled.
It doesn’t look likely that Travis will be back for Iowa, but ideally Hasert returning can stabilize the inside of the line where we can shift Hufford back to center.
I went back and rewatched the game today and feel much better about the OL and run game. OL gave Sama and Hansen good holes to run through for most of the game. Sama has really good burst; he averaged over 7ypc on just a handful of Carries that included one really bad toss play where he lost about 4 yards. Hansen doesn’t have that quick burst but the holes still allowed him 4-5ypc. Pass protection was excellent all game as well
Bruns was pleased with the OL play, I'll take his word for it.
With how limited our time-of-possession was, I think it's hard to take away much from the offense yet other than QB/WR are as good as advertised.
With how limited our time-of-possession was, I think it's hard to take away much from the offense yet other than QB/WR are as good as advertised.
ND got their 3 points on a 23-play drive. They almost went for it on 4th and 4 from the 9-yard line. Had they gone for it and picked it up, they could have broken the NCAA record for longest drive. According to Google, Navy holds the record for a 26-play drive in 2004.
Seems nearly impossible to have that many plays with that much time of possession (12:24).
I know there has been some postgame fan narrative that D couldn't get off the field -- and that has validity looking at # of plays. But UND did almost nothing with it.
The two long 1st half drives:
33 plays, 127 yards, 18:37 TOP - 3 points
Add the 14-play drive in 4Q:
47 plays, 186 yards, 24:06 TOP - 3 points
Lee has a ton of scat to him. We didn’t get to see his top end speed in space, but his shake and power in the box reminded me of Montgomery.
I’m not sure what to think of the Dline pass rush. 1) they don’t pass much, 2 when the did it was quick routes. We didn’t get pressure with the base rush but the blitz had an impact the 3 or 4 times we sent 5
It looked to me like the initial gap was there in the run game and then things slipped up at the 2nd level for much else to really happen, which isn't surprising for an opener.
And then ISU's last two scores seemed to come at times when they needed to assert themselves a bit and were able to fairly easily.
I hope we're not afraid to run the ball with Rocco this week in Iowa City. Iowa struggles with mobile QBs
Not necessarily. I haven't rewatched the game to see how we played, but throughout the year we will 1 gap more often than not.
