ISU Wrap Up

Going to go with pretty much the same format every week for these unless something drastic happens in one of these games. Would like to come out right away and complement KOK for a very well thought out gameplan on offense and also kudos to Norm. I am tired of hearing how Arnaud handed us the game. Sash and Greenwood made plays off of his terrible decisions, and Iowa took advantage offensively of the turnovers. Good teams take advantage of the other teams mistakes. What was Iowa supposed to give ISU the ball back because they are more talented? Get over it Clone fans and commentators. Iowa didn't play that well and could have put a Fry era whipping on them. On to the Negatives, Positives and coaching comments. Really nitpicking this week.

Negatives
Stanzi's Acurracy: I don't know if this comes out to nerves or a phantom clock in his head after the first interception but Stanzi really had a first half to forget. He completed 12 of 24 passes; of the incompletions- two of those were dropped (one each by Stross and McNutt and they were decent not perfect throws), three more were just physical mistakes ( I mean good reads, bad throws- I can live with that, they were difficult throws) two were interceptions one due to being hit, one was an overthrow, and I would estimate five were due to throwing into coverage. I will give him one thing he can squeeze the ball into tight spots. Even some of his completions were lasers that he probably shouldn't have thrown. He is a little of guilty of locking onto his first read but most of the time his first read this season has been open. That is going to change as the season progresses. I have a lot of confidence in him to turn this around. Arizona will be a tough test and a good measuring stick to see if he has made any progress.

Tackling: Really nitpicking here, as I don't have a lot of negatives to fill the space this week. I thought the angles of Edds and Angerer really improved and the whole teams' physicality really stepped up a notch. This needs to progress week to week. Big complents to Brett Greenwood who I thought played his most physical game as a Hawk. He is exempt from this Negative this week.

Positives:
The Running Backs: Brandon Wegher broke the century mark and saw action on the third series of the game. I thought he showed unreal athleticism (the one-handed catch anyone?), patience, and an incredible burst when the hole opened. If the line solidifies (from what I understand Bulaga is no sure thing this week) he could soon be the #1 option. I also thought that Adam Robinson took another step forward. I felt he too was more patient in letting the line push and reading the holes. He is very physical for his size and really finishes his runs well. Brett Morse is a revelation. I knew he could block but he has obviously been underutilized in the passing game. If Moeaki is out I could see him playing Reisner's role as the H in two tight end sets. He is very athletic for his size. I would like to see more out of Jeff Brinson but I am sure he will get his chance.

The Safties: Sash and Greenwood combined for 5 picks and laid some lumber. They played games with Arnauds head by constantly shifting their positioning on the field. Both are fearless in run support but are beginning to trust their speed, Greenwood especially seems faster, this season. If they are willing to trust that then they can play pass first and run second and get burned less on play-action their only weakness so far this season.

Riley Reiff: Filling the giant shoes of Bulaga had to be tough especially in a highly charged rivalry game but Reiff did a very good job. He was called for two penalties but neither really impacted the game significantly. He also showed very well in the run game for a guy Ferentz called "lean at 280 or 285" on the radio pre-game show. I thought it was smart to keep Moeaki in to block early in the game to help him gain confidence on third downs. Late in the first half they quit giving him help and he handled himself very well in the passing game as well.

Willie Lowe: Lowe played outstanding. He was even allowed to press a little in the second half. In fact the whole secondary was great but I thought Lowe deserved special mention for making his first start against a spread team on the road. ISU didn't really test him often but he blanketed Hamilton or Douglas on a go route early in the game. Otherwise I don't really find him in my game notes which is outstanding for a first time starter. He is listed again as the starter this week as long as he holds off Prater this week in practice. It will be nice to have 3 solid corners now in Nickel as Hyde got burned pretty badly once by Hamilton.

Julian Vandervelde: For a guy whom Ferentz said was "fat and out of shape" I thought Vandervelde dominated. He really improved the co-hesion of the line plus I love hearing him talk after the games. Glad to have him back. Richardson also played well at left guard. It looks liek Koeppel may get more time at center as Eubanks didn't completely win his battle with air in my opinion.

Coaching: The sexy thing to be doing right now in the Hawkeye blogoshere is to be kissing KOK's ass. I am not going to do that. I will complement him on a very good gameplan and no clock penalties yet. I also don't think we have burned any Time-outs either, which would be great to have in our pocket in tight games. I do like the multiple looks we have shown so far and hope we continue to show those looks on offense. I also love the idea of throwing the ball to both Robinson and especially Wegher. I would like to see Stanzi try to read the whole field instead of just one side and I think that people forget KOK is our QB coach, also.
Norm executed a great gameplan as well. I thought that Iowa was willing to show multiple fronts on D and concede the run which probably goes against every bone in Norm's body. I am not a fan of the 3-4 but Tarpinian is too talented to keep off of the field, I would just like to see Iowa do something besides play Cover 2 or Quarters with that. Edds and Hunter off the edge would be so shocking the qb might sack himself. Iowa also played a mix of young d-lineman and I loved the zone blitzing. I am looking forward to the matchup of Norm v. Sonny Dykes

Lastly my complements to the Captain. I think so far he has handled the adversity of the UNI game well and the loss of Bulaga great. I don't think Stoops holds a candle to Coach Ferentz, but that is why they play the games.