remaining question marks

[r_desihawk]

overall it was a feel good game but is this a complete team or do we have obvious gaps?

-- is the OL is anything more than average? offense couldn't generate a single point in the second half
-- punt return. vz was kind of awful while evans seemed to misjudge the punt until the last moment (yes he scored which was great but still...)
-- red zone offense. also qb play was average at best -- better than gronowski's first iowa game but much much worse than late season gron.

 

[UIAlumFireFighter]

Clear Weaknesses IMO:

Defensive Tackles
Backup Running Backs
Dropped Passes

 

[Whtnhawk]

overall it was a feel good game but is this a complete team or do we have obvious gaps?

-- is the OL is anything more than average? offense couldn't generate a single point in the second half
-- punt return. vz was kind of awful while evans seemed to misjudge the punt until the last moment (yes he scored which was great but still...)
-- red zone offense. also qb play was average at best -- better than gronowski's first iowa game but much much worse than late season gron.

The question should be, are the 2nd and 3rd stringers on the OL anything more than average.

 

[r_desihawk]

Clear Weaknesses IMO:

Defensive Tackles
Backup Running Backs
Dropped Passes

were DT play really weak? i wasn't scrutinizing them but i didn't get the sense they got manhandled...

 

[uihawk82]

overall it was a feel good game but is this a complete team or do we have obvious gaps?

-- is the OL is anything more than average? offense couldn't generate a single point in the second half
-- punt return. vz was kind of awful while evans seemed to misjudge the punt until the last moment (yes he scored which was great but still...)
-- red zone offense. also qb play was average at best -- better than gronowski's first iowa game but much much worse than late season gron.

You mention the second half:

Do you know our starting QB did not play in the 2nd half
Also, were you aware 2 if not 3 of our starting linemen came out early in the 2nd half or hardly played at all
Phillips didnt get any carries as I was expecting him to get a bunch in the second half

I thought our 33 points scored at halftime was a great number

Lutmer was said to be the 1st string punt returner but RVZ got the nod and he was OK, great punt return by Evans.

 

[kmurpny]

DT will remain a question mark until they face Michigan ( I’m hoping ISU doesn’t challenge them).
QB a question mark until we see how they do under pressure.
Still a bit concerned about placekicker

 

[Hawks69_]

Call me crazy but I thought the o-line looked fantastic, maybe better than last year.

 

[squeezebox_1]

DT will remain a question mark until they face Michigan ( I’m hoping ISU doesn’t challenge them).
QB a question mark until we see how they do under pressure.
Still a bit concerned about placekicker

Maybe, I’m not impressed by Michigans oline. They have a top if not the top backfield on paper, they did not look solid.

 

[squeezebox_1]

Call me crazy but I thought the o-line looked fantastic, maybe better than last year.

Not crazy at all, I might have picked up a yard given some of those holes

 

[DukeSlater]

overall it was a feel good game but is this a complete team or do we have obvious gaps?

-- is the OL is anything more than average? offense couldn't generate a single point in the second half
-- punt return. vz was kind of awful while evans seemed to misjudge the punt until the last moment (yes he scored which was great but still...)
-- red zone offense. also qb play was average at best -- better than gronowski's first iowa game but much much worse than late season gron.

With almost any other coach, Iowa would have put up another 25-30 points in the second half, but KF refuses. He schedules these weak teams, then won't let his guys do anything in the second half. At the same time, Iowa played just about everyone on the roster, so that's really more important than running up the score. But putting your third-string QB in there for the fourth quarter and not letting him throw the ball doesn't make any sense . . . to me, at least.

 

[UIAlumFireFighter]

were DT play really weak? i wasn't scrutinizing them but i didn't get the sense they got manhandled...

No, they did not get manhandled. Thank god.

On the flip side, the fact they didn’t manhandle NIU’s o-line is a bit concerning. That was a terrible team we just played.

 

[UIAlumFireFighter]

You mention the second half:

Do you know our starting QB did not play in the 2nd half
Also, were you aware 2 if not 3 of our starting linemen came out early in the 2nd half or hardly played at all
Phillips didnt get any carries as I was expecting him to get a bunch in the second half

It was a bad Northern Illinois team… We should not have had the struggles we did in the second half. Our backups should be able to bulldoze their starters.

 

[Burgers]

It was a bad Northern Illinois team… We should not have had the struggles we did in the second half. Our backups should be able to bulldoze their starters.

NIU ran for 7 total yards (33 if you remove sacks). Their longest run of the game was 6 yards.

I also have concerns about the DT position, but the NIU game certainly did not make me feel worse about that group. Regardless of opponent, the overall defensive performance against NIU was dominant.

Last year's defense was pretty damn good, and they gave up a touchdown and 43 rushing yards against Albany, who was a 2-win FCS team. NIU is certainly better than Albany.

 

[UIAlumFireFighter]

NIU ran for 7 total yards (33 if you remove sacks). Their longest run of the game was 6 yards.

I also have concerns about the DT position, but the NIU game certainly did not make me feel worse about that group. Regardless of opponent, the overall defensive performance against NIU was dominant.

Last year's defense was pretty damn good, and they gave up a touchdown and 43 rushing yards against Albany, who was a 2-win FCS team. NIU is certainly better than Albany.

If you look again, you'll notice I was talking about our OL, not our DL, in that response.

 

[LaQuintaHawk]

… a bit concerned about placekicker

 

[2D]

-QB1 remains uncertain
-Can any of back RBs separate themselves now that LJ is likely done for a while
-Can we address the dropped ball issues
-Kicking troubles
-Redzone offense

OLine was perfect when the starters were out there. Defense was perfect as well, zero complaints with how they took care of business. They say that teams make the biggest jump from week 1 to week 2.

 

[Ripcord]

-QB1 remains uncertain
-Can any of back RBs separate themselves now that LJ is likely done for a while
-Can we address the dropped ball issues
-Kicking troubles
-Redzone offense

OLine was perfect when the starters were out there. Defense was perfect as well, zero complaints with how they took care of business. They say that teams make the biggest jump from week 1 to week 2.

I think that most of the things you just enumerated can be fixed, but the one that bothers me is the dropped ball issues.

Have we not had that issue for several years now? It seems like we have.

 

[nu2u]

Clear Weaknesses IMO:

Defensive Tackles
Backup Running Backs
Dropped Passes

Weather DT is a weakness is still TBD. After rewatching the game, I don’t see how you can claim that DT is clearly weak. Hawthorne in particular played at an elevated level.

Not worried about RBs. Dropped passes is a concern.

 

[HMB Trumpet]

With almost any other coach, Iowa would have put up another 25-30 points in the second half, but KF refuses. He schedules these weak teams, then won't let his guys do anything in the second half. At the same time, Iowa played just about everyone on the roster, so that's really more important than running up the score. But putting your third-string QB in there for the fourth quarter and not letting him throw the ball doesn't make any sense . . . to me, at least.

Sully got three series in the fourth quarter. He threw once on the first series, once on the second series, and twice on the third series.

 

[UIAlumFireFighter]

I think that most of the things you just enumerated can be fixed, but the one that bothers me is the dropped ball issues.

Have we not had that issue for several years now? It seems like we have.

Brody Schaffer gets in the game and drops the first ball his way. Not a great start to his young career.

 

[WeBeHerkin]

Someone probably already said but FG kicking may be worrisome.

 

[HawksRule73]

Consistent RZ offense. TDs will win games, but settling for FGs will lose them. Get that straightened out and I feel pretty good about things.

 

[LetsGoHawks83]

Redzone
Redzone
Redzone

We don't have the Mark safety blanket down on the goalline like we did last year and it showed.

Lester needs to get some things schemed and use the damn TEs in goal to go situations.

Not concerned about the drops.

Kicking is a concern, as we've been spoiled.

 

[Lionhawk85]

Redzone
Redzone
Redzone

We don't have the Mark safety blanket down on the goalline like we did last year and it showed.

Lester needs to get some things schemed and use the damn TEs in goal to go situations.

Not concerned about the drops.

Kicking is a concern, as we've been spoiled.

Felt the same way down to every single bullet point! Was dying watching the OL and RB not be able to push in from the 2 yard line and then never using the TEs to work in the middle of the field in the red zone. Good luck covering our TEs and Diaz man to man inside the 10 with a threat to RVZ for a fade.

I did enjoy the Heck screen pass for a TD, but all it takes is one savvy defender to completely blow that up (potentially in a big way).

 

[Wobmam Rulez!]

Agree, my only real concern.

 

[Driftless_Hawk]

O line is elite. D Line was better than I thought they'd be.

My biggest concern at this point is kicker and goal line offense.

 

[UndercoverHawk]

The single biggest issue is kicking. People say we win with defense and special teams, but special teams is the big one there. If we can’t kick field goals to keep us in games or we are missing PATs we are going to lose those 1 score games we usually win. Punter looked fine in game, but kids practice was a little shaky if I remember correctly. I think James will be more than serviceable as a PR. Even if he gets minimal return yardage going forward, he looks like he can handle the job, much better than RVZ could in those first few tries.

 

[Jonesy5960]

I think the biggest question mark remaining is whether the first half of this game was indicative of how good iowa is or how bad Northern Illinois is. With the exception of the initial place kicking, the team was hitting on all cylinders with no apparent significant weaknesses.

The second half is kind of irrelevant to my way of thinking. Let's see if they can follow up that first half with another standout performance vs ISU. If so this team could be destined for a breakthrough season.

 

[JerseyCityHawk]

overall it was a feel good game but is this a complete team or do we have obvious gaps?

-- is the OL is anything more than average? offense couldn't generate a single point in the second half
-- punt return. vz was kind of awful while evans seemed to misjudge the punt until the last moment (yes he scored which was great but still...)
-- red zone offense. also qb play was average at best -- better than gronowski's first iowa game but much much worse than late season gron.

Great post Desi!

 

[Titanhawk]

You mention the second half:

Do you know our starting QB did not play in the 2nd half
Also, were you aware 2 if not 3 of our starting linemen came out early in the 2nd half or hardly played at all
Phillips didnt get any carries as I was expecting him to get a bunch in the second half

I thought our 33 points scored at halftime was a great number

Lutmer was said to be the 1st string punt returner but RVZ got the nod and he was OK, great punt return by Evans.

We currently have 2 starting QB's and one started the second half, and our #1 RB was still in the game

 

[Jonesy5960]

were DT play really weak? i wasn't scrutinizing them but i didn't get the sense they got manhandled...

You didn't see those huge holes resulting in zero first downs and around 30 yards of total offense in the first half? Terrible!

 

[HawkInMO]

-QB1 remains uncertain
-Can any of back RBs separate themselves now that LJ is likely done for a while
-Can we address the dropped ball issues
-Kicking troubles
-Redzone offense

OLine was perfect when the starters were out there. Defense was perfect as well, zero complaints with how they took care of business. They say that teams make the biggest jump from week 1 to week 2.

These are also my primary questions/concerns.

 

[squeezebox_1]

I know this was called back, but Fred Jackson's kid Breaden looks legit.

 

[WeBeHerkin]

I know this was called back, but Fred Jackson's kid Breaden looks legit.

He has some speed.