The Big 12 vs the Midwest
Iowa State is now 0-5 in the Cy-Hawk rivalry game under Matt Campbell. This last one was rough, a 27-17 defeat in which Brock “pump fake” Purdy was pulled from the game after back-to-back drives ended with interceptions.
I’ve found it interesting and telling the Cyclones have struggled with Iowa as much or more since coming alive in the PFPurdy era as they did in previous seasons with Matt Campbell. I have a theory, but it’s not ironclad.
The last few seasons of Iowa State football have been partially defined by the Cyclones treating the Big 12 to heavy doses of Big 10 football and personnel groupings with a savviness about spread football. Matt Campbell was a grad assistant at Bowling Green the year after Urban Meyer left, he understands spread football very well, but they also aim to overmatch Big 12 defenses with multi-tight end sets and shifting leverage.
Which doesn’t work against Iowa.
The Hawkeyes are not thrown off by your 6-foot-5, 250 pound, dual threat blockers/receivers at tight end. They have their own and the Iowa tight end is often a future NFL draft pick. Their linebackers are always good, well-coached players and they tend to play reasonably big, savvy safeties in the middle of the field. Iowa also has their own, traditional version of the flyover defense.
They don’t play three-deep safeties or use a 3-down front on standard downs, but they do play Cover 6 as often as not. Iowa’s Cover 6 defense is a blend of Cover 2 and Cover 4 (quarters). To the boundary they tend to play Cover 2 with the cornerback underneath and the safety over the top. To the field they’ll play off man coverage outside and bracket the slot with the nickel and the safety. The linebackers play it safe against RPOs, hanging back in passing windows, and they’ll always count on their assembly line of long, well-developed defensive linemen up front.
It’s a safe, conservative base defense with a strong “Come and take it!” philosophy behind it. They know you know what defense they’re playing, but they don’t think you can execute your offense the length of the field better than they can play it. Against the Cyclones, they’ve been right.
Purdy’s picks weren’t even too terrible, with one exception. He under threw a post to Xavier Hutchinson, 1-on-1, and the corner made a good play. Then he hit Hutch in the hands on a shallow cross and the ball went through his hands and Iowa snagged it. The final interception was tipped at the line by one of the Hawkeye’s long-armed linemen. He’ll be back.
Iowa State’s defense has had little issue in recent years with the Iowa offense, which is also traditional and unchanged through the years. The Hawkeyes run the ball on outside zone and mix in other schemes and play-action off their outside zone actions.
Iowa State locked it down, which doesn’t bode well for Baylor or anyone else (Texas?) who plans to emphasize the outside zone scheme this season in their offense. In fact, some of the signs from the Cyclone defense in this game about what they have in store for the Big 12 this season were fairly intimidating.
They have a lot involving their linebackers either simulating or actually bringing pressure. The bottom example they have Will linebacker Jake Hummel show an edge pressure before dropping back so Mike linebacker O’Rien Vance can bring it. Vance is picked up and Will McDonald, fourth of that name, flushes the quarterback wide so Hummel cleans up for a sack.
They had three sacks on the day, 1.5 by McDonald (not counting the one above).
When Iowa State brings their tight end-heavy offense and flyover defense back into Big 12 play, don’t expect their early season issues with fellow Iowa schools to be particularly instructive about their capacity to win six or more league games and contend to get back to the Big 12 Championship Game.
Nebraska visits Oklahoma
This one got a little more interesting when Nebraska rebounded from a bad Week 1 to go 2-0, then even more interesting when Lincoln Riley announced Woodi Washington was out and Billy Bowman was questionable.
Nebraska vs Oklahoma is a classic, Big 8 rivalry game and when I was a new college football fan at the turn of the century it produced a few huge matchups between national contenders.
The better Midwestern teams in the Big 12 have given Oklahoma fits in the Lincoln Riley era. Matt Campbell always takes him to the wire and Chris Klieman at K-State is 2-0 against him. Why is this, exactly and could Nebraska duplicate their success?
Most of those wins or close battles against the Sooners had to do with effective use of tight ends against OU’s defensive personnel, which is often catered to stopping 11 personnel spread teams, and effective mitigation of their defensive line and pressure. Iowa State runs a lot of zone at the Sooners and try to cover up all of their speedy linemen.
Alrighty we’re off to a bad start at Nebraska, who’s starting like three freshmen on the line and couldn’t handle Illinois in Week 0.
K-State also mixed in uber-wide spread sets a year ago to isolate Deuce Vaughn in space. Nebraska doesn’t have a Deuce Vaughn, but Frost still maintains a solid spread package with plenty of quarterback-iso RPOs. If the Cornhuskers manage to make this a game, or win, it’ll almost certainly be due to their ability to catch Oklahoma in space with Adrian Martinez’s wheels or those of some of their skill players. Look out for the option as well, Frost hasn’t forgotten how it works and it’s a good way to attack a team who’s missing the two defensive backs they trust most to protect the perimeter.
The Midwestern teams have also challenge Oklahoma with safe, boring defensive schemes like Tampa 2 and the flyover defense. Forcing them to work their way down the field slowly against their sturdy, disciplined fronts. Nebraska doesn’t necessarily play things this way, but they theoretically could for this contest.
One of the interesting quirks of the current Husker defense is their use of JoJo Domann, a Colorado import who plays nickel linebacker at 6-foot-1, 230 pounds. Domann is good at underneath coverage and makes effective use of the “contact allowed within five yards” rule to bump slot receivers and keep them off their preferred route paths.
Unless the Huskers dramatically change their scheme, against Oklahoma, Domann will draw the task of handling two players who might be the Sooners’ best receivers in turn, Austin Stogner and Marvin Mims. The philosophy will have to be the same as it’s often been for Domann in previous games, to manhandle whichever of those guys he’s lined up across while the defensive coordinator parks a safety over the top.
Alternatively, the Huskers could play some kind of nickel or dime sub-package and move Domann inside to perform similar tasks in the middle of the field, I can’t pretend to know the mind of their coordinator. I do know Nebraska’s success will hinge on being physical with the Sooner receivers and playing in a way which invites the Sooners to try and win on the ground with their depleted running back corps and retooled offensive line.
It should be an interesting week for Big 10 vs Big 12 football.
