Observations from C Deck (Iowa 2005)

[Oh8ch]

1. Defensive Pressure

When you hear the name Kirk Ferentz what one position comes to mind? For me it is the OL. Coached it in the NFL and has turned out some great lineman so far at Iowa. Gets some darn fine recruits as well. Last year they struggled, but this season they return 3 starters and lots of experience.

We flat kicked their ass. Five sacks doesn’t begin to tell the story. Kudla is emerging as a beast. And Lawrence Wilson showed signs of brilliance today.

But props also go out to Malcolm Jenkins. As the secondary continues to develop the D can keep selling out on the pass rush and know they aren’t going to get burned. Iowa’s longest play from scrimmage today was 15 yards – even though they played the majority of the second half with a desperate need to move the ball downfield in large chunks.

2. AA Linebackers

Looks like the boys from Iowa City showed us up. Greenway and Hodge had 23 tackles between them while Hawk and Carpenter could only muster 13. Nit-pickers will argue that OSU ran 24 more plays and gave them more opps. Others will suggest that Linebackers should shoulder some of the blame for a 323 yard difference in rushing yards. But we all know where the Butkus Award should go.

I was particularly impressed to see Greenway celebrating after one particularly stellar tackle – with his team down 24-0. (Does anybody else think that players on either O or D ought to maintain a low profile when the scoreboard shows they are getting their asses kicked?)

3. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a starting QB.

Forget the stats. Forget your personal preferences. If a QB can put the ball on the ground four times (the official stats say three, but I swear I saw four) while running a Jim Tressel offense and not come out of the game he clearly has no reason to be looking over his shoulder. JT has committed to a starting QB.

4. Spiking the Ball?

I heard several folks complaining that Tate should have been given a 15 yard unsportsmanship penalty for the spike instead of the five yard delay of game (after the game even Ferentz admitted he needed to check the rule book on that one). That 10 yard difference could have kept the shut out in tact (at least for a while).

I would submit, however, that any penalty was probably unwarranted in that instance. Tate was hit hard all day and that play was no exception. He may very well have thought he was getting up from scoring a TD.

Nothing is more fun than watching the other team come unglued.

5. New Traditions

I am ALWAYS at the games at least an hour early. But today my son had to work til noon and he has the ID that gets us into the game using faculty tix. So, my wife and I meet him when he gets off and rush to the game so she can drop us off on Lane. We then jog (for those who don’t know me I am an old man) to the far end of the stadium and race up the steps 2 at a time to get to our seats midway through the first quarter.

The bad news is that since things went so well today we have to start doing it this way for EVERY home game.

6. Stay in the damned end zone.

Never mind that hilarious play Iowa pulled off – that was fun. But what was Holmes brining the ball out from deep in his own end zone – twice? That is fine when you need to make something happen, but we were up 3 scores. He didn’t get back to the 20 either time and a lesser man would have dropped the ball, three teeth, and his jock on the second return. No place in Tressel-Ball.

7. Jamo

That’s twice. No place in Tressel-Ball.

8. Offensive Effectiveness- Making Distinctions

I was among those upset with the effectiveness of the O last week – and I don’t apologize. The SDSU game was an example of an ineffective O – pure and simple. They could not move the ball consistently against a very week offense. It is a problem we have seen often in the past several seasons.

Today we had some frustration in the Red Zone (will we ever see Schnitker carry the ball again?). We had at least SIX fumbles overall. But we consistently moved the ball (which with six fumbles is even more impressive). We had some individual mistakes, but that is a completely different problem than not being able to move the ball. Thirteen of eighteen on 3rd down conversions as impressive to me as our total offense numbers.

We knew we had receivers. Now we know we have an OL and a running back. Damn do we have a running back. Mo Wells did a nice job of making Pittman look even better than his 171 yards would indicate, but despite Iowa’s weak DL they have some good LBs and that is where a lot of his yards came from. This is going to be a very, very good football team.

There was a lot of hate and discontent in the stands starting around the 12 minute mark when JT began running out the clock. With a lead and a D that is what JT does. THAT is Tressel-Ball. It was intentional and effective. Very different from being unable to move the ball when you need to.

In retrospect we can look at four offensive performances this year. Two were exceptional. One was against an exceptional D. One we can now write off to a post-Texas let down, Smith shaking off the rust, the planets being out of alignment, or whatever you want to call it.

9. Total Offense

My favorite part of the scoreboard in the Shoe is the total offense stats in the North end. After Iowa’s first two possessions it showed them with 25 total yards. After their first four it dropped to 22. After five possessions it was 11. At the half it was 13.

That is freakin’ Defense. These guys are good. Scary good.

[Taosman]

This "D" is freaking good! And will get better with Mike D and Freeman coming back shortly!

[Buckeye86]

Originally Posted by Oh8ch

I was particularly impressed to see Greenway celebrating after one particularly stellar tackle – with his team down 24-0. (Does anybody else think that players on either O or D ought to maintain a low profile when the scoreboard shows they are getting their asses kicked?)

The very next play we busted a decent run and Mangold knocked Greenway flat on his ass, I thought it was poetic justice for him being a bastard the play before.

[merbele]

"2. AA Linebackers

Looks like the boys from Iowa City showed us up. Greenway and Hodge had 23 tackles between them while Hawk and Carpenter could only muster 13. Nit-pickers will argue that OSU ran 24 more plays and gave them more opps. Others will suggest that Linebackers should shoulder some of the blame for a 323 yard difference in rushing yards. But we all know where the Butkus Award should go."

If you look at the Box Score, OSU had 60 rushes versus 18 for Iowa. That would explain the difference in the number of tackles between LB corps... Greenway and Hodge did not impress today, but Hawk Carp and Schlegel are studs

[daddyphatsacs]

Greenway and Hodge's disappearance this year pretty much demonstrates that a good defensive line makes good linebackers great.........and it makes great linebackers spectacular.

[scarletngrey11]

I understand all the talk about our amazing linebackers. But dont forget about Kudla! He had a monster game today and is having a huge year this far!

Nate Salley also played a great game.

[illinoisbuckeye]

Originally Posted by scarletngrey77

I understand all the talk about our amazing linebackers. But dont forget about Kudla! He had a monster game today and is having a huge year this far!

Nate Salley also played a great game.

Salley got lucky on one play where he grabbed a guys shoulder pad but it was a no call. He had some great hits today, forcing dropped balls, and should have had a pick had jenkins not got a holding and pass interference call on teh same play

[scarletngrey11]

I know we won, but christ almighty, Kudla and Carpenter were getting raped when they were playing defensive end today. Almost every single damn play they were being held and it was really obvious, Ive never seen more jersey pulls in my life!

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

Nicely done, as usual, Oh8ch.

[OSU_Buckguy]

Originally Posted by Oh8ch

2. AA Linebackers

Looks like the boys from Iowa City showed us up. Greenway and Hodge had 23 tackles between them while Hawk and Carpenter could only muster 13. Nit-pickers will argue that OSU ran 24 more plays and gave them more opps. Others will suggest that Linebackers should shoulder some of the blame for a 323 yard difference in rushing yards. But we all know where the Butkus Award should go.

what is also misleading in regard to the differences in stats is that iowa's defensive line is very inexperienced and, therefore, porous. iowa's linebackers are naturally going to be getting more tackles. who got more tackles today? greenway and hodge. who played better? hawk, carpenter, and schlegel.

though this stat doesn't exist, i'd love to find out the net yardage of greenway and hodge's tackles in comparison to hawk, carpenter, and schlegel's. what i mean is: if greenway had one tackle after a 5-yard gain and hodge had one for a 1-yard loss, the net yardage allowed was 4 yards. there was obviously a marked difference in the net yardages allowed between the two linebacking corps.

[Oh8ch]

i'd love to find out the net yardage of greenway and hodge's tackles in comparison to hawk, carpenter, and schlegel's.

If you are feeling really ambitious you can figure that out. The official site box score has a play by play that includes who made the tackle on each play.

http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/...pdf/092405.pdf

[Def]

Originally Posted by Oh8ch

There was a lot of hate and discontent in the stands starting around the 12 minute mark when JT began running out the clock. With a lead and a D that is what JT does. THAT is Tressel-Ball. It was intentional and effective. Very different from being unable to move the ball when you need to.

Amen. Props to coaching staff and players for getting it together (mostly, work on those turnovers!) and doing what we all knew they could. I look forward to seeing the continued improvements. I know I was critical, but I always said Tressel is great coach and smart man. Smart coaches fix problems and adapt and improve. Great win Bucks!

[alpo632]

1. I was very impressed with the sustained drives today. It has become too frequent that we drive the ball 40-60 yards, then stall and "settle" for a field goal. It was great to see the first drive end with a touchdown on a 3rd-and-8. Without looking at the drive length stats, I seem to think we didn't have any short-field drives. Rather, we had to go the full length of the field each time.

2. Great, great defensive pressure. Guys knocking heads, getting after the quarterback, good tackling....all these helped keep the pressure on. I think the defensive statement of the day came after Schnittker lost the fumble and Iowa returned it to our side of the field. Two sacks sandwiched around a stuffed run pushed them back about 20 yards. The score was still low and Iowa could have used that as a great momentum change. Instead, we got the ball back quickly and pushed it right back down the field (lost another fumble deep).

3. The fumbles are a concern. Unfortunately, the two deep ones cost us 14 points, considering the way we were able to move the ball. Fortunately they didn't cost us points for Iowa as they were unable to capitalize. The coaches will have to figure out how to get the guys to protect the ball better, especially down deep when the defense gets extra protective of their end zones and will do anything to strip a ball carrier.

Wish we didn't have a bye week. I'm ready to see what we do on the road in Happy Valley.

[tsteele316]

Originally Posted by scarletngrey77

I know we won, but christ almighty, Kudla and Carpenter were getting raped when they were playing defensive end today. Almost every single damn play they were being held and it was really obvious, Ive never seen more jersey pulls in my life!

lawrence wilson was the victim of one of the worst holds i've seen occur in front of an officials face and it never got called.

i believe it was on a screen pass and the OL let him get too much penetration and just grabbed him. The OL pulled his jersey down so hard that his entire right shoulder pad came out and that ref was staring right at it.

[scarletngrey11]

Our defensive ends were held almost every play, all I could see was jersey tugging by the offensive line, thats the only thing the Iowa offense could do right though...