Gotta love people perfectly fine with a one-dimentional offense that will get shut down when a good defense shows up on the other side.
Tim Lester
- Thread starter Hawk_4shur
- Start date
No one I'm aware of is "fine" with the passing game suffering, but what's your solution?
Hire some people to the staff that are capable of identifying quality football players at the wide receiver position and then PAY THEM to come play at Iowa. All you need is one really successful season passing the football to change the way recruits look at us on offense. One successful season.
I get it. Saturday's offense looked dialed in, we took some shots downfield and hit on one for a TD. (almost 2) It was great. Still have a long way to go.
The thing is Spread offenses fill the air with footballs.
Any WR worth their salt wants that scenario as opposed to the dysfunctional archaic offense we use.
They ain't dumb.
Tim Lester brings real complimentary football to Iowa. Pass it on!
RVZ has played the last 3 games. He's caught 5 passes for 65 yards.
If Iowa wins out with these same stats, then it’s kinda moot as the staff found a strategy that worked really well (minus the early 2 losses).
If we lose to Oregon, USC, and maybe NE (not as likely as other two)….then we are left with the typical Iowa season where it points to horrid aspect of the offense.
It’s these kind of rankings in the stats department that has kept AP and other pundits from getting too excited about Iowa.
Iowa is known for finding the most insane way to win football games without an offense. But those wins come against Big10 West teams….or down East teams.
Until this formula works on the top teams and then gets success into playoffs, we’ll continue to gain any respect.
again, win out and these numbers don’t have as negative a look
hopefully he's gonna be more involved in the coming weeks.
Need it.
We had some very good receivers thru the KOK coaching era when we threw the ball 20+ yards down the fiedl alot but Davis as OC was known for this short passing game as was Big Brian.
Lester and Grono have several deep passes caught this year and we had some last year with Cade etc so maybe some receivers with speed who want to show off will come here
Hopefully next seasons starting QB can participate in spring practice. Lester hasn't had that yet
Nothing is fixing the Iowa passing game this year. We're halfway through the season and other than some hopeful progress vs a really bad Rutgers defense, it looks to have plateaued at just the bad level. Lester understands this and that's why they've really scaled back the passing game over the last several weeks with minimal passing downfield. The key to Iowa moving the ball is simply relying on movement and misdirection with running backs and MG and the short passing game utilizing Wetjen and bunch formations to block defenders on the edges. RVZ can use his size as a decent blocker on the outside and has also shown that he can use his size to be physical with CB's on one on one matchups like he did on Saturday.
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And speaking of always seeking the big play, just look at the Indiana game, where there was no turtling up at the end.
It was a 13-13 game; 3rd and 5, with 2:06 to go. Tim called a great play; it was a simple throw that Hank Brown should have made. The coaches were playing to win with a play that was perfectly set up and, according to Tim Lester, WOULD HAVE resulted in a TD.
The next play (on 4th & 5), of course, was a 42 yard missed Drew Stevens FG.
Tap or click on image once or twice for a larger view of the play that would have been a TD and a 20-13 IOWA LEAD.
I honesty feel Hecklinski makes that play…
Let's be honest though. If Hecklinski had made that same mistake you'd be saying the same about Brown. The reality is that you or I could have made that play. It was a 5 yard toss with no pressure. Brown just flubbed it, just like we've seen MG flub some really simple throws. It's an Iowa staple.I honesty feel Hecklinski makes that play…
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Because the offense had been horrible, especially the passing game.
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With all the openings in college. I'm afraid we won't be able to keep him.I think we are seeing the TL offense we hoped to see when they hired him. Sure, it's still not a high-powered offense - too many bad passes, too many drops. Not making enough explosive plays in the passing game.
But for as long as I can remember, Iowa fans have been able to predict the next play with a pretty high degree of success. Obviously the opponent could as well.
Not this year. Finally, defenses are starting to look "uncomfortable" playing the Hawks. It's hard to predict what TL is going to run next.
I think the Hawks have themselves are darned good OC.
See the bold:
Oh but they will.
Offensive recruits will still remain aware that we don't have a sexy attack. Guys that want to catch the ball will continue to decide that 15-20 receptions and a touchdown a season is not appealing. Fact.
God we have to find a way to reverse this somehow.......
I think it's a mistake to make the worst offense in Iowa history a relative benchmark for the team going forward. What you're saying really has nothing to to with any of these passing stats with the exception of passing TD'S. The issues with Iowa's passing game aren't necessarily reflected by a lack of yards or passing TD's. The deeper problems are reflected in metrics of efficiency that have nothing to do with throwing the ball all over the place. Iowa is ranked 118th in passer rating and 128th in yards per attempt. As an example of efficiency over production, Navy is ranked 118 in yards per game, throwing for only 170 yards per game, but they are ranked number one in yards per attempt and number 2 in passer rating. They are extremely efficient and effective in passing the ball even though they don't pass it often. They are able to effectively leverage the fact that they are a run first team, making the passing game more efficient. It's really about just being competent in that phase of the game.
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A new HC with a Spread offense.
Red zone percentage might be the most useless statistic in football. It's TD % that reflects how the offense is performing in the red zone. Iowa has a 67% TD success rate this year which is good for 46th nationally, just slightly better than last year when they were 64%. They were next to last in the nation at 40% in 2023.
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I honesty feel Hecklinski makes that play…
yeah, it's too bad Jeremy was not QB2 for the IU game
we might be 7-1 right now....
Correct. Recruits are smart enough to know that Iowa is running what's considered the most "modern" version of the West Coast offense.
If true that Iowa is not attractive to receivers, it's a good thing that receivers aren't that important, especially when built the way Iowa is.
On a side, this season Iowa is also showcasing a lethal offense for running QB's. I'd take dual-threat talent at QB over talent at WR all day long
Iowa is averaging 32 points per game this season.
Iowa has the 3rd-most points in the conference in B1G play, trailing Oregon by 5.
There are still some issues with the passing offense, no doubt, but the results don’t lie. The offense is significantly better. We are not a national laughing stock anymore.
Iowa has the 3rd-most points in the conference in B1G play, trailing Oregon by 5.
There are still some issues with the passing offense, no doubt, but the results don’t lie. The offense is significantly better. We are not a national laughing stock anymore.
Maybe go to decaf. Your heart will thank you.
Still need a true go to receiver like most better teams have; we’re getting closer though
And speaking of always seeking the big play, just look at the Indiana game, where there was no turtling up at the end.
It was a 13-13 game; 3rd and 5, with 2:06 to go. Tim called a great play; it was a simple throw that Hank Brown should have made. The coaches were playing to win with a play that was perfectly set up and, according to Tim Lester, WOULD HAVE resulted in a TD.
The next play (on 4th & 5), of course, was a 42 yard missed Drew Stevens FG.
Tap or click on image once or twice for a larger view of the play that would have been a TD and a 20-13 IOWA LEAD.
You and I might disagree on this (and maybe others) but with a completion I think the Indiana player tackles Moulton short of line to gain if you run that frame a few more seconds. Yes, we had two blockers there and yes MG or Heck makes that throw (checkout the poor footwork by Brown btw). But the defender runs by both but maybe the OL knew the play was dead...either way, good point, we had that damn game and if MG is playing we win and we get some slack to not have to win out to get to CFP. Although in today's athletic Doc has Iowa as 'next five out' in the bracket of 12.
I'm not sure any other Iowa WR makes that catch and adjustment that RVZ did vs. Gophers.
For what its worth, caffeine is what keeps me alive at this stage of the game.
Differing opinions are fine.
I would argue that Tim obviously analyzed the video postgame and then, in his next media availability, said, and I quote, that "it was there. It would've been a touchdown."
How many snaps? He’s been out several weeks with a foot injury, so he probably has needed to work on conditioning along with football practice. I suspect his snap count will be higher in two weeks against Oregon.
If 300 yard passing games are what gives you guys a chubby, I'd suggest a little team down the road called the Cyclones. Why they just threw for 300 yards last week. Plenty of room on their bandwagon still today for some reason, can't quite put my finger on it though...
I don't have his snap count, but he had 3 receptions against Wisconsin in his first game action. That would infer a fair number of snaps and you can only assume they've gone up each game assuming no setbacks. They wouldn't still be limiting his snaps in game 3.
Pretty sure Tim stole this play from Brian Ferentz
That was a brilliant play design.