Intro to the Hawkeyes

[Theiacowtipper]

Peace and greetings from the land of corn. A point to remember, Iowa?s offensive line excels at pass protection, giving up about one sack per game. They were not nearly as good at run blocking, although they did much better at the end of the year.

Iowa?s defense is built to make you drive the length of the field, converting multiple third downs. The key to beating that is patience. Should be a great game. I saw that Iowa is the only unranked team playing in New Years Day.

[Jack Lambert]

Peace and greetings from the land of corn. A point to remember, Iowa?s offensive line excels at pass protection, giving up about one sack per game. They were not nearly as good at run blocking, although they did much better at the end of the year.

Iowa?s defense is built to make you drive the length of the field, converting multiple third downs. The key to beating that is patience. Should be a great game. I saw that Iowa is the only unranked team playing in New Years Day.

State average making three sacks per game. Should be interesting.

[Johnson85]

Other than Gabe Jackson, is there another Mississippi State former player/alumnus who currently plays on the OL for an NFL team? Having watched quite a bit of MSU video from this year, doesn't look like OL is a priority (and with due respect, your first year coach Joe Moorhead needs time to recruit and integrate his guys).

Our previous staff was challenged to say the least, when it came to recruiting OL. This is probably the best OL they put together, and it's probably due largely to assistants added in the last few years.

We've had several OL that have been able to bounce around practice squads, but none of our OL have really excelled at the NFL with the exception of Gabe. Martinas Rankin is a rookie and I think will also stick around.

[Hawkeyegoofball]

Our previous staff was challenged to say the least, when it came to recruiting OL. This is probably the best OL they put together, and it's probably due largely to assistants added in the last few years.

We've had several OL that have been able to bounce around practice squads, but none of our OL have really excelled at the NFL with the exception of Gabe. Martinas Rankin is a rookie and I think will also stick around.

Ugh. Tough to have sustained success without a consistent / solid approach up front on the offensive side of the ball. Granted I?ve only watched 3 MSU games and a few highlights/recaps, but it looks more to be a communication issue than anything else - which puts tremendous pressure on skill players to overcome/out-atlhlete the situation. Tough sledding against better teams.

[LC Dawg]

Question for you Iowa guys.
How stable is your coaching staff? This game seems pretty even and losing a coach or coaches sometimes swing bowl games. See our 2014 Orange Bowl as an example.
Our defensive coordinator's name has come up for a job or two and losing him before the bowl game would hurt us.

[Jack Lambert]

Question for you Iowa guys.
How stable is your coaching staff? This game seems pretty even and losing a coach or coaches sometimes swing bowl games. See our 2014 Orange Bowl as an example.
Our defensive coordinator's name has come up for a job or two and losing him before the bowl game would hurt us.

I was thinking the game seems pretty even so lets start comparing women.

[IowaFan]

Your offense might be balanced , prolific, and even extraordinary . However, Iowa isn't scoring more than 13 points.

The only balance our O has is inept balance.
If Iowa scores 10 offensive points I'll be shocked.
Prepare to see our awful rugby punter punt about 14 times.

You guys should load the box all day long, and we will STILL try and run the ball.
Our "big arm, NFL body" (lolz!!) QB won't be able to hit anybody, either because they won't get open (likely), or Stanley will simply miss (very likely).
Sure, Hockenson will get some catches, but I don't see a whole lot of production on offense.
Pretty cool, our WR Brandon Smith, who is coming along nicely, is from MS. You don't see a kid from MS play in IA every day.

MSU 27 - Iowa 6.

[Jack Lambert]

The only balance our O has is inept balance.
If Iowa scores 10 offensive points I'll be shocked.
Prepare to see our awful rugby punter punt about 14 times.

You guys should load the box all day long, and we will STILL try and run the ball.
Our "big arm, NFL body" (lolz!!) QB won't be able to hit anybody, either because they won't get open (likely), or Stanley will simply miss (very likely).
Sure, Hockenson will get some catches, but I don't see a whole lot of production on offense.
Pretty cool, our WR Brandon Smith, who is coming along nicely, is from MS. You don't see a kid from MS play in IA every day.

MSU 27 - Iowa 6.

You're not a Iowas State Fan are you?

[IowaFan]

You're not a Iowas State Fan are you?

LOL no.
Just been an Iowa fan long enough to know what to expect, not what I hope.

Up until our last Outback Bowl, I was confident Iowa's hit-em-in-the-mouth playing style could perhaps make up for any athletic disadvantage we might have on the field.
Well, that game didn't turn out as expected.

So now, Iowa, with a QB who has stunk since Maryland, and no real weapons outside a great TE, will be facing the best defense they've seen all year.
Yeah.

[Jack Lambert]

LOL no.
Just been an Iowa fan long enough to know what to expect, not what I hope.

Up until our last Outback Bowl, I was confident Iowa's hit-em-in-the-mouth playing style could perhaps make up for any athletic disadvantage we might have on the field.
Well, that game didn't turn out as expected.

So now, Iowa, with a QB who has stunk since Maryland, and no real weapons outside a great TE, will be facing the best defense they've seen all year.
Yeah.

We have many Miss State fans the same way. I was only messing with you.

[IowaFan]

Ha. Yeah I figured.
You all seem like a cool bunch of fans.
Hopefully we get a great game.

[Johnson85]

Ugh. Tough to have sustained success without a consistent / solid approach up front on the offensive side of the ball. Granted I?ve only watched 3 MSU games and a few highlights/recaps, but it looks more to be a communication issue than anything else - which puts tremendous pressure on skill players to overcome/out-atlhlete the situation. Tough sledding against better teams.

That is correct for this year. We are solid on the offensive line talent wise. We had major issues adjusting to the new offense, and then while our OTs are solid and might end up in the NFL (one as a guard), they were not ready to handle really good pass rushers without help, and we basically tried to do that against UK and Florida, and managed to shutdown our offense while giving some draft prospects some great highlight reels to discuss in their interviews with NFL GMs.

[Bully13]

We've been shitting the bed for 10 years in OL Crootin. Our coaches and OL players have over performed for the most part thankfully

[Prediction? Pain.]

Ugh. Tough to have sustained success without a consistent / solid approach up front on the offensive side of the ball. Granted I?ve only watched 3 MSU games and a few highlights/recaps, but it looks more to be a communication issue than anything else - which puts tremendous pressure on skill players to overcome/out-atlhlete the situation. Tough sledding against better teams.

The OL's pass-blocking in Moorhead's first year took a major step back. In 2016 and 2017, our OL excelled at this -- 32nd nationally in sack-rate on passing downs and 11th nationally in sack rate on all other downs in 2016, and 17th and 20th in those categories in 2017. This year . . . yikes: 86th and 119th. Given that we returned essentially our entire line from last year, this squarely falls on the coaches for a poor transition to our current pass scheme. I haven't (and am probably not qualified) to study the tape on this, but I'm guessing the problems have been a combination of all involved -- QB not knowing his reads or making them fast enough, WRs not always getting their routes or timing right, and OL missing assignments. This wasn't a problem in every game against a quality defense -- for instance, though Auburn's D is 15th nationally in sacks, we allowed none on 17 pass attempts -- it was often enough (as even your limited exposure to our team revealed). So yeah, pass blocking will likely once again be something to watch in the bowl game given Iowa's solid pass rush.

I will say, though, that the OL's run-blocking was been mostly solid, just as it was last year. We're 13th nationally in "stuff rate" (preventing runs of zero or less yards) and 2nd nationally in percentage of runs that gain at least 4 yards. (We're also Top 5 nationally in all of the S&P+ system's "line yard" rankings.) Or, if traditional stats are your bag, we're 9th nationally in yards per carry and 14th nationally at preventing TFLs.

[Hawkeyegoofball]

State average making three sacks per game. Should be interesting.

Agree, Jack.

Iowa makes an average of 2.83 sacks a game. Below MSUs average.

Also in terms of sacks allowed - Iowa gives up an average of 1.08 sacks per game (13 total for -79 yards) and MSU averages 2.0 (24 total for -204 yards).

[dawgday166]

The OL's pass-blocking in Moorhead's first year took a major step back. In 2016 and 2017, our OL excelled at this -- 32nd nationally in sack-rate on passing downs and 11th nationally in sack rate on all other downs in 2016, and 17th and 20th in those categories in 2017. This year . . . yikes: 86th and 119th. Given that we returned essentially our entire line from last year, this squarely falls on the coaches for a poor transition to our current pass scheme. I haven't (and am probably not qualified) to study the tape on this, but I'm guessing the problems have been a combination of all involved -- QB not knowing his reads or making them fast enough, WRs not always getting their routes or timing right, and OL missing assignments. This wasn't a problem in every game against a quality defense -- for instance, though Auburn's D is 15th nationally in sacks, we allowed none on 17 pass attempts -- it was often enough (as even your limited exposure to our team revealed). So yeah, pass blocking will likely once again be something to watch in the bowl game given Iowa's solid pass rush.

I will say, though, that the OL's run-blocking was been mostly solid, just as it was last year. We're 13th nationally in "stuff rate" (preventing runs of zero or less yards) and 2nd nationally in percentage of runs that gain at least 4 yards. (We're also Top 5 nationally in all of the S&P+ system's "line yard" rankings.) Or, if traditional stats are your bag, we're 9th nationally in yards per carry and 14th nationally at preventing TFLs.

Pain is the stats man!

[KnightHawk]

So there are lies, damn lies and then statistics, right?

[Gonzo]

Question for you Iowa guys.
How stable is your coaching staff? This game seems pretty even and losing a coach or coaches sometimes swing bowl games. See our 2014 Orange Bowl as an example.
Our defensive coordinator's name has come up for a job or two and losing him before the bowl game would hurt us.

We've had two head coaches since 1979. You basically have to take a crap on the ADs doorstep to be asked to leave as a coach at Iowa, whether it's HC, coordinator or whatever. And we don't have a lot of assistants who are coveted by other programs. Very, very little turnover.

[Bully13]

We've had two head coaches since 1979. You basically have to take a crap on the ADs doorstep to be asked to leave as a coach at Iowa, whether it's HC, coordinator or whatever. And we don't have a lot of assistants who are coveted by other programs. Very, very little turnover.

Impressive.

[Gonzo]

I was thinking the game seems pretty even so lets start comparing women.

"The prettiest girls in the world live in Des Moines."
- Jack Kerouac