 Marc MorehouseHi, I'm Marc Morehouse. I've covered sports for more than 15 years, mostly in Eastern Iowa. I've had Hayden Fry [...] |
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Stat Pak: CMU works the 2-minute magic
A dejected Iowa fan watches the closing moments of the Hawkeyes' loss to Central Michigan during the second half of their game at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2012, in Iowa City, Iowa. Central Michigan won, 32-31. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette-KCRG)
FIVE SENTENCES ON CENTRAL MICHIGAN RESULT
1) I’m not going to tell you how to act or post or however you want to vent your frustrations, but please try to remember that these are people who work hard and care and have this stuff eat at their heart much longer than we can ever imagine and not faceless commodities.
2) That said, the accountability train begins with Kirk Ferentz, he’d be the first one to tell you that and he said yesterday the big picture (winning, the opponent) sometimes goes out of focus when the little picture (improvement) rings out so loudly. “The other part of the equation is we’ve been — and you can see why now — really focused on our improvement. I thought we took a real positive step a week ago. I thought we really improved as a team and then today, that wasn’t the case. It’s going to be like that all season. We’re focused on trying to get ready for an opponent, but also trying to get better as a team.”
3) The passing game is a minus, it’s starting to hold Iowa back and the cavalry isn’t coming.
4) Special teams are a nightmare, and a change in philosophy is needed.
5) Is this team over-coached? (Was there was too much thinking for the hands team yesterday and not enough reaction? Structure is structure and it’s probably more obvious — and the screams would be much louder — if it wasn’t there.)
THREE PLAYERS WHO PLAYED
1) RB Mark Weisman — He had 217 yards and three TDs. He runs with terrific technique, delivering the blow and giving defenders a shoulder pad sandwich. His 5-yard TD run was a picture of why the players train the way they do in the weightroom. Running back is not a problem.
2) LB James Morris — Showed a lot of toughness coming back into the game after leaving with a lower-back injury. He finished with 12 tackles, half sack and a QB hurry.
3) K Mike Meyer — Yes, he set Iowa’s record with 63 straight made PATs. Anytime you erase Nate Kaeding from the record books, it’s a big deal. But he also knocked that 46-yarder, into a wind that gusted as high as 25 mph, and made an indecisive coaching staff, with the regular offense going in and then off the field after a timeout, look like it knew what it wanted to do all along. Meyer went in cold on that kick and drilled it. He also has 10 touchbacks this season after just four in 2011.
TIGHTENING
1) Special teams units — Iowa lost 22 yards on its lateral play that ended the game, but take that out, and Iowa still averaged just 15.6 yards on six kick returns. In three of four games, the Hawkeyes have averaged teens in kick return yardage and are 110th nationally with 16.79 yards a return. Iowa averaged minus-1 yard on two punt returns. The onside kick.
2) QB James Vandenberg — He didn’t seem to be the same player after he missed a wide-open Kevonte Martin-Manley for what would’ve been an easy TD in the first half. Too many doors are shutting in pre-snap read.
3) Bend, don’t break — The offense, as much as anything else, will dictate that the defense has to blitz more. The offense will need more time to do something, anything. The defense needs to get off the field. Yesterday was a brilliant exercise in “bend, don’t break,” but Iowa will face better QBs and, if it doesn’t find a way to pressure, it will find itself in a lot of track meets this offense isn’t ready to run.
TWO PLAYS
1) Onside kick — Iowa TE C.J. Fiedorowicz lined up on the 50, 20 yards off the kick, which has to go 10 yards for CMU to legally recover. CMU WR Jesse Kroll went untouched when jumped on it at the CMU 42. This seems like a lot of moving parts for the hands team, which has the main directive of recovering the ball. Fiedorowicz fell away from the ball, positioning himself to go where it was headed. Technique, alignment, it all seems too passive, allowing an aggressive, little-used WR to steal the game.
2) Personal fouls — Iowa had four with three leading to CMU field goals, including the game-winner. These penalties ranged from all over different times of the game to all age groups of the roster. They are selfish penalties, at their core. They also force you to question if the players are listening to the coaches.
NEXT — MINNESOTA (4-0)
– Minnesota QB MarQueis Gray (ankle sprain) is likely out for Saturday’s game against the Hawkeyes (11 a.m. on ESPN2). “I don’t anticipate him playing next week. It would be a minor miracle if he was ready to play,” Gophers coach Jerry Kill said Saturday. “I can’t control the healing process, but right now, I’m not real optimistic (about) how quick that’s going to come along.”
Sophomore Max Shortell will get his second start. He led the Gophers to a 17-10 victory over Syracuse, passing for 231 yards with no interceptions.
– The Minnesota equipment crew tweeted a picture of the T-shirt the Gophers will wear in the weightroom and during the walk through at Kinnick Stadium this week.
BOX SCORE
SEASON STATS
WHAT KIRK FERENTZ SAID
CLOSER LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
Closing the deal (Red zone TDs/possessions)
Iowa 3-3
CMU 2-5
Iowa’s D has allowed just five TDs in 17 red zone entries. Still, 7 plays, 64 yards, 1:33. That’s all it took for the Chips to score on their penultimate possession, capped by the 13-yard TD to Titus Davis. Numbers are nice, but Iowa needed clutch in the final minutes. After having played little in the first two games, Weisman now has six TDs in the last two games. It’s the best stretch of TDs for an Iowa back since Shonn Greene went for five twice in 2008.
Setting the tone (defensive three-and-outs)
Iowa 3 — This won’t do it. In the first half, when CMU took a 23-14 lead, the Chips went TD, FG, punt, TD, FG, FG. Iowa couldn’t get off the field in the first half and so it couldn’t stop the bleeding.
CMU 3 — A fumble and halftime accounted for two of these.
After adjustments (second-half yards and avg. yards per play)
Iowa 202-7.49
CMU 177-5.36
Fantastic number for Iowa considering the fact that it threw just nine times in the second half. Five possessions stunted this effort. That was the fewest number of second-half possessions Iowa has had this year. The stolen possession on the onside kick was a killer. CMU’s number is all the more impressive when you consider it ran just 14 times for 49 yards in the second.
Game-changers (offensive plays of 20-plus yards)
Iowa 6 — Iowa’s first play of the game was a 38-yard completion from Vandenberg to Keenan Davis. They even sustained that explosiveness, but only because running back Mark Weisman had rushes of 34, 24 and 32 (he also had a pair of 18-yard runs).
CMU 4 — Three passes and one run, which dug the Chips out of a hole on a first down from their half-yard line.
Two-minute magic (points, final two minutes of half)
Iowa 0 — Weisman scored on a 12-yard run with 2:18 left. And then everyone went home.
CMU 16 — CMU got a field goals with 2:00 and 12 seconds left before halftime, and then you saw the end of the game, a TD with 45 seconds left and the game-winning 47-yard FG with three left. If this were a national stat, the Chips would’ve lapped the field this week. Incredible clutch.
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Marc, it’s the constant pattern that is so distressing. Anybody can make a mistake, but how hard is it to fall on an onside kick? Iowa has lost 3 games, just in the last couple years, to far inferior teams simply because it couldn’t do that. There is NO excuse, period. And that’s not to mention Wisconsin’s infamous fake punt and all the clock mismanagement over the years. It happens over and over and over. It is not acceptable. I know some people don’t like others mentioning that Ferentz makes about $4 million a year, but he does. It’s a fact. It’s public information. You realize how much that is? At $50,000 a year, it would take 80 years to make $4 million. That’s what Iowa’s head coach makes in one year.
Not many Iowa fans expect the Hawkeyes to win every game. But what they do have a right to expect, especially for the kind of money involved, is that Iowa plays smart. You don’t have to be quick, or fast, or big or athletic to play smart — to fall on an onside kick, to be aware of a possible fake punt, to use timeouts wisely and run an intelligent 2-minute offense.
Old Bill Snyder’s teams at K-State don’t make these mental mistakes. While Iowa was being embarrassed by CMU, Snyder and his K-State kids where whipping Oklahoma down in Norman, a battle of top 20 teams.
Iowa’s coach seems oblivious to everything. If his demeanor is really what we want, I suggest those fans who bother to show up at Kinnick the rest of the year adopt the head coach’s approach. No matter what happens, good, bad or indifferent, remain stoic.
Chew some game, but don’t show any emotion. After all, this is just college football, not a corporate board meeting. A nice, quiet, unemotional stadium would be a fine thing. Then, win or lose, fans won’t have embarrassed themselves with outward displays of emotion. (Are we sure Kirk Ferentz isn’t a stage name for Leonard Nimoy?)
“Iowa has lost 3 games, just in the last couple years, to far inferior teams simply because it couldn’t do that.”
Am I crazy, or isn’t the point of a game to settle it on the field?
They weren’t “inferior” teams than Iowa. They were BETTER. That’s why they WON — they scored more points over the course of 60 minutes than did Iowa. Why is this a hard concept to understand?
Since 2005, Iowa is a slightly above average team that averages 6-8 wins a year, with one statistical outlier (2009).
7-5, 6-7, 6-6, 9-4, 11-2, 8-5, 7-6, 2-2.
Who are you guys to call anyone “inferior”? Have you watched your team this season?
So, what you’re saying is Minnesota in ’10, ’11 and CMU ’12, are overall better teams than Iowa? Gotcha.
The point is without that special teams blunder, Iowa wins those games, period. The same consistent misque, year after year.
I don’t think anyone is conferring that Iowa played a good game and all credit goes to CMU. However, it’s asinine to surmise that CMU is overall the better ball club and SHOULD or even can beat Iowa consistently. I believe that’s his point with regards to the “inferior” argument.
And ISU has been such a juggernaut since 2005? Have you watched your team the past 7 seasons?
7-5, 4-8, 3-9, 2-10, 7-6, 5-7, 6-7. (34-52)
5 losing seasons, fact. So, because ISU beat Okie St. last year, they are the better team? I can’t deny on that day, Yes, they were, but as an overall team? Really.
Maybe it’s a difference of us determining teams based on overall versus one game, but you can’t objectively rate a team based on one game for the “inferiority” argument. It’s college football and stuff happens i.e Michigan and Appalachian St. Should Michigan not feel that App St. is a team that should be able to beat them?
I get a kick out of those who claim KF isn’t getting paid nearly $4,000,000 per just to win football games; “it’s deeper than that.” Sure he’s contrite in defeat and will always praise the victors no matter how many ribbons and bows he gift wrapped their win with. He’ll never pull a Dantonio or Kiffin mind you! Trouble is, just his price tag leads his own fans to believe. We can find a nice guy loser for far less $$ and we won’t have to get our hopes up every summer believing our top 6 salary guy is actually going to earn it like he did from ’99 to ’04, and come out and shock us with a 4-0 start like NW or the cupcakebilly up in MN. Oh wait, those teams have far better talent, facilities and assets, don’t they.
I agree, Jerry. Isn’t a college football coaches primary objective to, I don’t know, win college football games?
Kirk is a stand up guy and a great representative for the University, no question. He cranks out NFL talent at obscene levels and runs a top notch program. However, what this equation is missing is simply translation to results.
I feel Iowa fans are generally realistic and pretty anti-Nebraska in terms of honest expectation. I mean, we don’t expect to recruit a roster of all 4-5 star talent, win the league every year or make a BCS bowl every season. I feel though, the fan base is getting really disheartened by these losses to the CMU’s, Western Michigan’s, Minnesota’s etc. I know upsets happen, it’s college football, but this continued trend of losing to far inferior opponent’s is becoming old hat.
I’m sick of letting bad teams hang around and playing to the level of our competition. Oh, great we pull off an upset of Michigan or MSU or whatever, than we bleep the bed against 3 bad opponents. Play to win Kirk, not play to compete and have “close losses.” I’m sick of hearing how Iowa always plays teams close and we’re never blown out, but at the end of the day a loss is a losss, no matter if it’s by 3 points or 3 touchdowns.
“I feel Iowa fans are generally realistic”
John, thank you for the biggest laughs of my Monday so far. My stomach hurts now.
Adam, thank you for the Monday troll. Hence, the reason “generally” was included, since any fan base has ridiculous people that skew the perception of the fan base as a whole. I’m not talking about Hawkeye Nation message board gents who are beyond ridiculous, but level headed and realistic Iowa fans.
I’m saying Iowa should be an 8-4 type ball club year in and year out, with the occasional big season. Losing to MAC squads for example, should not be tolerated, period.
I went to Madison for the Wisconsin v. Nebraska game last year and good grief, the amount of hubris and ego that was being thrown around was unreal and nauseating.
PS I often root for UNI, Iowa State, etc, because at the end of the day we’re all Iowans.
I am guessing that is one very large pain, Adam.
Tums should help.
JVB is Iowa’s Stephen Garcia, without the off field issues. I think he’s a good dude, but would it hurt to atleast get Rudock some snaps? I’m not trying to come off as that “sky is falling” poster, but I wonder what we have to lose at this juncture? I think I saw somewhere that JVB’s QB rating is worse than Christensen’s last season? If that stat is true, that’s quite atrocious.
NEGATIVES:
- Marc, what’s your thoughts on Hyde/Lowery? They have looked sub-par to me so far. Hyde’s tackling looks no bueno and ever since the NIU game, Lowery has been pretty shaky, nagging injury? confidence?
- Play calling/routes/JVB checkdowns? – I think we threw approximately 37, 2 yard out routes, which is a difficult, dangerous throw with nearly zero benefit? And in general, watching Iowa’s pass offense the last couple years, it looks like a near miracle to complete passes and move the offense, seriously, a miracle. If anyone watched to ULM – Baylor game, ULM had 2 QB’s passing effortlessly. I guarantee Baylor has a better secondary that CMU and JVB is a supposedly better QB than those guys. Schematic flaw? Even under KOK.
POSITIVES:
- The Weismanzi continues to impress. I think an honest to goodness upgrade from Coker. Runs low and is decisive w/ deceptive burst.
- Mike Meyer could be something special. Everyone forgets Nate Kaeding always wasn’t stellar, especially early in his career.
- Fran McCaffery picking up Peter Jok. Just Fran in general, when does basketball season start again?
- I consumed nothing but O’so Hopdinger, The Big O, and Night Train; this made the game watchable. Big shout out to Plover, WI.