The Hawkeyes finally broke the seven game losing streak by beating the mighty Missouri St. something-or-others. Bears? Maybe? Whatever, it counts as a win so let’s just take what we can get. It is nice to know that the coaching staff must have read my last blog post because they cleaned up some of the coaching errors I pointed out last time (if you believe the coaching staff reads my blog please stop reading and go hit yourself in the head with something hard).
A few changes I noticed; the WR bubble screen was largely absent from the playbook (my prayers were answered), they actually stuck with the RB that was on a roll, we didn’t give up a fake punt for a first down and while LB’s were still covering WR’s at times that isn’t as big of a mismatch against an FCS opponent. A few notes about the game.
– The one time I actually recall them throwing the WR screen they attempted it to Damond Powell, unfortunately Powell dropped the pass and of course he didn’t see another pass all day long, wish it worked that way for Don Shumpert.
-While I am in favor of letting a RB get into a rhythm with the offense and Mark Weisman certainly did that, giving him 30 carries in a game against a FCS team is a bit of an overcorrection. Now that the Hawkeyes actually got LeShun Daniels into the game they now have 4 RB’s that should get carries so no one should shoulder the load of 30 carries in a game. When I said they shouldn’t rotate RB’s I meant within a series not within the game. Taking a RB out when he’s on a roll within a series can kill a drive, rotating in multiple RB’s that give you different skills keeps the defense off balance and keeps the RB’s fresh.
-Better job on special teams although the first game didn’t set the bar very high.
-Jake Rudock played well overall with a few notable exceptions. I have to say when Jake makes a bad pass for an interception he makes it a really horrific pass. These are expected growing pains for a QB that hasn’t played in a live game since high school. I like Rudock’s skillset and he has far better wheels than I expected. After the first game one complaint I read over and over was that he never keeps it on the read-option play and he didn’t but he did a better job in the second game and I believe when he gets more comfortable in the offense he will use he’s running skills more.
Here’s my rant.
The Hawkeyes burned the redshirts on two more true freshmen that didn’t see action in the first game. LeShun Daniels was supposed to play in the first game but Ferentz “never found the opportunity” to put him in so against Missouri St. he used him early and Daniels looks the part. Daniels is as big and physical as Weisman but he has more speed, he is the one to watch as the season progresses. The other newcomer in the game was a surprise, WR Matt Vandeberg got in on the action early and made a couple of nice catches on some short gains. I am both excited and mistified by this development. I am all in favor of anything that means Shumpert sees less playing time at WR but I can’t figure out how Vandeberg is the newcomer that made the grade. I don’t mean to disparage Matt Vandeberg in any way, this is kid that has obviously worked hard and proved to the coaches that he is ready to contribute and I love to see that, my issue is with the coaching staff (as it seems to be far too often lately). For those of you that don’t know who Vandeberg is he is a kid out of South Dakota that the Hawkeyes originally offered a grayshirt scholarship to (Point of clarification: a “grayshirt” offer means the kid delays his college enrollment until the second semester and get put on scholarship then which delays his eligibility clock by one year). Vandeberg wasn’t supposed to be on the team this semester and only is because the Hawkeyes had some scholarships open up just before camp so the coaches called Vandeberg and told him he could start in the fall instead of in January. The reason this bothers me is that Vandeberg only joined the team at the beginning of August just like Damond Powell and yet I clearly saw Vandeberg run more than one route in the game. Why is it a high school kid learned the offense faster than an older JUCO transfer kid? That’s a rhetorical question. What I’m saying is Ferentz’s stance that Powell isn’t playing as much because he came in so late is complete BS? Vandeberg came it at the same time as Powell and apparently he’s up to speed enough to play. Maybe Ferentz is covering for Powell, maybe Powell is a slow learner and Ferentz doesn’t want to tell people that but something tells me that’s not the case. I questioned the coaching staff’s ability to assess players last year when they obviously missed that Weisman was a pretty good RB and because they insisted on playing Shumpert, now I question it even more. People say “trust the coaches they see practice every day”, sorry but you want me to trust the coaches that played James Vandenberg every snap last season? No thanks, I think I’ll trust my eyes. I may only get to see an open practice here and there and watch the games they play but my eyes don’t lie. The coaches obviously initially missed on Vandeberg because they brought in 4 other freshmen WR’s and only brought in Vandeberg because they had a scholarship to fill. They don’t get credit for lucking into a kid that is obviously working hard and earning time ahead of the other freshmen. Maybe the coaching staff did read my blog last week and my compliment of Don Shumpert’s blocking convinced them he should still be playing. Let me be clear, unless you plan on making Don Shumpert a very undersized guard he shouldn’t see the field. He is incapable of the skill that literally defines he position, receiving. If the coaches are reading this please play Tevaun Smith, Kevonte Martin-Manley, Damond Powell, Jacob Hillyer, Jordan Cotton, Matt Vandeberg, Riley McCarron, Damon Bullock, Jordan Canzeri, Derrick Willies, Derrick Mitchell, Andre Harris or Blake Haluska at WR before Don Shumpert. Yes I know two of the those guys are RB’s but if we use them at WR then even in a three receiver set that would make Shumpert 5th team. I used to be on the side of “trust the coaches” but I’ve seen far too many things overlooked to still feel that way.
Rant over, now go beat the damn Clowns. Go Hawks.
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