By Jordan Hansen | [email protected]
Iowa did not play well against North Dakota State.
Pretty cut and dry. It was not a good look for the Hawkeyes, who were bad in a number of areas during this game.
With that in mind, here’s something new. Each Monday we’ll break down what went wrong (and right) for Iowa using video. Pretty simple, no?
So without further adieu, let’s dive in.
Not good, offensive line.
This play, early in the first quarter, came on a 3rd and 11 from the Hawkeyes’ own 27. The drive started off well enough as Iowa got a first down, but offensive tackle Cole Croston (No. 64) was called for a false start, pushing them back five yards. Croston’s struggles continued as he completely missed the blitz pickup (which Iowa starting quarterback C.J. Beathard said after the game he had specifically called out) and CJ lets off a wild pass that gets picked off.
7-0 Bison.
This play came much later in the half. The drive started with five minutes remaining in the second quarter and the Hawkeyes led 14-7. Daniels was stopped on first down after a loss of a yard and an incomplete pass to tight end George Kittle, bringing up 3rd and 11 (notice a theme here? The Hawkeyes had a whole bunch of third-and-long plays).
Offensive guard Keegan Render (No. 69) takes the Bison defensive tackle to the left, opening up a huge hole for an unblocked linebacker to hurry Beathard and help cause and incompletion. In fact, the whole left side of the line moves left. As you can see, guard Boone Myers (No. 52) isn’t blocking anyone by the end of play, as the linebacker disengages from him.
On the left side, offensive tackle Ike Boettger (No. 75) and running back LeShun Daniels Jr. (No. 29) are left on an island to the right. Center Lucas LeGrand (No. 70) probably should have been responsible for the blitz pickup.
It’s a really good defensive playcall by North Dakota State and gave the team a couple good chances to score before the half, as they had the advantage of good field position.
In the interest of fairness, it’s important to remember LeGrand and Render are young players with limited experience. Render played his first significant snap of the year against Iowa State last week (coming in for the injured Sean Welsh) and LeGrand is making just his second career start. Both had bad games and the Hawkeyes have to hope Welsh and regular starting center James Daniels makes their return soon.
Not good offensive line (again)
Iowa struggled to run the ball, only gaining 34 yards on the ground during the game and didn’t even manage positive yardage in the fourth quarter (-14).
Why?
The simple answer is again, the offensive line didn’t block well. The tight end on the right side (I believe it’s Peter Pekar) is supposed to block the defensive end while Boettger and LeGrand pull to provide blocking for Daniels Jr.
Pekar (or whomever the tight end was) doesn’t do a good job of down blocking and it takes LeGrand too long to get in front of Daniels. By the time he gets there, the play is basically over. Running to the outside was bad for the Hawkeye as you’ll see again in the video below.
It’s another play where Iowa pulls two offensive linemen (LeGrand and Croston) to block. Tight end George Kittle has his hand in the turf on the left side of the line, but loses his man quickly.
Fullback Brady Ross (No. 36) goes too far outside and can’t get a good block on someone. Everyone gets jumbled up and there’s no room to run the ball. Iowa would eventually score on this drive, but only after a truly incredible catch by Matt VandeBerg.
Speaking of that catch…
This was a dangerous throw by Beathard and very easily could have been picked off. However, Vandeberg makes a great play on the ball (stepping in front of Kittle) and latches on.
North Dakota State threw a blitz at Beathard, which flushed him out of the pocket. There was not a whole lot the Iowa quarterback could have done on that play besides run around and hope someone gets open. That’s exactly what he did.
Touchdown Iowa. 21-14. It was also far from Beathard’s only nice pass of the day.
This was an easy slant route to Riley McCarron on 4th and 3. The Bison didn’t have a safety in very good position and Beathard made them pay.
These kind of throws are what makes NFL scouts really take a look at the Iowa quarterback. He knows how to make good reads and has a quick trigger. His arm strength is also noticeable in this play as well.
One last thing
When Beathard went down in the 3rd quarter, everyone got an early look at backup quarterback Nate Stanley.
On his first play in the game, Iowa called a play-action pass. Gutsy, for a quarterback who had never played significant snaps before. He threw a nice ball to Kittle, which went for a deep gain. Several plays later, Iowa scored on the previously mentioned pass to Vandeberg.
The takeaway?
Iowa struggled a lot, on both sides of the ball — but especially at the offensive line position. Despite the awful second half (North Dakota State rushed for over 200 yards in the final two quarters), Iowa’s inability to set the line of scrimmage when it had the ball was its eventual downfall.
The good news for the Hawkeyes is that the game didn’t hurt their chances in the Big Ten, but it did expose some obvious flaws. Would things have been different if Welsh and James Daniels had played? Absolutely.
But they didn’t, and Iowa found out quickly it’s second-string line still needs some work.
Follow @JordyHansen for Iowa football news, updates and analysis.