brian ferentz

UFR GLOSSARY is here.

FORMATION NOTES: Iowa spent most of the game in 12 personnel. They often went with an empty look with a TE and two WRs bunched outside that I called it Empty 3x2 Bunch.

The other weird formation from Empty had a pair of tight ends stacked a few yards wide of the box. They ran this a lot when they were in comeback mode late. I called it Empty Demi TEs.

They also had this heavy formation with a guy halfway between FB and TE than I called I-Heavy H.

Also I've shortened "Trips 2TE Bunch" to TTEB.

SUBSTITUTION NOTES: Line favored the starters—Moore, Stewart, Goode, and Benny got the same number of drives but between 9 and a dozen fewer snaps. Starting LBs got 80% of the snaps with Rolder sitting out again to preserve his redshirt. Safety was split like the DL. Cornerback was interesting with Johnson out; Sainristil played about 60% of the time outside, with McBurrows at nickel. Sainristil went back to nickel when they stole a drive here or there for Amorion Walker, DJ Waller, and Keshaun Harris, who appeared in that order, though Walker was the only one in when it was still 10-0. McBurrows took a few turns outside as well. Paige got to play some nickel in three-safety sets, as Iowa spent most of the night with two tight ends on the field.

VIDEO NOTES: The Fox harassment continues. After YouTube allowed copyright trolls to strike two videos in three I moved to Streamable. I know some people can't access the latter at work but YouTube's policy of allowing these trolls to claim anything for any reason then wait 7 days to even read the long appeal letter I have to write for each one is untenable. I'm frustrated too. Streamable's policy of removing videos if you ever stop paying for your account, and limiting labels, make them a bad fit for this going forward. Vimeo's cost isn't reasonable—they're more for longform videos than clips. I'm out of ideas.

[After THE JUMP: Brian Ferentz makes it easy.]

For the third straight year, we get B1G Championship Game Fee Fi Foe Film! For the second time in three years, that FFFF will be breaking down Iowa. Each year that I've analyzed Iowa tape, it seemed like we said "this is as bad as a P5 offense on a respectable team can get" and each year it's somehow gotten worse, even as the team's record is unchanged. Iowa is 10-2 and B1G West Champions this season, yet possess the 124th-ranked offense in SP+. Every narrative about them is 100% true, so get ready to cover your eyes: 

The Film: The best defense Iowa faced was PSU, but that game was back in September before all the injuries befell Iowa's offense. Given the current conditions of the unit, I had to pick a recent opponent and it was rather convenient that the B1G West defense I like the most outside of Iowa is Nebraska, who happened to play the Hawkeyes last week. So I'm rolling with the Nebraska-Iowa game, which my Nebraska football expert Daniel Thompson dubbed "the greatest football game ever played". At the very least, the most B1G West football game ever played. 

Personnel: Click for big. 

Hope for Iowa this offseason hinged on the talent infusion they were getting on offense via your MICHIGAN WOLVERINES. Namely Cade McNamara at QB and Erick All at TE, who was poised to replace last year's star pass-catcher Sam LaPorta. Unfortunately for Iowa, both of those players are out for the season. Quarterbacking duties have instead fallen to Deacon Hill, a one-time 3.5* 2021 recruit of Wisconsin who transferred to Iowa back in January. I'm not sure if Hill is as bad as Spencer Petras, but he's firmly in the Spencer Petras Zone. Sub-50% completion speaks for itself, but he is far from the only problem on this offense and is not helped by the other disasters around him. 

The RB position has been missing a Dude since the likes of Akrum Wadley and Tyler Goodson departed the backfield, which remains true for this season. Leshon Williams and Kaleb Johnson get the lion's share of carries and they're mostly fine. Not good, not bad, just fine. They get what the offensive line and the scheme give them, which isn't much. They have both ripped off a few explosives this year, but on a down-to-down basis, this running game isn't terribly effective. Jaziun Patterson is the third back and I have few notes on him... he played only one snap against Nebraska. For what it's worth PFF likes him less than Williams or Johnson. As always, Iowa does have a fullback and this year's FB is the spectacularly named Hayden Large, a walk-on transfer from "Dordt University" in Sioux Center, Iowa. 

Brian Ferentz's general ineptitude gets most of the attention, but more focus should be given to the horrendous state of the Iowa wide receivers. They are arguably as big of a problem to this offense as Ferentz, incapable of getting open or catching the ball. Nico Ragaini is by far their most used receiver this season- he has a 54.9 PFF grade and I charted him for two drops against Nebraska. Kaleb Brown, a transfer from Ohio State, has become their second-most used WR in recent weeks. He's probably an upgrade over the other options like Seth Anderson and the banged up Diante Vines (not sure on his status for Saturday), but all of these guys suck. There's a reason that Erick All is still Iowa's most productive receiver a month-and-a-half after his injury. 

The other reason that All is still the most productive receiver is the injury to the equally talented TE Luke Lachey, the one good returning player off last year's Iowa offense. With both All and Lachey down for the count, Iowa has had to dip further into its endless bag of tight ends to pull out a host of names you've hopefully never heard of. The new TE1 is Addison Ostrenga, who plays nearly every snap. He's okay. The geriatric one-time Lafayette transfer Steven Stilianos is now TE2, who is probably a little worse than Ostrenga but neither guy is anything special. Those two players avoid the cyan, but TE3 and TE4 aren't so lucky, Johnny Pascuzzi and Zach Ortwerth. Those two players being weak links is not surprising when you remember the injuries to the positional group- Pascuzzi and Ortwerth started the season as TE5 and 6 on the depth chart (Ortwerth is a true freshman). If Iowa didn't make 3 TE sets a cog of their offense, you wouldn't see these players on the field. 

The decline of Iowa's offensive line has been an oft-underlooked part of the multi-year offensive calamity in Iowa City, but I actually came away more impressed with the Iowa OL than I expected to be. Consider that a statement about my extremely low expectations than anything else, as this unit is still an issue. The left side is particularly weak, LT Mason Richman (who wasn't cyan'd last year, but was in 2021) and LG Rusty Feth both getting the cyan. Injuries are a story at this positional group as well, with G Beau Stephens and C Nolan Jones injured. I haven't heard much on Stephens and Jones' status at this time. Neither are star players, with Jones likely not much different than C Tyler Elsbury, who has been starting in his place. Elsbury avoids the cyan despite being given the business against Nebraska by NT Nash Hutmacher. Hutmacher is a great player and Elsbury's PFF scores indicate that was a relative outlier, so I kept it off him. 

The right side of the line consists of RG Connor Colby and RT Gennings Dunker (we've got quite a few great names in this piece). Colby is a multi-year starter and is probably the best player on this line, while Dunker isn't bad himself. Dunker got banged up against the Huskers but it sounds like he'll be good to go on Saturday. In his place was Nick DeJong, a player I've charted for three seasons now and he's been a subpar performer every season. Iowa is much better off with Dunker at RT than DeJong. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: welp]

Last week I looked at changes in the rosters in the B1G East so far in the offseason. Today we will do the same for the B1G West. The NFL Draft declaration date has come and gone, so we have some more clarity, though transfers are still in the process of deciding. As I said with the East piece, my plan is to come back through in a couple months and take a look at how the dust settled on these respective rosters. 

Purdue

EXITS

The Boilermakers have had a busy offseason, with their most notable exit being coach Jeff Brohm. With a new regime in, you'd expect quite a bit of turnover and there's plenty of it. Graduation/the NFL has taken all three of their stars in the passing game, QB Aidan O'Connell, WR Charlie Jones, and TE Payne Durham, as well as a huge chunk of their pass defense, starting corners Cory Trice and Reese Taylor, as well as HSP Jalen Graham and LB Kieren Douglas. They will be returning most of the OL and lead back Devin Mockobee, but that's a lot of experience and production to make up, before we even get into the portal subtractions.

To the portal the Boilermakers lost Spencer Holstege, a starting G for this year's team, as well as three useful pieces on the defensive line, Lawrence Johnson and Branson Deen, who were starter-ish rotation pieces at defensive tackle, and starting DE Jack Sullivan. All four of those players opted to pack their bags for warmer weather, with Deen opting to head to Miami, Johnson to Auburn, Holstege to UCLA, and Sullivan to rival USC. Reserve RB Kobe Lewis bailed for FAU as well, and then an assortment of bench names I am not familiar with are in the portal as well. It's going to be a pretty different Purdue team that shows up in Ann Arbor to play the Wolverines in the fall than the one we saw in Indianapolis a month ago. 

ACQUISITIONS

Well we can start with the new HC Ryan Walters, who is replacing Brohm. Walters, who turns 37 tomorrow, is considered a top young mind in coaching circles after presiding over elite defenses back-to-back seasons at Illinois, where he had minimal talent to work with. Seemed like a smart hire to me and he's reshuffled the coaching staff, bringing new DC Kevin Kane with him from Illinois (he was the associate head coach and OLB coach) and hiring new OC Graham Harrell, of Texas Tech QB fame from the late 2000s, away from West Virginia. Kane will help him rebuild the Purdue defense, while Harrell will ensure continuity with Brohm's Air Raid scheme. All three of these coaches are under the age of 40, so this is an exceptionally youthful staff. 

The biggest question for the Boilermakers with Aidan O'Connell leaving is what will happen at QB. Their big add out of the portal was QB Hudson Card from Texas, a high 4* prospect in the 2020 class who got passed over for Quinn Ewers in Austin, but played some when Ewers was injured this past season and did fine. Card seems to be the favorite to start, though Purdue managed to keep Brady Allen, their Class of 2022 QB who was a solid 4* himself, in the fold. Allen originally had his name in the portal, but pulled it out to return to Purdue, suggesting there will be a legitimate QB competition here. 

Elsewhere Purdue has added a few supplemental pieces, Isaiah Nichols (DT) and Anthony Brown (S) from Arkansas, the former being a middling rotational piece on the DL, while the latter got a redshirt as a true freshman this past season. They also got interior OL Jalen Grant, a two year starter at Bowling Green, to jump on board. None of these strike as particularly high impact additions, and I would expect them to add some more as the next few months roll along and the new staff gets their feet under them properly. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: more or less chaos]