Iowa Snowflakes: The Offense
October 1st, 2022 at 4:26 PM ^
I agree with you 100% with everything but the “dont put stuff on tape”. I will die on that hill.
1. Put a million things on tape. Good luck practicing to stop these 27 plays!
2. Practice all these plays in game situations so one team is defending it for the first time but your team has perfected it.
But the second half play calling was fine. You dont gift a win but you do put ill informed Michigan fans in a bad mood. The win kids. Thats all that matters on the road at Iowa.
October 1st, 2022 at 5:58 PM ^
Not putting on tape also has a downside that they don't get to fine tune things.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:18 PM ^
Lots of potential
October 1st, 2022 at 3:19 PM ^
Name a fucking offensive coordinator. Stop with those co shit
October 1st, 2022 at 3:21 PM ^
Yeah. Iowa has one OC and that works much better or something.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:51 PM ^
My only complaint is the dialogue between snaps seems to lead to a lack of time for the O to get ready. That drives me nuts. If they can stay organized and get plays called and in, it’s fine.
October 1st, 2022 at 4:07 PM ^
It’s generally not an issue, though. Michigan is almost always ready at the line with tons of time on the clock, sometimes in hurry-up looks. They had two instances where that didn’t occur, but it’s not like snapping the ball on time was a persistent struggle.
I’ve seen no evidence that Michigan is struggling through a play calling process where plays are getting to JJ late because the OCs are talking about individual play calls. As far as I can tell there is no such dialogue on a down-to-down basis.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:57 PM ^
What? So since Iowa sucks that means 2co offensive coordinator work? Dumb
October 1st, 2022 at 4:12 PM ^
They don’t suck on defense
October 2nd, 2022 at 5:11 AM ^
I agree with your point, but offer a small clarification.
Iowa has a guy who carries the title of Offensive Coordinator. I'm not sure he really is one.
I'm also not sure that anybody who isn't his dad would hire him to be one.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:23 PM ^
At what point did the gameplan seem disjointed...there is not one. You can say we went too conservative in the 2nd half but it wasn't like we were seeing some Frankenstein's monster of a game plan. We just played against an opponent that we knew 20 was more than enough to win.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:35 PM ^
And we tend to forget that when a play doesn't work it wasn't always the wrong call. Execution, the other team. . . there's a lot going on.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:59 PM ^
Don't complain in Columbus then
October 1st, 2022 at 4:22 PM ^
Don't celebrate in Columbus then.
October 1st, 2022 at 8:24 PM ^
We'll leave "complaining in Columbus" to you. I think you'll have plenty of practice by then.
October 2nd, 2022 at 1:54 AM ^
At least can I complain if they poop in my cooler?
October 2nd, 2022 at 8:26 AM ^
Can you really though? I mean one simply does not go near Columbus with a cooler unless they are looking for poop, right?
October 1st, 2022 at 4:28 PM ^
The offensive coordinators won the game at 20-0. Whatever fun plays you hoped to see beyond that are on you.
October 1st, 2022 at 4:46 PM ^
I don't have a problem with co-OCs, but it would be better would with one playcaller. Unfortunately, with JH also certainly being involved in play calling, that's not gonna happen.
That said, this was a coherently called game. It was always going to be conservatively called, but through that lens, it was called well. Your comment is off-base -- for this game anyway.
The Maryland game has disjointed play-calling and your beef is valid for that one.
October 2nd, 2022 at 8:30 AM ^
Stop listening to Joel Klatt, he is decent but he doesn't know more than Harbaugh. Plenty of teams are doing co-coordinators, suddenly Michigan doing it is a problem. Yes, Maryland was sloppy. I am guessing the staff did not expect MD to play that soft zone coverage all game.
It turned out to be a good warmup for Iowa anyway
October 1st, 2022 at 3:19 PM ^
The second half playcalling was extremely disrespectful to the Iowa offense.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:20 PM ^
Hit the deep pass and these games aren’t close.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:24 PM ^
And he was screamingly open. I know this because I was screaming profanities when JJ missed him.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:33 PM ^
Don't turtle in the 3rd quarter and it isn't close either. Just saying.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:47 PM ^
Once again, the 3rd and 1 Corum run felt bad but they literally had not stopped him. It seemed an audible would have been wise but also how do you not trust Corum with caveat of Iowa offense. Afterwards there was so little time left why allow Iowa back in.
October 1st, 2022 at 4:49 PM ^
A waggle to Schoon or America's Rollout Out to Bell, either one would have been screamingly wide open there, had those plays been called.
October 1st, 2022 at 8:57 PM ^
Risk/reward.
Play-action is probably a touchdown, Iowa was showing a total commitment to stopping the exact play Michigan was making no secret they were going to run.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:20 PM ^
Jj needs to hit Wilson on that deep shot and end of 1st half he needs to put it back corner of end zone for Wilson to have a chance. 1st half should have been 21-0.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:20 PM ^
Congrats JJ for breaking the 2 decades of futility at Iowa for UM. Good experience. Get your groove on long balls and plow through the rest of the season. Overall, conservative game plan, but we did not let Iowa beat us because we turned over the ball. Glad to be on the winning side of Kinnick record against top 5 team. OL and BC deserve the game ball.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:22 PM ^
Id say that’s more on Corum, the Oline, and the terrible Iowa offense.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:20 PM ^
Looked great until we went up 20. Then the freakish backward pass event, then the calling got way too conservative with the Corum run into a stacked line with a yard to gain.
This was a midterm exam and the team passed with a solid B. Took what they had to, OL paved, JJ was precise and made good reads, great play calls for the first 2.5 quarters.
Missed another deep shot and didn’t try many. But they took what was available and did it pretty efficiently when they needed to build the lead.
An A would have required a bit of a boot to the throat and/or hitting a big play to turn one of those early FG possessions into a TD. But this was a winning performance against an excellent defense.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:20 PM ^
All hail Corum
October 1st, 2022 at 3:47 PM ^
He's so good
October 1st, 2022 at 3:21 PM ^
Iowa adapted, which should account for some of what happened, but still was a bit troubling how we struggled to move the ball in the second half.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:24 PM ^
Iowa sold out against the run and we didn't think Iowa could get to 21.
October 1st, 2022 at 4:52 PM ^
Iowa played the run, because they knew we would run, and we did run. I didn't like it, but it made sense at 20-0 and 20-7. If Iowa had made it 20-14 (which I thought they would), then I was hopeful we would start playing again. Turns out we didn't have to.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:21 PM ^
Getting a win at Kinnick without an injury (I think) is a blessing. Beat Indiana.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:21 PM ^
We basically out-Iowa'ed Iowa. That was well called and executed. The only way we could have lost was to try too hard. JJ was cool. Corum was unstoppable. The Oline almost got push on every single play (not that one at the end at around 8 minutes left in the 4th, but other than that)..
October 1st, 2022 at 3:22 PM ^
Kudos! 3TD+2FG against that defense! Am looking at the glass half full. They bogged down at times but they avoided a costly turn over in the 4th quarter.
Corum was a bell-cow again and iced it with a TD run on the last drive.
JJ was decent and is growing so it was a good road performance.
We needed Donovan Edwards and he came through.
A great road win!
October 1st, 2022 at 3:22 PM ^
Good for 90% of the game day except for the turtle stuff in the middle of the 4th quarter that led to 3 and outs.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:23 PM ^
Offense took what the defense gave, got out of there with a 2 TD win. Any complaints here is massive nitpicking.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:23 PM ^
Lots of huddling and under-center this year. Hopefully it doesn’t hold us back when we eventually need to go tempo.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:24 PM ^
Love it. It was conservative, but the smart play on the road vs Iowa.
Oline and running game was mashing against a really good D and JJ played a really mature game. Missed another long ball, but he’s about as money as it gets on the underneath stuff - which is nothing to take for granted. And obvious his athleticism led to a huge TD pass.
Really on a couple bad series, mostly stifled by some self inflicted things. They went conservative in the 4th. The 1st series to open the 4th I didn’t like, but when they went conservative later in the 4th and deep in our own zone it was the smart move.
Damn good road win. You’ll see more through the air next week most likely.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:24 PM ^
What is wrong with Harbaugh? He chose to keep them in the game. Corum run into a 9 player box to end the drive was ridiculous.
Let JJ take more shots. There’s a balance that needs to be struck. The play calling left too much to be desired.
there’s no reason to run Blake 30 times a game. Donovan needs more touches. Give CJ ~5-7 touches. Most importantly, it’s about both short and long term health.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:32 PM ^
A fumble there is the only way you lose. I don't like putting too many carries on Corum, but keeping it in the hands of your most reliable back is completely justified in that situation.
October 1st, 2022 at 3:42 PM ^
Read option?
spread- qb draw
play action…
October 1st, 2022 at 3:49 PM ^
As usual, this sort of comment is a big overreaction.
They could/should have dialed up a different play with Iowa clearly showing its commitment to stopping the handoff on 3rd-and-1.
That's one single playcall. On one single drive. I didn't like it, but it's *one call on one drive* and people act like it means the entire offensive scheme and philosophy are a disaster. That's simply not the case.
Edwards got 9 touches. Corum is one of the best players in the country. I think it's a good balance.
JJ didn't take many deep shots, but I can't complain about that when Michigan was moving up and down the field basically at will without them. The big question about JJ before the season was whether he could execute the offense as called and make on-time accurate throws within the offense's structure. Not only can he, but he is superb at it. He was nailing every pass. Michigan was getting 5-8 yards on first down basically every play. You don't go away from that a lot when it's working, especially against an Iowa team whose only chance to win is for you to make a big mistake.
The play calling was *outstanding*. Did I want a different call on 3rd-and-1 when Iowa was risking everything to stop a run? Yes.
It's one call. Michigan ran 65 other plays, and almost all of them were good calls.
October 1st, 2022 at 4:07 PM ^
Thank you - voice of reason.
On offense - the team scored enough to win without risking the game. To date, the Hawkeyes offense have only put up 14+ once (against Nevada 27-0), so no need to help them. Likewise, forcing them to play catch up meant it didn't matter how many TE completions to the middle of field between 20's so long as no quick big plays were given up - and when the game was a contest it was 20-7.
Sure there are areas of improvement - JJ McCarthy came close to giving up the scoop and score with that backwardy pass. And there needs to be a back up for Corum - he got 29 carries, 30 in the last game - someone has to give him 10-12 carries, or he risks wearing out by the end of the season. Last year, part of the reason he was great was that he split time with Haskins.
October 1st, 2022 at 4:35 PM ^
Harbaugh is 17-2 in his last 19. Won on the road at the number 1 defense. Defending big ten champ. Big ten coach of the year.
What is wrong with Harbaugh? One read through this thread and Id be ready for an NFL job too.
October 1st, 2022 at 4:57 PM ^
Agree with you on the 3rd and 1. With this offense and QB, you should feel confident going PA and throwing a 4-yard out to Schoon or running an RPO with Bell, which went for 11 earlier in the game and was run to perfection. Also agree with more touches for DE -- there's so much we can do with him.
Absolutely disagree about giving Stokes touches against an Iowa team that thrives on TOs. Dude had a bad fumble against Maryland. No way you give him the ball in this game.