This game was about what you'd expect from an Iowa OL to start a season: a lot of good run blocking, a few missed reach blocks and assignments, and sound pass blocking. As a unit they did a fairly solid job. There were times you'd see the entire OL pushing their guys 5 yards down field. Schematically it was nearly all zone stretch blocking up front with a few straight ahead Iso looks mixed in. Also loved the 3 and 4 yards of push on QB sneaks.
There was a lot of struggling for purchase going on in the unsure footing of the rain drenched field. At times I saw all 5 guys struggle to get to blocks as they slipped and slid on the field-turf. Overall I'd say this is a very talented group but the conditions made it very difficult to judge how good they can be. Below is a look at each guy individually.
Reiff:
When he wasn't slipping and sliding he was pretty dominant, which is what I would expect of a guy who I give a mid 1st round grade. He defintely had trouble getting his footing early on, but when he was up-right he did a great job securing reach blocks and keeping his man out of the play. Pass protection was no problem as there were few deep drops and Reiff easily controlled his guy. Saw him blocking up to the whistle a number(maybe even a tad after) of times and he put a few guys on the ground. Looking for big things from him this season.
Tobin
Former walk-on or not, this young man can play in the trenches. For having no starting experience I was pretty impressed with his showing out there, albeit against a lesser opponent. He's got good size and showed adequate strength as an inline blocker. At times looked a bit un-sure of himself getting to LB's due to the footing but he was in pretty good position most of the time. I wasn't expecting much but he looks to have held his own at LG and will be tough to un-seat.
Ferentz
Did an excellent job in his combo blocks up front and at times washed the DT all the way back into the LB. Struggled getting to LB's but again this was due to having a tough time getting solid footing. His only real detriment is his lack of size as at times he will struggle with penetration from bigger DTs. I would probably classify Ferentz as the guy who improved most from game 1 to game 13 last year and I'd expect more sound progression this season.
Gettis
This young man has come a long ways since I first saw him play in the opener of the '09 season. He played with sound leverage and showed good strength pushing his man around in the run game. This was a lesser opponent but you got to like the way he handled himself. In the past he has struggled some in pass protection with quicker DTs in space and it will be something to watch this year. If you want to see him at his best take a look at the Coker's second fumble on Iowa's second drive(Hint: Look 5-6 yards down-field).
Zusevics
Really liked the dominating run blocks Zues showed in this one. He just over-powered his DE and drove him out of the play numerous times. He did have a missed read as his DE slid inside of him and shot the gap on one play, but it's not something that concerns me too much as it's not something that he had issues with last year. He did struggle to get to 2nd level guys but with the field conditions as they were it's hardly a knock. Didn't break a sweat in pass protection and he looks a bit bigger out there this year. He's a guy that is flying under the radar as a NFL draft prospect and I'd expect he'll get more attention as the year goes on.
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