Vandenburg Notes: Iowa State

After watching this game I am very much reminded of what Ricky Stanzi looked like early in his Junior year. Stanzi would show flashes of brilliance and then inexplicably become inaccurate and erratic. JVB seems to be in that pattern right now as well. The good news is JVB seems to be less prone to turnovers than Stanzi was. Through two games he hasn't really thrown up any desperation heaves and has pulled the ball down and scrambled when things got tight in the pocket. Stanzi's tendency was to take a sack or make a risky throw early in his career and JVB doesn't appear to have that issue.

JVB had some issues with being consistently accurate in this one. It was sporadic and when he missed he usually he missed high which is fairly typical when you're thinking too much and pressing. Didn't see any real mechanical issues and JVB is remarkably consistent with his drops and with his release. More experience and he should be able to show improvement with his accuracy.

Another issue he shares with the Junior vintage of Stanzi is his tendency to stare down his primary target. This was something that Stanzi struggled with mightily and he didn't have the arm strength to cover for it. JVB seems to have the arm strength to help cover this up most of the time but you'd like to see him move defenders with his eyes more. More pumps and ball fakes would help as well.

The Good&Bad:
+1 Great over the top throw to KD on the fade. Just lays it out there and lets his guy go get it. D1 Play 3
-1 Just flat misses a wide open TE on the stick route. Iowa runs this play a ton. Hard to believe that he missed this throw. D1 Play 4
+1 Looked like an audible here as he fires the out to KMM for the score. Good decisive footwork here as he fires an accurate rocket to KMM for the score. Well done here. D1 Play 12
+1 Great accuracy and velocity on this throw as he drops the ball in for a big completion to CJF. D2 Play 1
+1 Nice job pulling the ball down and scrambling here as a DT was coming hot and he picked up solid yardage on the play D5 Play 2
-1 Missed high on a wide open target on comeback route. Also could have gone to McNutt on the cross if he wanted him. D6 Play 1
-1 High off target throw here as he tries to hit the TE in the flat. D7 Play 2
-0 Really needed to pump this ball to the short man and theen loft it to the back of the end zone to Herman. Got a little impatient here and just went to his first option too quickly. Herman had cleared LB’s and no one was behind them. D7 Play 4
+1 Good mechs&great timing waiting for KD to clear on the middle cross. Throws an accurate bullet that allows KD to pick up YAC. D8 Play 2
-1 Off target throw on what should have been an easy first down to KD D9 Play 3
+1 Good timing as he throws the WR open here on the curl off PA. Led him away from the defenders and delivered a bullet. D10 Play 1
-1 Poor ball here on the fade. He throws the ball flat and to the outside. All he has to do is put this ball any where near McNutt and it’s a completion with a 5’7 guy trying to cover him man on man. D10 Play 2
-1 Right read and wrong throw. Very poor pass here as he tries to drop it over the LB’s and in front of the Deep 1/3 defender. Looked very awkward trying to use touch here as this ball fluttered incomplete and it should have been an big play. D10 Play 4
+1 Nice anticipation here as he leads KD further inside and away from the defender. Put some juice on this one and it was a clutch throw. D13 Play 3

Overall: +1

Numbers:

_	Left	Middle	Right	Sub-total
Short	5/6 56y 1TD	4/6 41y	2/7 16y	11/19 93y 1TD
Medium	1/1 23y 1TD	1/1 21	1/3 14y	3/5 58y 1TD
Deep	1/3 32y	0/0 0y	1/1 24y	2/4 56y
Sub-total	7/10 91y 2TD	5/7 62y	4/11 54y

Overall: 16/28(57.1%) 207y 2TD 0INT

Defensive Back Notes: Tennessee Tech

As a group really only had 1 blown play out there. It looked like Hyde came forward anticipating a scramble by Tenn Tech's QB and he hadn't crossed the line yet and he wound up and fired the ball down-field for a big completion. Hyde's an aggressive guy who hasn't had much time at FS and should grow into it as he plays more.

As a unit there's some depth here. Bernstine can fill in at any position and Tanner Miller has some experience at the FS spot. If Lowery is able to make a full recovery in a few weeks he'll add even more depth for this unit. Hyde's flexibility is another luxury for this unit, as he can drop down and play over a slot WR comfortably which gives them some scheme versatility if they choose to use it.

Prater:
Tennessee Tech mostly stayed away from him in this one and one of the few times they came at him he showed some great athleticism going up and snatching a jump ball away, and then tore off for a big return and a TD. He definitely made the most of his opportunity out there as that was really the only action he saw. Didn't really get a chance to make plays in run support much either. An excellent start for Iowa's most experienced DB.


Hyde:
Looked comfortable most of the time in his new role back at FS. Did play a little more aggressive at times and did get caught out of position once as mentioned above. In the wet conditions didn't really get challenged deep but he looked to have good depth and positioning in his Cover 2 drop when I saw'm. Has shown willingness in run support as a CB and should be solid as a run defender coming forward. Will need to force to himself to adjust to the pass first mentality over the next few games and play with a little more caution.


Sleeper:
First look at the former walk-on in a game situation and it was a bit tough to judge his abilities in the rain. While he didn't make any big mistakes, he struggled supporting the run, mostly due to poor angles, and looked a little slow to react at times. He did a nice job in his pass drops and did a solid job of squeezing routes when they came into his zone. Looks like a high-effort guy. Conditions made it hard to tell how effective he'll be against teams who can sling it more effectively. Time will tell on this one.

Castillo:
Castillo has steadily improved in the last two years and has made himself a serviceable corner in Iowa's system. He shows good effort in run support but is undersized and will get bullied by bigger WR's at times. Does a solid job as a zone defender and but I'm not sold on him in man coverage. Has improved his man cover skills but still looks vulnerable to vertical routes and needs to read routes well to stay in good position. Have to keep an eye on him this year to see how he holds up as the season goes on. Teams are going to shy away from Prater so his side of the field could get awfully busy.


Bernstine:
I really liked what I saw from Bernstine in this one. Showed excellent closing speed in run support. His level of speed and acceleration aren't something Iowa has had at safety recently. You can't teach skills like that and he took great angles and moved very well on the slick field-turf. Looked very good coming forward and making solid wrap up tackles on backs. Delivered a pop on many of his tackles as well. Love the hitting power. He's also a very capable CB as well and can really play every position in the Iowa's scheme. I find it hard to believe he won't be a starter for this unit. He has the best physical tools of any DB on Iowa's roster and just needs opportunities to get on the field to make plays.

Linebacker Notes: Tennessee Tech

Things look a lot better for the this unit than it did at the close of last year. A few more healthy bodies and some young talent make this group look pretty good. Both Kirksey and Hitchens look like capable guys and both are a bit undersized. If Iowa's going to refuse to play nickel at least they've got a WLB who's more capable in pass coverage. Both guys can still tackle despite being undersized and I like what I saw from them. It looks like Kirksey has got the job for now, but it's nice to know Hitchens is solid behind him.

Schematically really pretty much the same stuff we saw last year. Lots of reading and reacting with a few run blitzes mixed in every so often.  Plenty of C2 5 under with a little man under in there as well. I spotted Cover 3 and Cover 4 during this one as well.  All three starters have good closing speed and have some tools that could make them pass rush threats but we'll have to see if Iowa gets a little more aggressive than in years past. If the front 4 struggles to get to the QB it's more likely they'll start using the LB's to bring pressure.

Nielsen
Having Nielsen back makes a huge difference for this unit and having him on the field is a big boost for this defense. He's important for not just his play, but his leadership as well. He's a very capable LB in coverage and plays the run very well. Has some very good athleticism and can make tackles against quicker guys in space. Made a big TFL early on a double screen look that he sniffed out and made a perfectly timed hit on. Not a guy on a lot of NFL teams radars but if he can stay healthy this year his play could start turning some heads. Very good natural athlete that just needs time to develop on the field.

Morris
Looks to be bigger this year and he looks quicker as well. Got downhill very quickly a few times in the run game. Took good angles and showed pretty impressive range as well. Still needs to be quicker shedding blocks when OL get out to him quick. Doesn't look great chasing up the seam in Cover 2 man under. He had issues running up with the TE up the middle seam last year and it'd be nice to see him get his head around instead of having to play blind on these routes. Looks fairly effective in zone coverage and can cover his area and did a nice job of watching the QB's eyes and reading his intentions on his INT. Nice little rumble on the return too. Showing himself ready to be a leader on the defense.

Kirksey
Definitely a smaller and quicker LB than Iowa has gone with in the past. Looked good in zone coverage and made tackles quickly after WR's caught the ball and didn't allow any YAC. Looked good defending on the outside over a slot receiver. Tackled well in the open field on bubble screens and in perimeter run game. Going to be key how well he can play in space with a bunch of spread looks around the Big 10 this year. Good start to the year for Kirksey. Did struggle to shed blocks when he got caught in a phone booth, but should be able to improve here.

Defensive Line Notes: Tennesee Tech

Looks like Iowa made good on their rotation plan up front. Saw a lot of bodies coming in and out of there during this one. I'd expect this to continue and really it's probably a good thing for both depth and the overall effectiveness of the unit. Be interesting to see what kind of minutes Davis gets coming off his injury and how he effective he is. Iowa really needs a big anchor type DT when teams try to take control of the LOS and Davis has the size to fill that role.

Lots of stunts again to start the year for the front four, especially in passing situations. Probably more than we saw last year from Iowa, but this is a different line tools wise. With 3 NFL caliber guys up front they could play straight up and win, but that luxury is gone this year. They were consistently able to get pressure and cause issues for Tenn Tech. Didn't always finish the play, but they definitely disrupted timing consistently. As a unit they need to keep the disruption and the penetration while finishing a few more plays.

The shotgun running plays for Tenn Tech were effective through-out this one and DL had issues finding the ball. This unit will need to tighten up the run defense and improve their ability to shed blocks, find the ball,  and control their gaps in the run game. Pass rush wise the rotation will keep fresh legs out there and most of the guys have some pass rushing tools. Daniels is going to be constant pass rush threat and Binns is capable, but Iowa needs more guys to emerge as pass rushing threats.

Binns
Really liked what I saw from Binns out there this game. He looks a bit bigger than he did last year and still has the same good get-off and long arms. He will need to be a threat off the edge and help make QB's nervous in the pocket. He needs to work on his array of pass rush moves and confuse OT's a little more than he has in the past. Would like to see him set up a spin move back inside after pushing the edge repeatedly as it will keep OT's honest. He should still be very effective at getting into passing lanes and batting down balls, as he just seems to have a knack for it.

Daniels
Daniels looks to be just as disruptive as he was last year and still shows that relentless motor, above average get-off, and very good power. Looked very powerful and quick off the snap and pretty much did as he liked against the interior guys for Tenn Tech. Did play a little high a couple of times and flew by the undersized Tenn Tech QB who had some good elusiveness to him. Would like to have seen him finish a few more plays after he penetrated the back-field, but the sloppy conditions probably didn't help with that. Looks like he's gonna be a handful for opposing interior lines again this year.

Alvis
Iowa just keeps finding undersized DT's who can fit that high motor, high activity mold. Alvis showed some flashes but isn't a guy who can play every down and come out on top. He's about 20lbs lighter than you'd like to see, but he's still young and has time to add size. Looks good in stunts and can give interior guys problems with quickness.  He needs to add some size and strength but he's showing some flashes that remind you of Klug, Kroul and King.

Daniel
Showed sound technique and held the edge fairly well most of the time. Did miss a chance for a sack but at least closed down his side of the field by playing it outside in. Not a guy that's going to take over games but can definitely bend the corner at times. Should be able to make QB's nervous on 3rd downs and as he plays more he should develop as a pass rusher. Wasn't able to shed blocks as quickly as you'd like to see in the run game and he'll need to improve there as the year goes on.

Nardo
Iowa got a nice little surprise from Nardo,  who subbed for Alvis quite a bit, in this one as he looked effective and got into the backfield when he got on the field. Got in on a lot of tackles and showed he can be effective. Not a guy who's going to play every snap for you, but if you can get 10 quality snaps a game that can make a big difference.

Forgy, Gaglione, Bigach
Didn't really see enough of these guys to make much of a call. They should continue to see some snaps and if they can be effective they should continue to get snaps.

Skill Position Notes: Tennessee Tech

Rough day for the running backs as Coker struggled, McCall had a serious injury and the FB position was shaky at best. Saw a lot of 2TE sets out there and lots of motion with the TE into the back-field. Really didn't see much from Gimm or Meyers at the FB position. Both really struggled to find a guy to hit and nether maintained contact very well either. Neither guy looks to be much of a receiving threat at this point and they'll need to pick it up over the next couple of weeks. It did look like Iowa was using more 2TE sets than normal as well, so it looks like the coaches are well aware of the issues here.

Pretty solid effort from Davis and we all saw what McNutt can do. Both guys are big targets and are going to be match up nightmares for a lot of secondaries. It will be very hard to play Cover 2 against these guys because both are physical and can beat press coverage with size and strength along with being great on the jump ball. Both guys are solid blockers and put in good effort there. Not much to see the from the rest of the WR group. Not a whole lot of snaps and no targets that I caught.

Iowa looks pretty deep at TE with CJF and Derby behind Herman. All are big targets and are legit receiving threats which should cause headaches for opposing DC's this season. If you want an idea what 3 solid TE's can do take a look at the sch-lacking Stanford put on VT in the Orange Bowl last year. A lot of 3 TE sets from Harbaugh helped Stanford to a blow out win. VT just had no answer for the powering running attack+PA off those sets.


Coker
Rough day for Mr. Coker out there. Even without the fumbles he was struggling to put his foot in the ground with any authority. After the fumbles he got even more tense and went into a shell. Could be the lack of contact, could be the fumbles but I wouldn't expect it last. He just looked like he got up on the wrong side of the bed in this one. He bumbled into JVB later on a play fake and all around just looked off. He should bounce back fine.


McCall
There aren't many true freshman who make you say "Wow", but this kid has a very impressive combination of speed and power. Broke a buncha tackles and ran wild on a very slick surface. The loss of this guy will hurt. Lets hope for a full and speedy recovery.

Bullock
Almost did a double take when I saw this guy out in the slot. Pretty big vote of confidence for a true frosh RB to get their number called on the first drive of the season even if only for sub-package play. Of course predictably he dropped the only pass he got a chance at but I'm pretty sure the conditions had a pretty big hand in that. Really liked the play call and package from Iowa, but gotta make plays when you get the chance.

McNutt
This looked like a statement game to me. Questions about how McNutt would fair as a true number 1 WR have been answered. McNutt showed big time ability after the catch to the tune of 2TDs, mostly on his own, and squeezed the ball nicely in the horrendous conditions.  Did well as a blocker most of the time. He's poised to have a huge season and looks a step or two faster than last year. Based on film from last year I'd like to see him get his hips down further on sharp cuts(comebacks, hitches), but these were hardly the conditions to get a good read on that. Looking for big things from him as the year goes on.

Davis
Didn't have a whole lot of chances to do much but made plays when his number was called. He bailed out Vandenburg on a pretty poor throw with an acrobatic catch. Did a nice job becoming a defender on his other fade route where the ball was too far inside. He's got a lot of tools and should keep defenses honest as they try to deal with McNutt. Was very impressed by his abilities in the spring game and fall camp.We'll see a lot more from this guy as the season unfolds.

Herman
Looks to be another solid TE in the never ending streak at Iowa. Good powerful inline blocker and a capable receiver. Not a guy that's a big vertical threat but can be a threat on medium depth routes. Big frame and long arms should make him an option in the red-zone as well. Looked good running up the middle seam and on crossing routes.

CJF
I have high expectations for CJF this season but he wasn't dominating as a blocker in this one and did drop a pass in the rough conditions. Showed flashes blocking in run game and should get more consistent. Conditions made it tough to judge whether he had any real issues or if it was just footing. Would really like to see him running up the seam more as he's a match up nightmare for a safety or  LB. Nothing like a 6'6+ security blanket for a QB to fall back on when he's having a tough day hitting his spots.



Derby
Had the dropped TD but it wasn't a gimme catch and the timing was way off due to JVB colliding with Coker in the backfield. If this guy is your 3rd TE you gotta be pretty happy with where you're at. He's a solid receiving target and is pretty quick and can get open against a LB.



KMM
Really not much to report here. Iowa ran a fair number of 3 WR sets but KMM didn't get to do much. He has some solid skills and should show up more and more often as the weeks go by.

Offensive Line Notes: Tennessee Tech

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.

Vandenburg Notes: Tennessee Tech

The Good:
JVB's best throw of the day was his corner route to McNutt. He did an excellent job with his footwork on this throw and he put that ball where McNutt could catch it in stride and make play after the catch.  As it turns out McNutt tore off for an 88 yard TD. Another good throw JVB had out there was his completion to Herman for 15 on a PA bootleg. He did a solid job selling the fake and then got his shoulders squared up on the roll out and hit Herman right on the numbers in stride.

The Bad:
I didn't like the two fades he threw to Keenan Davis in this one. Both times the ball was thrown too far inside and really had no chance for a completion. Both times KD was forced to become a defender and although they got a lucky tip completion on the second one it was still an ill advised throw. As with most in-experienced QB's it takes time to get the necessary touch and placement on these kinds of throws. He also had some throws that were behind his receivers, but I'm not overly worried about these as they're likely a combination of first game jitters and the rain.

Numbers:

_	Left	Middle	Right	Sub-total
Short	3/5 17y	2/2 19y	6/9 57y 1TD	11/16 93y 1TD
Medium	1/2 15y	0/1	0/0 0y	1/3 15y
Deep	0/0 0y	0/0 0y	2/2 111y	2/2 111y
Sub-total	4/7 32y	2/3 19y	8/11 168y 2TD

Overall: 13/21(62%) 219y 2TD 0INT 

Not a whole lot to look at here as the vast majority of the throws were short range targets. I'd expect to see more targets in the middle of the field as the season goes on as well.

Looking Ahead

JVB looks to have corrected his issue with having too much velocity with some of the shorter throws as he did against OSU in '09, but he definitely still has the ability to fire a bullet down the field when he wants to. He has the arm strength to put the ball in places Stanzi couldn't last year and that should give them the ability to attack up the field more often. I'd expect Iowa to step up the medium and deep passing game in the coming weeks. ISU has an experienced secondary and they are a quality unit. JVB will need to be sharp to avoid turnovers in the road rivalry game. If Iowa can establish the running game early against ISU and they could  set the table for big success in the play action game.

Summary:

This was a pretty tough game to grade due to the inclement weather, vanilla play call and only having 2.5 quarters to work with but this was a solid start to the season for JVB. The plays Iowa ran were very basic and only 5 of his 21 pass attempts were beyond 10 yards. JVB was fairly accurate most of the time, 62% on the day, and there were 3 drops I saw as well. All in all not a bad start to the year.