[Oskee] Ah, youth

[Todd Sweet]

Definitely disappointing, but not surprising that we lost.  I, too, cannot
understand why Zook didn't decline the 2 penalties.  Even if Iowa is going
to go for it on 4th down, why give them a replay of 3rd down + 4th down to
get the yardage.  But that in itself isn't the game.

Generally, I thought our guys, especially defense looked really tight.  They
weren't playing with that same reckless abandon that seemed to be at the
Penn St. and Wisky games.  I agree that youth and inexperience were part of
the problem.  And they'll get better at winning.

As for Michigan, I think their defense can be run upon and run upon hard.
One key will be the condition of Russ Weil.  He's like a steamroller in
front of Mendenhall, and his absence was sorely felt in the 2nd half of the
Iowa game.

But we must tighten up our coverage of the Mich. receivers and we have to
get some pressure on the QB.  And no matter how good our running game is,
Iowa proved that our coaches are afraid to let Juice pass the ball
downfield.  Even if it's incomplete, they have to let him throw some to keep
the defense honest.

Give Mendenhall 25 carries, get the ball in Benn's hands at least 10 times.
If we do that and add in the energy of the home crowd, I think we have a
decent shot at winning.

TS



> -----Original Message-----
> From: oskee-bounces at heins.net [mailto:oskee-bounces at heins.net]On Behalf
> Of Robert Mingee
> Sent: Monday, October 15, 2007 11:13 AM
> To: oskee at heins.net
> Subject: [Oskee] Ah, youth
>
>
> I was afraid that being a young team, we were going to stumble on
> the road, I just wish it hadn't been against Iowa.  I was
> particularly frustrated with our inability to stop them from
> converting 3rd downs, which Zook mentioned at the half.  I wish I
> could see the stats separated by half, because the end stats look
> better than I remember seeing at halftime, so I think we did
> better in the second half despite giving up the touchdown.  I'm
> still not sure I necessarily like how Zook is handling the QB
> situation.  Juice definitely wasn't setting the world on fire,
> but I hope that McGee has the mental toughness to overcome such
> an emotional rollercoaster coming in cold, that ended so
> disappointingly for him.  And man, what the heck was Zook
> thinking declining that holding penalty?  In the end it only cost
> us time on the clock thanks to the turnover we forced, but that
> could easily have cost us the chance to win the game at the end
> had they scored.  Given how
>  well they'd been converting 3rd downs, that was a terrible call.
>  Oh well, he's definitely earned some slack from me, but I hope
> that was an aberration...
>
> Given that I had basically no expectations coming into this
> season, being at 5-2 right now, with a road win already in the
> books against an Indiana team that is holding their own in the
> conference, and being 1 penalty away from a likely win in a tough
> road venue like Iowa, is still feeling pretty good.  Yeah,
> Wisconsin is imploding, so that win is looking less impressive,
> but I still have to believe we're on track for a reasonable bowl
> bid.  Heck, if we can knock off Michigan this weekend, I'll be
> downright giddy.  I can't *stand* Lloyd Carr, and would love
> nothing more than to send that miserable $#@*&% packing with a
> loss to derail their current resurgence after such a bad start.
>
> Come on people!  It's Michigan week, and we DON'T SUCK!  Let's
> hear some chatter! :-)
>
> -- robert
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Oskee mailing list
> Oskee at heins.net
> http://mail.perusion.com/mailman/listinfo/oskee