Year 1 of the Matt Campbell Era, for me, brought hope for the future. A lot of that is because he brings a fresh approach to the business of football and all that entails. He looks forward, not back, but is cognizant of the good and the bad of our history. He just does not seem to be bound by it.
We were on the low end of what I had hoped for in wins and losses, but, after our horrendous start, we finished better than I thought mid-September. To me, progress was obvious and significant, though not without some hiccups and questions. (See Lanning's use in the last game. Still a bit puzzled on that one.)
We lost a lot of players who, for one reason or another, we had thought would be a part of this team. The ones that come to mind most clearly are OL Burton, LB Harris, LB Peters, LB Knott, OL Philbert, a DL whose name escapes me, and the big back running back on short yardage situations. Add to that the injury to Campos, and realistically we were significantly behind where we thought we would be at the beginning of the year. But the start was still disappointing and we should never lose to UNI regardless.
However, we saw the signs, fairly early, of the better recruiting (we hoped) that provided us with young players that played well and significantly. That new a pproach to recruiting is what gives me the most hope for the future. We can argue all we want about the x's and o's (play calling) but we all know the biggest factors are the proverbial Jimies and Joes. We also know, or fear, or think we know that the window for a new coach to change the Jimmies and Joes is probably 4 years tops. So next year is important in beginning to see results on the field, if nothing else to continue recruiting momentum.
Specifically, and with lots of experience as a fan but limited knowledge of college football details, I was most impressed with the offense, particularly the development of the offensive line. Without the use of most of the most experienced players (Campos, Burton, Philbert), the offensive line coach lived up, imo, to his reputation as a builder of lines. We weren't terrible. At times we were decent. Maybe even better on occaision.
The QB play was better, but still not consistent. Park has the best arm I have seen in awhile. But he is not consistently accurate, particularly game to game. When he is on, like he was against Tech, he was good. Against WVU he seemed hesitant, was throwing high, and stared down receivers. Hopefully that is due in major part to his inexperience. Lanning is kind of what I thought he was. A good runner who can pass when the other team is concentrating on his running. I think they went away from using him in the passing game too much and they became too predictable when he was in the game. But Lanning's offense is different than Park's offense and that is hard to teach (2 offenses) in your first year and with a patch work line. Hopefully, that will get fleshed out more this spring.
The running backs look good for the future. I don't know if Warren was hurt, in the doghouse, not buying in or some combination of those and others. He does have enough body of work that we can say he is a fumbler. Looks to me his big problem is his confidence is shot? Montgomery and Nwangwu look really promising. I think they need one in this class, depending on how they feel about Warren and how Warren feels about them.
I am looking forward to seeing what Allen and Soehner bring to the TE corp. Ferguson was evidently a miss - either talent of attitude wise. And we still lack the receiver that can take the top off the defense. And I think you see why Lazard will be back. He lacks NFL speed, unless he grows to a TE.
Defensively, sadly, I did not see much improvement from the Burnham years. We had our moments, and one good game against Tech, but still were run on way too easily and created little pressure on the opponents QB consistently. And we lost a lot of seniors. We return an average, for us, first team on paper. But we really need playmakers on the Defensive line and at Linebacker. I don't know if they are in the system yet. Defensive woes temper my optimism for the immediate future and can only be solved by recruiting.
DL looks to be Bailey, Trent, Johnson and ? Linebackers have bodies in Mills, Harvey, Northrup. McMillen, Spears and Sutton. Not much size there, and speed is marginal. DB appears the best, but much thinner than this year. Safety has Cotton-Moya, Edwards, Johnson, Daniels and Azzuna. CB is Payne and Peavey. Need some depth to develop or be recruited. Back end is still the strength, and as we saw against WVU, that is less than optimal.
Overall, I saw enough to want to come back if the Good Lord and health continue to permit. Always great to be a Cyclone. Well, almost always.....
We were on the low end of what I had hoped for in wins and losses, but, after our horrendous start, we finished better than I thought mid-September. To me, progress was obvious and significant, though not without some hiccups and questions. (See Lanning's use in the last game. Still a bit puzzled on that one.)
We lost a lot of players who, for one reason or another, we had thought would be a part of this team. The ones that come to mind most clearly are OL Burton, LB Harris, LB Peters, LB Knott, OL Philbert, a DL whose name escapes me, and the big back running back on short yardage situations. Add to that the injury to Campos, and realistically we were significantly behind where we thought we would be at the beginning of the year. But the start was still disappointing and we should never lose to UNI regardless.
However, we saw the signs, fairly early, of the better recruiting (we hoped) that provided us with young players that played well and significantly. That new a pproach to recruiting is what gives me the most hope for the future. We can argue all we want about the x's and o's (play calling) but we all know the biggest factors are the proverbial Jimies and Joes. We also know, or fear, or think we know that the window for a new coach to change the Jimmies and Joes is probably 4 years tops. So next year is important in beginning to see results on the field, if nothing else to continue recruiting momentum.
Specifically, and with lots of experience as a fan but limited knowledge of college football details, I was most impressed with the offense, particularly the development of the offensive line. Without the use of most of the most experienced players (Campos, Burton, Philbert), the offensive line coach lived up, imo, to his reputation as a builder of lines. We weren't terrible. At times we were decent. Maybe even better on occaision.
The QB play was better, but still not consistent. Park has the best arm I have seen in awhile. But he is not consistently accurate, particularly game to game. When he is on, like he was against Tech, he was good. Against WVU he seemed hesitant, was throwing high, and stared down receivers. Hopefully that is due in major part to his inexperience. Lanning is kind of what I thought he was. A good runner who can pass when the other team is concentrating on his running. I think they went away from using him in the passing game too much and they became too predictable when he was in the game. But Lanning's offense is different than Park's offense and that is hard to teach (2 offenses) in your first year and with a patch work line. Hopefully, that will get fleshed out more this spring.
The running backs look good for the future. I don't know if Warren was hurt, in the doghouse, not buying in or some combination of those and others. He does have enough body of work that we can say he is a fumbler. Looks to me his big problem is his confidence is shot? Montgomery and Nwangwu look really promising. I think they need one in this class, depending on how they feel about Warren and how Warren feels about them.
I am looking forward to seeing what Allen and Soehner bring to the TE corp. Ferguson was evidently a miss - either talent of attitude wise. And we still lack the receiver that can take the top off the defense. And I think you see why Lazard will be back. He lacks NFL speed, unless he grows to a TE.
Defensively, sadly, I did not see much improvement from the Burnham years. We had our moments, and one good game against Tech, but still were run on way too easily and created little pressure on the opponents QB consistently. And we lost a lot of seniors. We return an average, for us, first team on paper. But we really need playmakers on the Defensive line and at Linebacker. I don't know if they are in the system yet. Defensive woes temper my optimism for the immediate future and can only be solved by recruiting.
DL looks to be Bailey, Trent, Johnson and ? Linebackers have bodies in Mills, Harvey, Northrup. McMillen, Spears and Sutton. Not much size there, and speed is marginal. DB appears the best, but much thinner than this year. Safety has Cotton-Moya, Edwards, Johnson, Daniels and Azzuna. CB is Payne and Peavey. Need some depth to develop or be recruited. Back end is still the strength, and as we saw against WVU, that is less than optimal.
Overall, I saw enough to want to come back if the Good Lord and health continue to permit. Always great to be a Cyclone. Well, almost always.....
