Last week I said that ISU would need to up its play and be more consistent if they want to go to a bowl...and that's just what they did. Offensively, that was a really good gameplan. They turned Purdy loose, had some good runs by Lang and picked apart TCU's defense. Even just a little of that strategy and we would have never seen OT vs UNI. Defense stuffed the TCU running game and put the game on Duggan's shoulders, which is exactly what they needed to do. That kid is going to be good and he did give us some problems in the second half, but TCU flat out couldn't stop our offense, so it didn't matter. Special teams wasn't a huge issue like it has been other than a bad squib kick. I get it that you don't want to kick to Reagor, but you gotta get that ball over the front line. Other than that, no real issues outside of Nwangwu returning a kick that he probably should have fair caught.
QB: Brock flat out dominated the game. I think that the staff finally figured out that you can't bubble wrap him...the offense needs the QB run in the playbook to be effective. He carved up the defense and was incredibly accurate. Maybe his best game given the opponent.
WR: Jones has become a security blanket via the short pass. And he has enough wiggle to get by people and pick up chunks at times. This is the Deshaunte Jones that we thought we would see after his FR year. A bunch of other WRs caught 1 ball. I'd like to see Milton get some more targets, but Purdy was spreading it around and it was effective.
RB: I think that we are finally seeing a RB step up in Lang. He had some nice runs. Still not a great RB by any means, but he was good enough to keep the D honest. With 4 games for Hall now and 3 for Brock, the staff now has a decision to make about redshirting. Neither of them looked particularly good Saturday. It's starting to look like Nwangwu is just going to be a change of pace guy and KR. I was hoping for more, but he can't stay healthy enough to get consistent carries. Croney is probably relegated to 3rd down pass protection.
TE: One catch each for Kolar and Allen, but both were TDs. I'd say that the TE group is finally living up to the hype. We have big time weapons at this position. I do wonder what the future is at this position, because we won't have them both for too much longer. Allen will be a SR next year and it wouldn't surprise me if Kolar declares a year early.
OL: One of the best games I've seen our OL play in awhile. Purdy had all the time in the world. And TCU always has good DLs...Blacklock may be the best DT in the conference. Run blocking was good, pass protection was great. I think that we're finally on our way here. They've at least shown flashes and now the next step is consistent play every game.
DL: Peterson is a horse. I think that he's better than Bailey right now. He's probably never going to have the sack stats that Jaquan gets, but he's a better all around player. I hate to see our starting DE running down on kick coverage, but he's probably our best player on that unit as well. I thought that this was Enyi's best game even without the TD. TCU has one of the better OLs in the conference and our DL spent a lot of time in the backfield. Lima was good as always and Johnson, Robertson and Leo all played well I thought.
LB: Very good game by all three IMO. Rose played really well I thought. Vance is piling up the sacks. Spears was solid. Without Harvey, we are not as deep as we were last year, so injuries here concern me. Hummel is as good as a starter, but I'm not sold on McMillan and I don't even know who plays behind Rose now that McDonald is playing DE again.
DB: I hated to see Eisworth get hurt. If he has a bad shoulder, that takes a major strength out of his game. I thought that Johnson played well. Reagor is a top 2-3 WR in the conference and you knew he was going to make a play at some point. Azunna is a solid player, but he misses some tackles. Seems like Lewis is starting to round into shape. We need him and he's been kind of MIA all season. White had a solid game and you didn't hear much from Young, which is a good thing.
ST: Probably Rivera's best game. They seem to have lost a lot of faith in Assalley. Coverage was good for the most part and returns were OK.
QB: Brock flat out dominated the game. I think that the staff finally figured out that you can't bubble wrap him...the offense needs the QB run in the playbook to be effective. He carved up the defense and was incredibly accurate. Maybe his best game given the opponent.
WR: Jones has become a security blanket via the short pass. And he has enough wiggle to get by people and pick up chunks at times. This is the Deshaunte Jones that we thought we would see after his FR year. A bunch of other WRs caught 1 ball. I'd like to see Milton get some more targets, but Purdy was spreading it around and it was effective.
RB: I think that we are finally seeing a RB step up in Lang. He had some nice runs. Still not a great RB by any means, but he was good enough to keep the D honest. With 4 games for Hall now and 3 for Brock, the staff now has a decision to make about redshirting. Neither of them looked particularly good Saturday. It's starting to look like Nwangwu is just going to be a change of pace guy and KR. I was hoping for more, but he can't stay healthy enough to get consistent carries. Croney is probably relegated to 3rd down pass protection.
TE: One catch each for Kolar and Allen, but both were TDs. I'd say that the TE group is finally living up to the hype. We have big time weapons at this position. I do wonder what the future is at this position, because we won't have them both for too much longer. Allen will be a SR next year and it wouldn't surprise me if Kolar declares a year early.
OL: One of the best games I've seen our OL play in awhile. Purdy had all the time in the world. And TCU always has good DLs...Blacklock may be the best DT in the conference. Run blocking was good, pass protection was great. I think that we're finally on our way here. They've at least shown flashes and now the next step is consistent play every game.
DL: Peterson is a horse. I think that he's better than Bailey right now. He's probably never going to have the sack stats that Jaquan gets, but he's a better all around player. I hate to see our starting DE running down on kick coverage, but he's probably our best player on that unit as well. I thought that this was Enyi's best game even without the TD. TCU has one of the better OLs in the conference and our DL spent a lot of time in the backfield. Lima was good as always and Johnson, Robertson and Leo all played well I thought.
LB: Very good game by all three IMO. Rose played really well I thought. Vance is piling up the sacks. Spears was solid. Without Harvey, we are not as deep as we were last year, so injuries here concern me. Hummel is as good as a starter, but I'm not sold on McMillan and I don't even know who plays behind Rose now that McDonald is playing DE again.
DB: I hated to see Eisworth get hurt. If he has a bad shoulder, that takes a major strength out of his game. I thought that Johnson played well. Reagor is a top 2-3 WR in the conference and you knew he was going to make a play at some point. Azunna is a solid player, but he misses some tackles. Seems like Lewis is starting to round into shape. We need him and he's been kind of MIA all season. White had a solid game and you didn't hear much from Young, which is a good thing.
ST: Probably Rivera's best game. They seem to have lost a lot of faith in Assalley. Coverage was good for the most part and returns were OK.
