Iowa State Cyclones
The Good, The Bad, The Future – Part II – The Good
The Good, The Bad, The Future – Part II – The Good
As painful as the Kent State loss was, and as obvious as the bad, there was also plenty of good available to Cyclone fans.
Let’s start with the offense. When is the last time we talked about how good a back looked and it wasn’t a reference to how he looked in his high school videos or on the scout team? We have had our share in the post Davis years of scout team wonders who never materialize. Against Kent State we saw that we have at least two good running backs. Alexander Robinson started the game and played the first two series before giving way to J.J. Bass. In those series, Alexander looked strong running the ball and catching out of the backfield. Alexander didn’t reappear and also disappeared from the kick-off return team at the same time so I suspect he got dinged up and held out the rest of the game. Hopefully there is nothing seriously wrong and Alexander will be available against UNI. Alexander carried 5 times for 21 yards and caught one pass for five yards. Robinson is only a redshirt freshman who can have a long and productive career at ISU.
The star of the offense show, was J.J. Bass. With 133 yards rushing (6.0 yards per carry) and a touchdown, J.J. is the bright spot everyone is talking about today. Both Alexander and J.J. hit the hole quickly. J.J. is more physically developed and made nice yards after contact. Bass also showed great leg drive and was a receiver block or two away from breaking some runs to the end zone. (note to Todd – you need to block as well as catch…even Randy Moss learned that) Perhaps my favorite run by J.J. was in the first half and as he broke to outside for a 15-20 yard run he not only stiff armed the defender, but as he was running out of bounce, his stiff arm was so strong it pushed the defender into another Kent State player who was knocked down. Great debut for Jamicah “J.J.” Bass.
The other bright spot on offense was the play of the offensive line. Now they weren’t dominating, but they were good enough to win games with. In recent years you could point to the offensive line and say they cost us the game with their play. This group opened holes, pass blocked respectively and were more physical than what we have seen in recent years. The best news is that they should only get better as they get more time together as a unit and gain experience. With less than a dozen starts between them and one freshman, two sophomores and two juniors in the starting five they will get better each game they play. The competition will get better as well, but I think this group is good enough to win with – if the other parts of the team do their jobs.
Punting game was also good. Brandtner continues to be a reliable and consistent punter in his second year. The blocking for Brandtner was good and coverage was adequate. If we continue to play this way punting can be strength for us in the field position game.
Defensively, Jesse Smith began to show us why he won the starting role at middle linebacker. I thought Jesse played pretty well most of the night. While he will get better at his reads and assignments, he continued to show that he has the physical tools to be a Big 12 middle linebacker. Jesse was the leading tackler for a Cyclone squad that struggled against the run.
Sticking with the Smith theme, I also liked the play of James Smith. I thought he got better as the night went on and showed he can be a physical presence on the field. Not sure if it was Smith or the corner back who got burned on the long touchdown pass. The corner had released the wide receiver to the safety (who wasn’t there) as one would do in Cover 2 defense, I just didn’t notice what defense we were in at the time. Someone missed the assignment, but even so it was a solid debut for James Smith.
Our cornerbacks are also better than a year ago. Chris Singleton has improved his game looked much more like a Big 12 cornerback. Allen Bell showed great physical tools and while he go beat a couple of times on the sidelines showed that he can be a very good cornerback for the Cyclones.
We played a lot of reserves defensively in the front seven and a couple stood out to me. Michael Bibbs played a lot of snaps and also showed some potential. At times he seemed to be thinking too much, but at times he also showed the physical tools that can make him a great linebacker for us. I think he will become a bigger part of the defense as the year goes on. I also liked what I saw in Chris Lyle. Chris did a pretty good job getting up the field on the pass rush and also got a lot of snaps. I think before the season is over Lyle will be pushing Parker for the other end spot.
As painful as the Kent State loss was, and as obvious as the bad, there was also plenty of good available to Cyclone fans.
Let’s start with the offense. When is the last time we talked about how good a back looked and it wasn’t a reference to how he looked in his high school videos or on the scout team? We have had our share in the post Davis years of scout team wonders who never materialize. Against Kent State we saw that we have at least two good running backs. Alexander Robinson started the game and played the first two series before giving way to J.J. Bass. In those series, Alexander looked strong running the ball and catching out of the backfield. Alexander didn’t reappear and also disappeared from the kick-off return team at the same time so I suspect he got dinged up and held out the rest of the game. Hopefully there is nothing seriously wrong and Alexander will be available against UNI. Alexander carried 5 times for 21 yards and caught one pass for five yards. Robinson is only a redshirt freshman who can have a long and productive career at ISU.
The star of the offense show, was J.J. Bass. With 133 yards rushing (6.0 yards per carry) and a touchdown, J.J. is the bright spot everyone is talking about today. Both Alexander and J.J. hit the hole quickly. J.J. is more physically developed and made nice yards after contact. Bass also showed great leg drive and was a receiver block or two away from breaking some runs to the end zone. (note to Todd – you need to block as well as catch…even Randy Moss learned that) Perhaps my favorite run by J.J. was in the first half and as he broke to outside for a 15-20 yard run he not only stiff armed the defender, but as he was running out of bounce, his stiff arm was so strong it pushed the defender into another Kent State player who was knocked down. Great debut for Jamicah “J.J.” Bass.
The other bright spot on offense was the play of the offensive line. Now they weren’t dominating, but they were good enough to win games with. In recent years you could point to the offensive line and say they cost us the game with their play. This group opened holes, pass blocked respectively and were more physical than what we have seen in recent years. The best news is that they should only get better as they get more time together as a unit and gain experience. With less than a dozen starts between them and one freshman, two sophomores and two juniors in the starting five they will get better each game they play. The competition will get better as well, but I think this group is good enough to win with – if the other parts of the team do their jobs.
Punting game was also good. Brandtner continues to be a reliable and consistent punter in his second year. The blocking for Brandtner was good and coverage was adequate. If we continue to play this way punting can be strength for us in the field position game.
Defensively, Jesse Smith began to show us why he won the starting role at middle linebacker. I thought Jesse played pretty well most of the night. While he will get better at his reads and assignments, he continued to show that he has the physical tools to be a Big 12 middle linebacker. Jesse was the leading tackler for a Cyclone squad that struggled against the run.
Sticking with the Smith theme, I also liked the play of James Smith. I thought he got better as the night went on and showed he can be a physical presence on the field. Not sure if it was Smith or the corner back who got burned on the long touchdown pass. The corner had released the wide receiver to the safety (who wasn’t there) as one would do in Cover 2 defense, I just didn’t notice what defense we were in at the time. Someone missed the assignment, but even so it was a solid debut for James Smith.
Our cornerbacks are also better than a year ago. Chris Singleton has improved his game looked much more like a Big 12 cornerback. Allen Bell showed great physical tools and while he go beat a couple of times on the sidelines showed that he can be a very good cornerback for the Cyclones.
We played a lot of reserves defensively in the front seven and a couple stood out to me. Michael Bibbs played a lot of snaps and also showed some potential. At times he seemed to be thinking too much, but at times he also showed the physical tools that can make him a great linebacker for us. I think he will become a bigger part of the defense as the year goes on. I also liked what I saw in Chris Lyle. Chris did a pretty good job getting up the field on the pass rush and also got a lot of snaps. I think before the season is over Lyle will be pushing Parker for the other end spot.
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