I know talent is bad, but the slow starts are a concern.

[RegionWarrior101]

I get that we are competitive with an inferior roster. We have "moral" victories and are a few plays short of being 6-4 right now.

I am not going to crap on the play calling, but rather the slow starts. In looking back, our first 4 games where I was drinking the most kool-aid, we were averaging 21.5 in the first half of games, the low being 10 against Michigan. In the 6 games since, we are averaging 7 points in the first half of games. 6 against Minnesota off the bye, 6 against Wisconsin, 3 against Rutgers. 14 and 13 against lowly Nebraska and Illinois, then 0 last week.

I guess my question would be, what can this staff do to stop waiting 30 minutes to get going?

 

[TC4THREE]

Quality of opposition is a factor. Our early OOC games were against 2 pretty bad defenses, one of which just fired their DC the week before we played them, and a MAC team.

I'd also suggest that early in the season we probably caught some teams by surprise with some of the things Brohm did this season with our players. New coach with a new team and all. Once the tape got out, some of the things that were working for this team earlier in the season have been taken away or minimized and our alternatives are limited due to personnel.

 

[nat100]

I'd also suggest that early in the season we probably caught some teams by surprise with some of the things Brohm did this season with our players. New coach with a new team and all. Once the tape got out, some of the things that were working for this team earlier in the season have been taken away or minimized and our alternatives are limited due to personnel.

Yeah, i think this is the biggest thing. Combine that with losing your LT and the line is barely functional.

 

[FirstDownB]

I get that we are competitive with an inferior roster. We have "moral" victories and are a few plays short of being 6-4 right now.

I am not going to crap on the play calling, but rather the slow starts. In looking back, our first 4 games where I was drinking the most kool-aid, we were averaging 21.5 in the first half of games, the low being 10 against Michigan. In the 6 games since, we are averaging 7 points in the first half of games. 6 against Minnesota off the bye, 6 against Wisconsin, 3 against Rutgers. 14 and 13 against lowly Nebraska and Illinois, then 0 last week.

I guess my question would be, what can this staff do to stop waiting 30 minutes to get going?

The problem is, some of these games have nothing in common with each other, other than the opponent had a good defensive game plan, and our staff had to adjust as the game went on, often too little too late.

Against Rutgers we were moving the ball with ease on the ground, but couldn't convert 3rd downs and threw a couple of costly ints. The playcalling was conservative, but probably not conservative enough.

Northwestern was the complete opposite. We couldn't gain a yard on the ground, and Brohm, because of games like Rutgers, probably didn't trust Sindelar to sling it around (until we were down by 20).

It takes awhile for a coach to get away from the original game plan, and for good reason. That is where you put your focus all week. I think Brohm expected to have more success running the ball and to be in position at the end to win a low scoring slugfest in crappy weather.

I know its frustrating and sounds like an excuse, but we were literally a yard here and a yard there from pulling it off on the road against a top 25 team. There was no reason to think based on recent performances that we would be limited THAT much in the running game.

IMO the only chance for a hot start against Iowa is to have a game plan that runs counter to what they expect us to do. Does that mean we should go into Iowa City this week balls out full air raid? Maybe. You might win the lottery or you might be down 21-0 in the first quarter.

 

[TC4THREE]

I think the theme lately has been our inability to convert in short yardage situations and our offensive line has something to do with that. We knew going into the season that depth on the line was a concern. We had to bring in some players just to have a chance at a functional first string. To nobody's surprise, losing a player has really hurt.