It is tough to really get a read of how good a team is when they play a team that matches up physically as poorly as Montana did. They are well coached and play tough and one of the best teams in Div 1-AA. That does not help much when playing one of the better teams in Div 1-A.
Iowa looked young. Eight penalties is just sloppy. They will need to get that under control quickly. Tate was 15 of 28, but at least three passes hit open receivers right in the hand and were dropped.
In games like this, Iowa does not ever open up the playbook at all. There really is not any way to measure how they will compare to Syracuse and then Iowa State over the next two weeks.
There were several really nice things that I saw.
We have more running backs then we deserve. It must be makeup for the year we lost the first 4 running back options we had. Young is solid. Simms is quick. Green really likes to run people over. And all of them seem good at catching the ball out of the back field.
Iowa gets a lot of good field goal kickers. It is amazing what giving scholarships to kickers will do for the special teams. Schlicher was out today with a little injury. His backup, Signor went 2 for 2 with a long of 41 and made 5 of 5 extra points. He kicked several kickoffs deep into the end zone, too. Not bad for a backup field goal kicker. Schlicher might have to earn his spot back except he is on the Lou Groza list for this year.
The young receivers know how to block. They might drop some balls this year, but they did a really good job of holding their blocks long enough to free the other guy for a few more yards. That has become one of my favorite things to watch over the last couple years. Iowa does not get as many of the guys with crazy break away speed, so downfield blocking is very important for helping create the big plays.
Iowa heads to Syracuse next weekend. Syracuse looks like they are going to be about as talented as Montana. Playing on the road is alway useful. Playing in a dome will help for the Minnesota game. An easy’ish road trip will help teach all the freshman what happens on a road trip and how to stay focused on the game without running too much risk of losing.
1-0 is diffently the best way to start the season. I’m sure there will be a lot of specific drills in practice this week to address the sloppy problems.
My player of the game is Signor, a next-man-in doing the job he gets asked to do. Nice game.