Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
New face for the secondary :: Chuck Schoffner
October 2nd, 2006 :: 3:51 PM
Evidently, Dan McCarney has seen enough. He’s shaking up his secondary.
I know what you’re probably thinking: It’s about time.
Jon Banks is being moved from starting free safety to Adam Carper’s backup at strongside linebacker. Redshirt freshman Steve Johnson is the new starter at free safety. Make that little-used redshirt freshman Steve Johnson.
The Cyclones’ pass defense has been dreadful. Opponents are completing 74 percent of their passes, which puts Iowa State dead last among 119 Division I-A teams. Those teams are averaging 252.6 yards a game throwing the ball. That leaves the Cyclones 108th in the country in pass defense yardage. Last Saturday night, Northern Iowa’s Eric Sanders completed his first 12 passes and finished the game at 79 percent.
These are disturbing numbers at any point in the season. They take on even more significance with Nebraska visiting this Saturday night and Texas Tech due in town on Oct. 21.
Nebraska’s Zac Taylor is fourth nationally in passing efficiency and has thrown for 12 touchdowns. Taylor completed fewer than half his passes in the Cornhuskers’ overtime victory against Kansas (15-of-33), but those completions accounted for a whopping 395 yards. It helped that he had two 75-yard touchdown passes and another that covered 78 yards. Taylor’s probably already salivating over getting a shot at the Cyclones’ defense.
One change in the secondary isn’t going to improve the pass defense overnight. Plus, it’s more than just the secondary. The front four isn’t getting enough pressure on the quarterback. When the Cyclones blitz, they often don’t get much from it. McCarney also says the defensive backs aren’t breaking on the ball as aggressively as they should. And he says everyone is missing too many tackles. McCarney blames the missed tackles as much as anything for the opponents’ big passing numbers.
As for Johnson, he’s pretty much an unknown. He has yet to make a tackle (Banks is third on the team in tackles). According to ISU’s participation charts, Johnson hasn’t played since the opener against Toledo. Teammates say Johnson will be just fine, but that’s what you’d expect them to say.
We’ll find out soon enough if Johnson can make a difference. For sure, the Cyclones have to find a way to get some heat on Taylor — make him throw it sooner than he wants, bang him around a little bit, sack him a couple of times, anything to disrupt his rhythm.
Can the Cyclones do it? They haven’t so far, though they did make some good adjustments in the second half against Northern Iowa. How do you see things playing out? Is this going to be another long night for the defense?
October 2nd, 2006 :: 3:51 PM
Evidently, Dan McCarney has seen enough. He’s shaking up his secondary.
I know what you’re probably thinking: It’s about time.
Jon Banks is being moved from starting free safety to Adam Carper’s backup at strongside linebacker. Redshirt freshman Steve Johnson is the new starter at free safety. Make that little-used redshirt freshman Steve Johnson.
The Cyclones’ pass defense has been dreadful. Opponents are completing 74 percent of their passes, which puts Iowa State dead last among 119 Division I-A teams. Those teams are averaging 252.6 yards a game throwing the ball. That leaves the Cyclones 108th in the country in pass defense yardage. Last Saturday night, Northern Iowa’s Eric Sanders completed his first 12 passes and finished the game at 79 percent.
These are disturbing numbers at any point in the season. They take on even more significance with Nebraska visiting this Saturday night and Texas Tech due in town on Oct. 21.
Nebraska’s Zac Taylor is fourth nationally in passing efficiency and has thrown for 12 touchdowns. Taylor completed fewer than half his passes in the Cornhuskers’ overtime victory against Kansas (15-of-33), but those completions accounted for a whopping 395 yards. It helped that he had two 75-yard touchdown passes and another that covered 78 yards. Taylor’s probably already salivating over getting a shot at the Cyclones’ defense.
One change in the secondary isn’t going to improve the pass defense overnight. Plus, it’s more than just the secondary. The front four isn’t getting enough pressure on the quarterback. When the Cyclones blitz, they often don’t get much from it. McCarney also says the defensive backs aren’t breaking on the ball as aggressively as they should. And he says everyone is missing too many tackles. McCarney blames the missed tackles as much as anything for the opponents’ big passing numbers.
As for Johnson, he’s pretty much an unknown. He has yet to make a tackle (Banks is third on the team in tackles). According to ISU’s participation charts, Johnson hasn’t played since the opener against Toledo. Teammates say Johnson will be just fine, but that’s what you’d expect them to say.
We’ll find out soon enough if Johnson can make a difference. For sure, the Cyclones have to find a way to get some heat on Taylor — make him throw it sooner than he wants, bang him around a little bit, sack him a couple of times, anything to disrupt his rhythm.
Can the Cyclones do it? They haven’t so far, though they did make some good adjustments in the second half against Northern Iowa. How do you see things playing out? Is this going to be another long night for the defense?
