Iowa State's NG is named Stephen Ruempolhamer.
Their TE is named Kurt Hammerschmidt.
Sometime in the late 1st quarter, I started singing:
Ste-phen Ruempolhamer Kurt Hammerschmidtttttt, his name is my name too! over and over in my head and it hasn't stopped since. Apologies to John Jenkins Jingleheimer Schmidt.
Iowa State responded to our base two back, one TE offense with an eight man box and the running game didn't come easy. They were clearly going to force us to back them off in the passing game and David Ash provided the necessary punishment with two money touchdown tosses in the 2nd quarter. The offense got pretty shoddy in the second half. Lack of urgency, Iowa St pride, hefty substitutions, and some inconsistency were the primary culprits. We certainly pulled in the reins a bit, but it would have been nice to have finished strong.
Texas left Ames with a convincing 37-14 win and though we're nowhere close to being what we will eventually be, we passed another test. The play action toss to Mike Davis right after Leonard Johnson was pulled for his personal foul, targeted right at his replacement and ISU's run crashing safeties, was a really nice, if unnecessary reminder, that the guy up in our booth gets it.
Ste-phen Ruempolhamer Kurt Hammerschmidtttttt, his name is my name too!
QB
An efficient and productive total performance (combined 14 of 24 for 255, no turnovers) despite some obvious miscues, which makes the Harsin offense all the more scary. We proved we can punish run overplay and that was an important box to check heading into Dallas.
When you consider Ash's limited role against UCLA, it's pretty clear from the snap distribution and the increased breadth of offense that Ash ran that the coaches have plans for him well beyond guy who comes in to give a different look from running packages. Ash looked good throwing the ball, put another couple of balls on the money that should have been caught (DJ Grant drop, great play by ISU DB on a deep ball) and threw two touchdowns off of a great play fake to Mike Davis and the flea flicker end around. He also threw a sloppy ball that should have been picked (triple coverage, 10:26, 2nd quarter) that was bailed out by an ISU penalty and took a grounding penalty on a screen that got sniffed out. Bad throw behind Jaxon Shipley on a seam route on 3rd and 2 in the 3rd quarter.
We put the game out of hand when he got the dominant snaps. He represents a pretty substantial upside if it continues to come together for him.
McCoy also had good moments, but a couple of things stood out to me. The QB slide in front of the sticks on 3rd down was decidedly un-heady and he gave up an awareness sack to the backside DE Lattimer when he bailed on the pocket when his first read wasn't there. It's a bad habit and its ingrained in him pretty deeply. His deep ball to Jaxon Shipley was a good play from #8 who had to come across the DB's hands to snatch it, but Case did recognize the size mismatch. I didn't like the sideline body language when he was pulled for Ash after throwing a bad screen ball and props to Mack Brown for calling him on it. If Case's irritation came from simple competitiveness of wanting to make a play, no worries. All in all, Case had a solid game and he's going to continue to play a crucial role in this offense as we explore the depth of Mr Ash's abilities.
Ste-phen Ruempolhamer Kurt Hammerschmidtttttt, his name is my name too!
RB
Fozzy followed up a strong UCLA game with another quality effort (7-41-1td, 2 receptions). He's really seeing the field well and some of the cuts he made out of the Wildcat and running at HB is stuff we haven't seen from him in some time. He's pretty crucial to a lot of what we do. I thought DJ (5-31) was good as well and was very game in turning it up inside. Malcolm maximized his runs (15-63) and though he didn't have a chance to go off, I'm actually happy he'll be that much more ready for OU. I like the pitch sweep wrinkle we've added and it'll be a nice supplement for defensive overplay as they perceive MB as a pure inside runner. Bergeron got to finish for the 2nd straight week (4-28) and continues to show that he's a MF'er to tackle when he gets his steam up. As much as I like Bergeron, I'm loathe to upset the current apple cart unless we're looking for a different look in a 3rd down back.
Wasn't blown away by Cody's blocking at FB and penetration never gave him a chance on his one short yardage opportunity.
WR/TE
The wide receivers had their best game to date. Shipley was electric (6-141-1) adjusting to the ball on Case's throw and on the Ash flea flicker, Mike Davis came up big (3-72-1), and though we did get catches from DJ Grant and Dom Jones at TE (major props to Jones for holding on after getting lit up) DJ dropped an easy ball from Ash on 3rd and long and didn't adjust well to another from Case in the end zone. If we can get production out of TE, the need for a #3 WR to step up is much reduced. I thought the TE blocking was subpar overall.
OL
Started slow, gradually got it together. They were generally solid in pass protection, but pretty average in run blocking. Much better on the move and operating with angles than trying to blow people out head up. ISU outnumbered our running game consistently in our conventional sets and we found it tough sledding to get the run established. We were right at 5 yards a carry if you subtract out sacks, though. Dominic Espinosa turned his ankle and should be OK. When you're averaging 6.3 yards per play overall as an offense, the guys up front are getting it done more often than not, but these are guys that need scheme and time to break in the defense. They're not going to win from the opening snap.
Summary
None of the above matters anymore. No pithy summation suffices.
It's time to play our real rival. It's OU week. Get it on.
Ste-phenRuempolhamerKurtHammerschmidtttttt, his name is my name too!