Iowa football: Missouri’s stacked offense likes to mix it up
Tempe, Ariz. — Variety adds spice to Missouri’s spread offense.
Other football programs employ similar schemes, but the 14th-ranked Tigers bring a large blend of potential playmakers to their Insight Bowl matchup against Iowa on Dec. 28.
When junior quarterback Blaine Gabbert steps into the huddle, he could be joined by three different running backs averaging more than 5 yards per carry, or six potential receivers averaging more than 11 yards per catch.
“It obviously starts with their quarterback,” Hawkeyes safety Brett Greenwood said. “He can throw the ball very well, very accurately.
“And then, you move on to their running backs, their receivers. It keeps going on and on.”
Missouri (10-2) is scoring 30.3 points and averaging 401.1 yards per game, thanks in large part to five primary catalysts:
Missouri running back De'Vion Moore is one of Missouri's many weapons on offense. (Jeff Curry/US Presswire)
De’Vion Moore (tailback): He is a former high school teammate of Iowa receiver Marvin McNutt.
When summer camp began, the 5-foot-9, 195-pound junior from St. Louis was listed as a third-stringer.
Now, Moore leads the Tigers with 485 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.
“We understand our roles,” Moore said after Friday’s practice. “We understand the importance of being an unselfish player.
“In order to have a successful team, you have to have people willing to sacrifice.”
Moore, who averages 5.2 yards per rush, shares carries with Kendial Lawrence (5.7) and Henry Josey (5.7).
“Some are bigger, some are smaller,” Greenwood said of Missouri’s running backs. “They have a lot of different packages that we’re trying to figure how to best match up with.”
T.J. Moe (receiver): Missouri’s top wideout, with 893 receiving yards.
The 6-foot, 200-pound sophomore has caught six passes for touchdowns, and run for another score.
He’s a 4.0 student with a knack for finding openings in a defense.
“If somebody is labeling you a possession receiver, you’re doing your job,” Moe said. “The only thing that means to me is you catch the ball really well. So that’s a compliment.”
Jerrell Jackson (receiver): Helped spearhead a 36-27 upset of Oklahoma with nine catches for 139 yards and a touchdown.
He gives the Tigers a deep threat with exceptional speed.
A 6-1, 190-pound junior, Jackson was rated among the nation’s top 100 prep receivers coming out of Houston, Texas.
Wes Kemp (receiver): Has started every game for Missouri the past two seasons.
The 6-4, 220-pound junior senior from St. Louis gives Gabbert a big target and is one of four Tigers with at least three touchdown catches.
“If you want to have a good team, you can’t just have one all-star player,” Moe said. “The hardest thing to stop is when you don’t know who to stop.”
Michael Egnew (tight end): A matchup nightmare.
He stands 6-6 and weighs 235 pounds, enabling him to outreach and outmuscle most defenders.
Egnew, who grew up Plainview, Texas, earned first-team all-America honors and leads all tight ends nationally with 83 receptions.
“You don’t see too many tight ends who are taller than that,” Greenwood said. “He’s very versatile. He can do a lot of things for them.”
The Missouri coaches make their offense even more potent with an array of formations, intended to keep opponents guessing.
“It’s stuff that you draw up in the sand at the beach,” Hawkeyes defensive coordinator Norm Parker said, “but they know what they’re doing with it. There’s a method to their madness.
“I think figuring out the method to the madness is the trick.”
Category: Iowa Hawkeyes Football
The Hawks better be ready. I live in Overland Park, KS and Mizzou has ZERO respect for Iowa. They’re not wondering “can we win”, but rather “can we score 60″. Mizzou has chalked this up as an easy win and are focused on 2011..
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This team is not a good match up for the Hawks. I have a horrible feeling it wont even be close.
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All the discussion is moot if Iowa continues as it has this season.
Playing conservatively is difficult enough without playing predictably. As one of the writers on this site noted, when Paul Cheney was in, everyone knew that the play was almost certainly a reverse. If everyone in the stands knew, bet the other team knew. The coaching staff couldn’t figure that out, or didn’t want to take an unknown risk. Iowa didn’t field other options very often in those situations.
Kirk Ferentz and his staff are very good coaches (aside: the people who want to fire Kirk or either coordinator are wrong; I’d use another word than wrong, like idiots, but that might get me reported).
To rise and stay up in the standings, to be a power program, they have to embrace a lesser degree of certainty. So what if a freshman may fumble or a player may miss a block? Teams always make mistakes; the players are human.
At least twice now, at the beginning of the season, the media has predicted that Iowa was going to be a top-ten team at the end of the season, but Iowa ended the season unranked. This year was one. (In fact, Kirk Herbstreit noted this historical practice in a comment on ESPN. He stated that Iowa had prove that it could step up to the next level before he would consider them a top team. This season he was right again.)
Twice Iowa failed with poor records at the end of the season (compared to the predictions). Twice they played the same way. If they don’t want it to happen a third time, the coaching staff needs to figure out what happened both years and fix it.
I suggest that they have to be more adaptable and take more risk when they can choose to, not when they are forced to by desperate circumstances.
Wisconsin and Michigan State have.
Certainty causes predictability; it lessens what you can do, and lets other teams confidently attack, attack, attack. Certainty doesn’t allow you to understand how the game is changing. A faster pace of plays and speed are the trend.
The same is true of taking risks with players. Two years ago, Iowa had to use two freshmen running backs, with two different styles of running. Iowa took the risk because it had to, and it worked. Teams had to continually shift defenses. This year, Iowa could have done the same with Coker, and created problems while gaining experience and helping backs last the season. (Can anyone say “Wisconsin and a freshman running back?”)
Instead, they scaled back to one back, who got beat up and slowed down through the season so that by the end of the year, he was pretty much done, and Iowa had no practice or thoughts and experience about using another running back with a different style. Adam Robinson had heart, but he took too much of a pounding.
It may be too late to fix things this year, but the coaches should think about this over the winter and decide what they are going to do. Other teams appears to know what to do against Iowa, and Iowa isn’t always getting the talent onto the field until they have no choice- and then it too late.
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Last year Georgia Tech also had little respect for Iowa… with their high falootin offense and all..
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Georgia Tech was a joke. Missouri should have no respect for Iowa. Missouri fans got the shaft by being pared with a soft opponent from a soft conference. Iowa is going to get mud stomped. Game will be over by half time.
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I played football through college and I can say that’s just the cocky attitude you would want the opponent to have coming into a game against you, as long as you have a good team, which Iowa does. Score a TD and stop them a few times and they go “huh? What’s going on.” That’s the same attitude Ga. Tech had last year. They were’nt prepared to leave everything on the field, and if Mizzou isn’t ready to do that, and Iowa is, the Hawks will kick their butts.
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Kinnick1, I totally disagree. I’m not a Kansas, I’m a Missourian who live 30 miles from the Mizzou campus. Missouri has tremendous respect for the Iowa Hawkeyes and so does the fan base. We all know Iowa should have 10 or 11 wins this season. They have an outstanding program, one of the best in the country. This game will be a great challenge for Missouri. Iowa is a first-class opponent in every way! Hope Missouri wins and Iowa wins the Big 10 next year.
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I’m trying to figure out how living in the KC area makes you know that. Have you been talking to the players (who aren’t based in KC)? Have you been talking to Mizzou boosters in the KC area, and they’ve been talking to the players? Because if you’ve just been talking to Mizzou fans in the KC area, who cares. I’d be interested to know if the Mizzou players have been saying that, although you don’t give any indication that’s what you mean. I also tend to doubt you’d have that info. If you know something, let us know.
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NOONE from ANY conference has beaten Iowa by more than 7 points in 3 years. Vegas has Missouri only favored by 1.5 points. I think those who know football have a great deal of respect for the Hawkeyes. I truly hope that Mizzou doesn’t respect this team. They do so at their own peril.
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