Pass protection under the microscope for Iowa offensive line

IOWA CITY — Truth be told, some football stats entertain a degree of subjectivity.

Did the receiver drop the pass or did the defensive back cause that incompletion? Is a quarterback hurry a hit on the quarterback or is it a QB feeling footsteps and missing on a throw? And then there's STEPA (Special Teams Expected Points Added) and the crazy algebra that goes with.

Sacks kind of sort of fall into that category. Does the quarterback hold the ball too long? Does a wide receiver miss a blitz read? Does a running back blow a protection? None of that really matters. Sacks usually get stapled to the offensive line.

Iowa offensive line coach Brian Ferentz is OK with this notion.

'Well, we gave up 32 sacks last year, so we gave up seven in the bowl game,' he said during a Wednesday news conference. 'I think we gave — we may have only given up three in the Big Ten Championship game (vs. Michigan State) but it sure felt like more than that.

'I'd like to sit here and tell you that they were all the quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers faults, but we all know that's not true.'

Iowa's sack numbers did bulge in 2015. It's an easy factor to overlook given that the Hawkeyes, oh yeah, put up a 12-0 regular season that included quarterback C.J. Beathard earning second-team all-Big Ten, the first such honor for an Iowa QB since Drew Tate in 2004.

And then there was the Big Ten championship game and the Rose Bowl. Yes, Beathard was hampered from around the middle of the season on with what turned out to be a sports hernia, but Iowa allowed three sacks against the Spartans in the B1G title game and seven against Stanford in the Rose Bowl.

In a post this week about Iowa's prospects for 2016, ESPN.com stated Iowa finished last in the Big Ten in 'pressure rate.' The post explained pressure rate 'is defined as the percentage of dropbacks where a quarterback was sacked, under duress or hit.' According to the post, Iowa's 34.2 percent mark was higher than any other team in the B1G.

That's a new number and, probably, is somewhat up to interpretation, but Ferentz discussed Iowa's heightened awareness in protecting the quarterback.

'Yes, pass protection is a priority this offseason.' Ferentz said, 'That's the No. 1 priority now, outside of developing our roster and our depth, is improving our pass protection. We went from two years ago — I know in 2013, we ended up giving up 15 maybe, 15 or 16, including the bowl game. So to double that number in two years, I think that's alarming and certainly when you look at what we did down the stretch, that's alarming.'

Video: Brian Ferentz's opening spring comments

Iowa finished 85th in the nation in sacks allowed during the 2015 season. In the four years leading up to 2015, Iowa finished 31st (21 sacks), 12th (15 sacks), 51st (22) and 81st (29). The high during Kirk Ferentz's 17 years at Iowa was 57 in 2000 and the low was 12 in 2002.

This, however, isn't a 'tear it all down, start over' situation, Ferentz said. Senior Cole Croston has progressed from walk-on to two-year starter at tackle and is No. 1 left tackle this spring. Junior Boone Myers did move from tackle to guard, but Ferentz said his status is rock solid. Junior Ike Boettger is back at tackle after missing six games last year with an ankle injury.

Ferentz broke down the coaching takeaways from the B1G title game and Rose Bowl.

'In the Michigan State game, for example, our No. 1 problem in that game was hard rushes and that's not an indictment of the tackles,' Ferentz said. 'I mean, they're blocking NFL players and at some point if you play 70 snaps, you're going to get beaten.

'The unfortunate thing is you may win 20 of your 22 head-to-head battles, but the only two that are going to matter to everybody, including us, are the two you lose. What we need to do is probably give them a little more help.

'Do a better job of formation, chipping, motioning, some of those things, to protect those guys. I wouldn't put that on them. That was bad coaching in my opinion, starting with myself.'

Michigan State's Shilique Calhoun had two of those three sacks. He's projected to go in the second round of the NFL draft. Against Stanford, the Cardinal front put itself in three-on-three situations with the Iowa O-line and broke rushers free with movement. Also, Iowa's offense faced an immediate deficit and, subsequently, bunch of third-and-long situations against Stanford, which allowed the Cardinal to turn up the heat.

'They did a really good job of studying our protection, getting a bead on what we were doing, and probably again, bad coaching, we were maybe a little too predictable what we were going to do on third down from a protection standpoint and then isolating three-over-three with a game or pick or stunt designed to put stress on that,' Ferentz said. 'That's been a point of emphasis, and that's been something we've talked about in our room and went back and studied and looked at.'

Video: Brian Ferentz on Shaun Welsh

Ferentz is well aware Iowa's opponents have dug in on video from Michigan State and Stanford. Maybe sacks as a stat can come with degree of equivocation, but football doesn't really do equivocation.

'We open with Miami of Ohio. They've studied that tape,' Ferentz said. 'Iowa State is watching that tape. I know they're hungry to beat us, so they're watching that tape.

'North Dakota State certainly is not real impressed with anybody, because they are a really good outfit. They've been watching that tape. Go down the list. Our nine Big Ten opponents are probably all studying that tape. Obviously that's been a point of emphasis.'

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com