Wow. Two more weeks, two more wins. Iowa has now set a school record with 9 consecutive victories to start the season. Say what you want about the margin of victory but the bottom line is Iowa is 9-0 (5-0 in the Big Ten) and has a one game lead in the Big Ten race.
The Michigan State game was one of the hardest hitting games I have ever seen. Michigan State's program was built to model Iowa's and that always makes for a close game. In 2007 Iowa won in OT; in 2008 Michigan State won by 3, and in 2009 Iowa needed a last second 7 yard TD to win, 15-13. It was one of those magical moments that you will remember for a very long time. Even my wife, who is not a huge football fan, was jumping around the living room screaming. Surprisingly we didn't wake the kids. Even in defeat Iowa suffered some major losses. On offense Dace Richardson broke a bone in his lower leg and is done until the bowl game, Adam Robinson sprained an ankle and is out for a while, Brandon Wegher took a shot to the ribs, and Colin Sandeman got laid out by a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit that drew the ire of the Michigan State "faithful" (I really hope they were booing the penalty and not the injured player, although multiple sources, say they were booing the loudest when Sandeman walked off the field). On defense Brett Greenwood was laid out by a friendly fire helmet-to-helmet hit that was delivered by Tyler Sash. Luckily Sandeman and Greenwood were not seriously hurt; Greenwood was carted off while Sandeman walked off on his own. I, personally, feel the worst for Dace. Luckily he didn't hurt his knees as he has spent a lot of time trying to come back from knee injuries that were thought to be career-ending. He will be missed over the next few weeks but Iowa has linemen that are more than capable of filling the void. Dace's injury makes Bryan Bulaga's illness earlier in the season look like a blessing in disguise as it gave Reily Reiff some playing time. When all was said and done, the offense finally showed up with 97 seconds left in the game and was able to score the winning touch down with no time left, on a 4th down no less. This was also Iowa's first victory in East Lansing, MI since 1995.
Out of the players injured against Michigan State only Wegher and Greenwood started against Indiana. Unfortunately Greenwood only lasted a few plays before taking himself out. Wegher was able to play the entire game and had a career day as the primary back. He gained 118 yards and had 3 touch downs in the big victory over Indiana. The Hawks started slowly again, falling behind 21-7 at the half. After halftime Ricky Stanzi went off, in a bad way. Stanzi threw 4 interceptions in the 3rd quarter, but Indiana could only muster 3 points in the quarter. Tyler Sash grabbed a batted Ben Chappell pass and returned it 86 yards for an Iowa touchdown. At the end of the 3rd it was 24-14 Indiana. Prior to Sash's return Kinnick Stadium was dead quiet. The pick got the crowd, and the team, back in the game. Iowa took over in the 4th quarter, scoring 28 unanswered points to pull away. Stanzi hit Marvin McNutt on a intermediate crossing route that McNutt turned into a 92 yard touch down. At this point I noticed Indiana's defense was tired. On the next Iowa possession a similar play was called and Derrell Johnson-Koulianos caught the pass and went 66 yards for a touch down. Brandon Wegher then added his second and third touch down runs to put the game away. Iowa committed 6 turnovers on the day and only forced 3. The big difference is that Iowa capitalized on those opportunities while Indiana did not. The Iowa defense stepped up big time in the second half allowing only 3 points. One of these days Iowa will put a whole game together and we will all see what they can do.
I got to thinking about how the last few games have gone. I don't know if it's more about adjustments made during the game or halftime as much as it is conditioning of the players. It seems that Iowa is always fresh later in the game than the other teams. Today's game was a great example of that as Indiana couldn't do anything and looked fatigued. The first part of the body to be affected is the mind (blown coverage, penalties) and then the body. Indiana couldn't do anything in the 4th quarter this week, or last, and I really think it came down to conditioning. Strength and Conditioning Coach Chris Doyle has done a marvelous job with this team and should be given a lifetime contract, along with Coach Kirk Ferentz and Coach Erik Campbell.
Up next are the Northwestern Wildcats. Last year NW came into Iowa City and left with a victory after forcing 5 Iowa turnovers and holding Iowa out of the end-zone (after a 1st and 8) to win the game.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
The 130
Three weeks ago I ended with "This is shaping up to be a special season. I'm glad I'm along for the ride!" What a ride it has been. In the three games (read: victories) since that statement it has been a wild roller coaster during the games. The Hawkeyes are 7-0 (3-0 in Big Ten Play, 4-0 at home). For whatever reason the Hawks have played their best football away from Iowa City. I don't know if they are trying to get people to visit the University hospital for blood pressure and heart related ailments after the games or if Kinnick is losing some of it's luster as a tough place to play. What it all comes down to at the end of the day is Iowa is 7-0 for the first time since 1985 and is ranked in the top 10 in the major polls and #6 in the initial BCS ranking.
I knew that the Michigan and Wisconsin games would be tough, especially with going to Madison, but I didn't think the Arkansas St game would be as close as it was. I'm not blaming it on Iowa turnovers because there was only one mistake and, while it lead to 7 Ark St points, doesn't mean that they wouldn't have scored 7 points on that drive had it not been returned. All it did was get their 100 fans cheering for a minute. Too bad Iowa gave them more to cheer and hope for later on in the game. Luckily a win is a win no matter if it's by 1 point or 100 points; style points don't matter. One thing that really struck me as odd was how out of the game the crowd was. My area of the stands is always loud but when Iowa crosses the 50 we usually quiet down and let the south end do some of the work. When that happened it got quiet, almost eerily quiet. Iowa just came off a big win AT Penn St and everyone forgets how to make noise? Made no sense to me, however.....
For only the 4th time in the history of Kinnick Stadium a true night game was played (true as in i started in the evening rather than ended in the dark but started in the afternoon). This game was billed as the biggest home game of the season and the opponent was the Wolverines of Michigan. The last time Michigan was in Iowa City the game went to overtime and Michigan won. I will go on record as saying the officials had a rough game and helped with the outcome. That game also ended a 30+ game home winning streak for Iowa. After a 2 year break from each other the series started back up to an electrified crowd dressed in black and waving gold poms in the air. It wasn't the most electric crowd I've been part of, but it was fun (my vocal cords and throat beg to differ). This game also put Iowa at 6-0 and bowl elidgible for the 9th consecutive season (8 bowl apperances during that span). The defense made Tate Forcier look like an 18 year old and the Iowa offense made the Michigan defense look good. Michigan has some good athletes (Forcier is the next Tebow, and I don't mean that in a good way) and is a decent team, but I don't think the game should have been that close. The Hawks left with a close victory and started the most grueling two week stretch of the season with trips to Madison and East Lansing.
Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin is a rough place to play for most college football teams. However, Iowa usually goes in and plays well. Even in 2007 (the season that shall not be discussed more) Iowa lost 17-14 with Andy Brodell destroying his quadricep muscle and Tony Moeaki losing his arm. Wisconsin was ranked at the time and was rolling along. That game was the coming out party for Derrell Johnson-Koulianos who stepped up big time. This year it didn't seem anyone in particular had a coming out party. The real Ricky Stanzi finally showed up. He was throwing perfect passes both from the pocket and on the run and he didn't have any interceptions (although he did lose a fumble, Wisconsin missed a field goal after the recovery). I still think he throws one of the best deep balls in the nation. Tony Moeaki makes the offense 1,000,000 times better when he's in the game, DJK is Stanzi's go-to guy, and the two-headed running back approach seems to be working for one of the two every game. The biggest weakness is the offensive line. The perrenial strength of a Kirk Ferentz team is the o-line but this year they have been terribly inconsistant. Thankfully it looked as destructive as ever in the second half against Wisconsin. On the other side of the ball the defense has been getting run on a lot this year. I'm surprisingly ok with that as most college teams pass a lot more than run this year, and Iowa has done a great job in the pass defense department. Like the offensive line, the defense appeared to take the first half off but really came to life in the second half. The line was getting better penetration and the back 7 were doing their jobs nicely. 3 more interceptions (lead the nation) helped tremendously. I was sweating in the first half but I have now come to realize that Iowa is 7-0 this year when having to come from behind. If the team can start showing consistency from the offense and defense for 60 minutes it will be a scarry thing.
The outlook is starting to look Rosy for the Iowa Hawkeyes. All alone at the top of the Big Ten standings sure feels good but there are still 5 tough contests coming up. Iowa has not won at Michigan State (Oct 24) since 1995 and have not won at Ohio State (Nov 7) since 1991. Those are the last two road games of the season and could be stumbling blocksl; I don't see Iowa losing to Indiana, Northwestern, or Minnesota. If Iowa makes it through those two road games the road to Pasadena will be paved with Black and Gold. The only thing that will need to be determined is the day Iowa will play their bowl game; it will either be January 1, 2010 (Rose Bowl) or January 7, 2010 (BCS title game).
I knew that the Michigan and Wisconsin games would be tough, especially with going to Madison, but I didn't think the Arkansas St game would be as close as it was. I'm not blaming it on Iowa turnovers because there was only one mistake and, while it lead to 7 Ark St points, doesn't mean that they wouldn't have scored 7 points on that drive had it not been returned. All it did was get their 100 fans cheering for a minute. Too bad Iowa gave them more to cheer and hope for later on in the game. Luckily a win is a win no matter if it's by 1 point or 100 points; style points don't matter. One thing that really struck me as odd was how out of the game the crowd was. My area of the stands is always loud but when Iowa crosses the 50 we usually quiet down and let the south end do some of the work. When that happened it got quiet, almost eerily quiet. Iowa just came off a big win AT Penn St and everyone forgets how to make noise? Made no sense to me, however.....
For only the 4th time in the history of Kinnick Stadium a true night game was played (true as in i started in the evening rather than ended in the dark but started in the afternoon). This game was billed as the biggest home game of the season and the opponent was the Wolverines of Michigan. The last time Michigan was in Iowa City the game went to overtime and Michigan won. I will go on record as saying the officials had a rough game and helped with the outcome. That game also ended a 30+ game home winning streak for Iowa. After a 2 year break from each other the series started back up to an electrified crowd dressed in black and waving gold poms in the air. It wasn't the most electric crowd I've been part of, but it was fun (my vocal cords and throat beg to differ). This game also put Iowa at 6-0 and bowl elidgible for the 9th consecutive season (8 bowl apperances during that span). The defense made Tate Forcier look like an 18 year old and the Iowa offense made the Michigan defense look good. Michigan has some good athletes (Forcier is the next Tebow, and I don't mean that in a good way) and is a decent team, but I don't think the game should have been that close. The Hawks left with a close victory and started the most grueling two week stretch of the season with trips to Madison and East Lansing.
Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin is a rough place to play for most college football teams. However, Iowa usually goes in and plays well. Even in 2007 (the season that shall not be discussed more) Iowa lost 17-14 with Andy Brodell destroying his quadricep muscle and Tony Moeaki losing his arm. Wisconsin was ranked at the time and was rolling along. That game was the coming out party for Derrell Johnson-Koulianos who stepped up big time. This year it didn't seem anyone in particular had a coming out party. The real Ricky Stanzi finally showed up. He was throwing perfect passes both from the pocket and on the run and he didn't have any interceptions (although he did lose a fumble, Wisconsin missed a field goal after the recovery). I still think he throws one of the best deep balls in the nation. Tony Moeaki makes the offense 1,000,000 times better when he's in the game, DJK is Stanzi's go-to guy, and the two-headed running back approach seems to be working for one of the two every game. The biggest weakness is the offensive line. The perrenial strength of a Kirk Ferentz team is the o-line but this year they have been terribly inconsistant. Thankfully it looked as destructive as ever in the second half against Wisconsin. On the other side of the ball the defense has been getting run on a lot this year. I'm surprisingly ok with that as most college teams pass a lot more than run this year, and Iowa has done a great job in the pass defense department. Like the offensive line, the defense appeared to take the first half off but really came to life in the second half. The line was getting better penetration and the back 7 were doing their jobs nicely. 3 more interceptions (lead the nation) helped tremendously. I was sweating in the first half but I have now come to realize that Iowa is 7-0 this year when having to come from behind. If the team can start showing consistency from the offense and defense for 60 minutes it will be a scarry thing.
The outlook is starting to look Rosy for the Iowa Hawkeyes. All alone at the top of the Big Ten standings sure feels good but there are still 5 tough contests coming up. Iowa has not won at Michigan State (Oct 24) since 1995 and have not won at Ohio State (Nov 7) since 1991. Those are the last two road games of the season and could be stumbling blocksl; I don't see Iowa losing to Indiana, Northwestern, or Minnesota. If Iowa makes it through those two road games the road to Pasadena will be paved with Black and Gold. The only thing that will need to be determined is the day Iowa will play their bowl game; it will either be January 1, 2010 (Rose Bowl) or January 7, 2010 (BCS title game).
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