The run defense could use some work. Stanzi still hasn't played well in the first half. The offensive line can't seem to stay healthy and form a consistent unit. And, worst of all, it seems like Iowa's dominate 35-3 victory over Iowa State in Ames was more a product of Austen Arnaud's sheer incompetence than stifling coverage by an Iowa secondary that was more than questionable last week. Yet, the only two questions I had on my mind after this thoroughly satisfying thumping of our in-state little brother was "Who the heck cares?" and "Where's the victory celebration at?" That air of satisfaction embodied the attitude of most every Iowa fan, optimist and pragmatist, last Saturday as the Hawkeyes ventured on the road, to a place they had only been victorious at ONE time this entire decade (not since 2003 with the venerable Nathan Chandler at QB), and smashed their rivals in the biggest college football game played every year in the tiny state of Iowa, handing Paul Rhoads a humbling first loss as Cyclones' coach and relegating the Ames faithful to the middling stature of 3rd-best team in the Hawkeye state. Anyone who watched Iowa's first two games should be able to bellow with confidence that UNI is a much better team, both defensively and offensively, than the Division-1 Cyclones, so is it finally time that they realize the Big 12 is much too competitive for them to ever be successful, and become resigned to joining the MAC? We'll see. Right now, Hawkeyes infesting the rowdy streets of Iowa City on this Saturday night should be content to chant "In Heaven There is No Beer" at the local bars, kick back on Sunday, procrastinate on the inevitable piles of homework, and close those eyelids, just for a short while, with the satisfaction that your football team is unquestionably the best one in the state, and, right now at least, one of the best in the Big Ten.
It was a beautiful day in Ames, and the jam-packed crowd was as juiced as ever for what they had hoped would be a mirror of Iowa's last trip to State in 2007, when Jake Christensen and the heavily favored Hawks muddled their way through a dud of an offensive stinker, scoring only 13 points while the embattled 'Clones kicked 5 field goals to give Coach Chizik one-fifth of his career victories at Iowa State. The major concerns heading into this year's contest included the seemingly perpetual shuffling of the offensive-line, thought to finally be a full unit again with the return of left guard Julian Vandervelde and, more importantly, right tackle Kyle Calloway, but left tackle Bryan Bulaga was hospitalized late in the week with some phantom illness supposedly ranging from deadly heart failure to swine flu, and would be making the trip, but not playing. Kirk pacified any mortal fears with a reassurance that Bulaga would again play this season, sooner rather than later, but would not elaborate on the mystery illness or when he would be cleared by a doctor. Next, how would the gameplan differ with the obvious strength of the team being its passing? Would the coaches stubbornly stick to "balance" and predictability, or exhibit the confidence to let Stanzi air the ball out more? Also, the anemic running game gave fans reason to doubt the productivity of the offense against UNI the previous week. Would Adam Robinson be able to shoulder the majority of the load? Would we see more Wegher (hint, hint) or Jeff Brinson? Finally, with Shaun Prater not returning to the lineup until next week's game against Arizona, the secondary bore a major hole on the left side, likely to be filled once again by the shaky William Lowe/Greg Castillo combination. Would they be able to stave off a red-hot Arnaud? Well, you guys all watched the game, so here are the main points I could glean from it.
-Brandon Wegher is a young mustang. Wow, what a savior at the running back position! It's very easy to get lost in empty platitudes and absurd hyperbole for my fellow U of Iowa freshman from Dakota Dunes, South Dakota, but with the sparkling, explosive performance that he put on against the Cyclones, it became stunningly apparent that we have a more than capable running back for the future here at Iowa. Wegher made a bevy of eye-opening plays, included a leaping one-handed catch on a dump-off from Stanzi that would have been impressive had he just reigned it in and fell over, but was made even more incredible by the fact he maintained his balance while cutting and spinning his way forward for the first down. On one of the game's final, most punishing drives, Wegher nabbed almost ten yards a carry, darting his way through an obviously comfortable line's massive holes, charging his undersized body into the Cyclone secondary with reckless abandon. He finished with 15 carries for 101 yards and a diving touchdown from the 1 yard line, showing off his springy hops in the process of scoring his first collegiate touchdown after a senior year at Sioux City Heelan when he scored over 50 of them. Wegher is exciting because he can make plays athletically that nobody else on this roster can, and you can expect the undersized gem of the 2008 recruiting class to keep making them for the next four years. Oh yea, Adam Robinson had a pretty good game as well! He continues to run hard, and with fiery burst, rushing for almost 70 yards on just under 20 carries, setting up Iowa's first touchdown and providing a consistent option all game long. Look for Robinson and Wegher to get about even carries against Arizona next week. Paki and Brinson each nabbed a carry apiece, but both appear to be out of the rotation for the forseeable future.
-Ken O'Keefe came in with an excellent gameplan, and though it wasn't always executed to perfection, it showed a willingness to change and deviate towards common sense instead of what is expected all of the time. Seeing that the strength of this team was in its stacked wide receiver depth and gunslinging quarterback, the Hawks came out throwing, sometimes on all three downs, with 5-wideout sets! Never has Iowa run 5-wideout sets, or passed the ball to set up the run on first down. It was a bold, fresh decision by KOK, and a very fun, loose style of play that opposing defenses aren't used to seeing Iowa encourage. This may have been an abberration, as Iowa seems to have established their previously ambiguous running game, and ISU's Charmin-soft defense was just begging to give up yardage through the air, but whatever the reasoning, it was entertaining and refreshing to see KOK open up his playbook and let Stanzi dictate the game with the pass. Fantastic gameplan, and a huge reason the Hawks won.
-The offensive line did a very serviceable job against an admittedly overmatched Iowa State defensive front, even without Bulaga on the left side. Redshirt freshman Riley Reiff, known more for naked, drunken Pancheros runs than his play on the field, still needs to add some bulk, but appears much larger than when he was a freshman (yeahhh Chris Doyle yeahhh). He filled in quite nicely for Bulaga at left tackle, brandishing a mean streak and tenacity that are instrumental qualities to being an Iowa porker up front. Calloway's return made a huge difference, as well as Vandervelde's temporary effort, while Dace Richardson's return to prominence continues to be one of the best stories of the season. This line is deep, talented, with an apt blend of youth and experience, but we won't know the full extent of its dominance until we can have a week when they all are fully healthy. That is what defines a consistent, dominate offensive line, like our 2002 outfit. Hopefully against Penn State, the Hawks can acheive that.
-Ricky Stanzi continued his Jekyll and Hyde act with a 2-INT first half performance, then followed that up with a near-flawless 2 touchdown second half en route to the first 4-TD game of his career. He continues to prove that mistakes do nothing to influence his chuck-first, ask questions later mindset, and he is the king of "bounce-back" drives and performances after making a poor throw, but it's impossible to ignore all the points left on the board with Stanzi's shaky first half, when he consistently overthrew open wideouts and looked shockingly Christensen-esque at times. Luckily, his beautiful pass to DJK for the touchdown that put Iowa up 14-3 reaffirmed the people's belief that Stanzi can make all the capable throws, and his pair of second half endzone darts to Allen Resiner and Keenan Davis, respectively, identified him strongly as a clutch, 4th-quarter nightmare dating back to the iconic Penn State drive last year. If Stanzi's second-half passer rating were used strictly as a judge of his quarterbacking ability, he would be trumping Colt McCoy, not only in swagger but in the Heisman race. Just sayin'.
-Finally, I'll end with the undisputed stars of the game...safeties Tyler Sash and Brett Greenwood, responsible for 6 Iowa State turnovers, including 4 interceptions by Arnaud in a paltry 79 yard effort, and 1 for his backup, Jerome Tiller. Black and gold pessimists will likely point to average defensive line play, allowing Cyclone back Alexander Robinson to gain 100 yards, as a potential pitfall for this team, and don't get me wrong, they will have to play better, but this is a talented group that can collapse the pocket and dominate the line of scrimmage. Unfortunately, on this day, those interception were on Arnaud, not frenzied pressure from Adrian Clayborn or Broderick Binns. Instead of methodically attacking our soft Cover 2 with underneath slant routes and the like, always open with our secondary playing nearly 10 yards back, Arnaud, adrenaline flowing like a geyser, attempted to go for the homerun on numerous occasions, not anticipating turnover machine Sash would be playing centerfield and plucking Arnaud's duds from the sky like a low punt. Sash picked off three of Arnaud's passes, none of them requiring him to overly stretch his body to reach, adding some spice to the nabs with some fancy moves on his juke-heavy returns. He also forced a fumble on Robinson, a crucial turnover, finishing off his successful day with four forced turnovers, an unprecedented feat for a single player. If Sash keeps this up, he will break most every statistical record at Iowa, potentially going down as ONE of our best safeties of all time. Don't laugh. Just hope I didn't jinx him. Also can't forget about Greenwood, who fielded two major interceptions himself where he potentially could have called for fair catch. It was a satisfyingly productive day for a player who generates a fairly decent amount of blogosphere mockery. Amari Spievey had a relatively quiet day, which means that he was doing his job, while Willie Lowe played admirably at the other corner spot. Prater back next week, folks, so it's valuable that we've developed some depth in his absence. The Iowa run defense will be tested by the number 2 rusher in the nation, Arizona's Nic Grigsby, while Ricky Stanzi is pitted up against the fastest secondary he's had to face all season! Go Hawks, Blackout Saturday!
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