SB Nation - Ricky Stanzi

If College Football Had a Playoff: #10 Iowa Hawkeyes @ #7 Oregon Ducks

Jeremy Mauss — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:02:45 -0000

Before we get to game four the previous matchup of #15 East Carolina at #2 Texas resulted in a not so surprising Texas easy win.

This current machup of Oregon and Iowa is of contrasting styles and it would be interesting to see how Iowa's defense does against the Oregon spread rushing attack. Also, this game would be different depending on the status of Iowa QB Ricky Stanzi. The Iowa defense should be able to stop the big plays of Oregon, but the yards could just add up if Oregon is successful.

Now for the somewhat scientific view by using What if Sports to simulate this fine matchup that favored Oregon in a close one with Oregon winning 27-20. What if has LaMIchacel James rushing for 267 yards and a score to lead the way for the Ducks.

Now it is time for the fan vote to decide who moves on. Check back daily at 12 PM eastern time to vote for the next matchup, and voting is only for 24 hours. As they say in Chicago vote early and vote often.

Iowa Stats

Passing

		Passing									Rushing					Sacks
	G	Rating	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	INT	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Sack	YdsL
Ricky Stanzi	10	73.0	154	275	56	2186	218.6	7.9	15	14	49	-41	-4.1	-0.8	0	-	-
James Vandenberg	4	30.0	42	87	48.3	470	117.5	5.4	2	5	11	-42	-10.5	-3.8	0	-	-

Rushing

		Rushing					Receiving
	G	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Rec	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD
Jeff Brinson	1	1	7	7	7	0	0	0	0	0	0
Paul Chaney Jr.	6	5	64	10.7	12.8	0	7	50	8.3	7.1	0
Keenan Davis	3	1	0	0	0	0	4	55	18.3	13.8	1
Paki O' Meara	5	16	35	7	2.2	0	1	14	2.8	14	0
Adam Robinson	10	167	775	77.5	4.6	5	10	80	8	8	0
Ricky Stanzi	10	49	-41	-4.1	-0.8	0	0	0	0	0	0
James Vandenberg	4	11	-42	-10.5	-3.8	0	0	0	0	0	0
Brandon Wegher	10	146	528	52.8	3.6	7	13	112	11.2	8.6	0

Receiving

		Receiving
	G	Rec	Yds	Y/G	AVG	TD
Paul Chaney Jr.	6	7	50	8.3	7.1	0
Keenan Davis	3	4	55	18.3	13.8	1
Brad Herman	1	1	3	3	3	0
Derrell Johnson-Koulianos	11	41	687	62.5	16.8	2
Marvin McNutt	10	30	653	65.3	21.8	7
Tony Moeaki	7	26	302	43.1	11.6	4
Don Nordmann	1	1	35	35	35	0
Paki O' Meara	5	1	14	2.8	14	0
Allen Reisner	8	14	143	17.9	10.2	1
Adam Robinson	10	10	80	8	8	0
Colin Sandeman	8	10	83	10.4	8.3	0
Trey Stross	11	30	405	36.8	13.5	1
Brandon Wegher	10	13	112	11.2	8.6	0

Kicking

		Field Goals								PAT
	G	0-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	FGM	FGA	PCT	XPM	XPA	PCT	pts
Daniel Murray	12	-	-	-	-	-	18	25	70.0%	29	29	100.0%	83

Oregon Stats

Passing

		Passing									Rushing					Sacks
	G	Rating	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	INT	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Sack	YdsL
Nate Costa	4	60.0	20	33	60.6	197	49.3	6	1	1	16	18	4.5	1.1	1	-	-
Jeremiah Masoli	11	93.0	168	285	58.9	2064	187.6	7.2	15	5	115	659	59.9	5.7	12	-	-

Rushing

		Rushing					Receiving
	G	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Rec	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD
Remene Alston, Jr.	5	30	133	26.6	4.4	2	0	0	0	0	0
LeGarrette Blount	2	17	46	23	2.7	1	2	13	6.5	6.5	0
Nate Costa	4	16	18	4.5	1.1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Andre Crenshaw	9	50	152	16.9	3	3	3	26	2.9	8.7	0
Jamere Holland	7	3	41	5.9	13.7	0	13	199	28.4	15.3	2
LaMichael James	12	215	1476	123	6.9	14	13	142	11.8	10.9	0
Jeff Maehl	12	1	-2	-0.2	-2	0	52	686	57.2	13.2	6
Jeremiah Masoli	11	115	659	59.9	5.7	12	0	0	0	0	0
Jide Shinaba	1	4	16	16	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lavasier Tuinei	8	1	7	.900	7	0	22	187	23.4	8.5	0

Receiving

		Receiving
	G	Rec	Yds	Y/G	AVG	TD
LeGarrette Blount	2	2	13	6.5	6.5	0
Andre Crenshaw	9	3	26	2.9	8.7	0
D.J. Davis	9	22	232	25.8	10.5	2
Ed Dickson	11	42	551	50.1	13.1	6
Garrett Embry	3	2	-4	-1.3	-2	0
Jamere Holland	7	13	199	28.4	15.3	2
LaMichael James	12	13	142	11.8	10.9	0
Malachi Lewis	2	2	30	15	15	0
Jeff Maehl	12	52	686	57.2	13.2	6
David Paulson	9	12	185	20.6	15.4	0
Lavasier Tuinei	8	22	187	23.4	8.5	0

Kicking

		Field Goals								PAT
	G	0-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	FGM	FGA	PCT	XPM	XPA	PCT	pts
Rob Beard	1	-	-	-	-	-	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Morgan Flint	11	-	-	-	-	-	15	17	90.0%	53	53	100.0%	98

Poll

Who wins this matcjup?

Oregon

161 votes

Iowa

55 votes

216 votes | Poll has closed

We're All Americans, But We're Not All All-Americans

Oops Pow Surprise — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:51:28 -0000

by Charlie Neibergall - AP

Iowa's Pat Angerer (43) celebrates with teammates Allen Reisner and Dace Richardson, right, after Iowa blocked a Northern Iowa field goal on the final play. Iowa won 17-16. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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As is usually the case after a 10-win season, the accolades are beginning to pour in for the Iowa Hawkeye football team. Everyone and their mom has an all-conference or All-American team, but the two that actually matter--Walter Camp and the AP--are now out. And for the 33th year in a row, the unanimous selection for player of the year is Frank Stallone*.

More importantly, the AP named three Hawkeyes to their All-American teams. While nobody made it onto the first team, thanks to Ricky Stanzi's ankle injury--come on, you know if he stays healthy and Iowa goes 11-1 and finishes at #5 or so, even the guys on defense get a little bit more of a bump--both Bryan Bulaga and Pat Angerer made it to the second team, while Tyler Sash made third-team AA as a sophomore. A fine moment for all three players (two of whom, as we insular and provincial types are quick to point out, are native Iowans).

Meanwhile, the Walter Camp Foundation agreed with the AP, naming Bulaga and Angerer to their second team as well and effectively establishing the two as the de facto MVPs of their respective sides of the ball. We have a little beef with each designation, but for wholly different reasons.

First, though Bulaga is by far the best pro prospect on the line as of right now and was utterly dominant in 2008, the reality is that even notwithstanding the 3-week absence as he recovered from thyroid issues, he struggled in 2009. Brandon Graham and O'Brien Schofield manhandled Bulaga. And while those are two very good defensive ends, so was Aaron Maybin, the 11th pick of the 2009 by the Buffalo Bills and Bryan Bulaga's personal prison bitch after Iowa-PSU 2008. There was a substantial dropoff in play by Bulaga in 2009, and voters just didn't notice it when it came time to hand out awards.

Meanwhile, Dace Richardson was actually very good in his return to the line, and he got a fair amount of media attention when mid-season awards were being handed out. Then his ankle was rolled up on against Michigan State, and he disappeared from both the depth chart and voters' attention. But why should he have been punished for an ankle injury while voters looked past Bulaga's absence of a similar length? It's all past reputation, and that's not really fair to guys who come from nowhere and work their butts off--especially in their senior year, where there's no chance for any payoff in the "rewarded in Year X for play in Year X-minus-1" system that's come to be when it comes to honoring offensive linemen.

What this comes down to is that if the AP were to select an Iowa lineman for All-American this season, we'd have preferred it be Dace--though we'll certainly "settle for" Bulaga instead. If both men are playing their last game for Iowa next month, as lots of speculation suggests, then they've both had stellar careers in the black and gold and we wish them well.

On defense, on the other hand, Pat Angerer didn't really establish himself as the most dominant player for that Iowa defense, but that's hardly through any fault of his own. After all, one usually does so by being simply better than his teammates, and the talent level on the Iowa defense this year was both so high and so consistent that it was hard to see Angerer as someone who was the best player on defense. After all, you could always come back with, "well why not Sash? Or Adrian Clayborn? Or Amari Spievey? Or A.J. Edds? Or, hell, Jeremiha Hunter?" We're not saying that Angerer was the 6th best player on the Iowa defense by any means--just that ranking the top 5 or 6 or so would be impossible, because the gaps would be so miniscule that personal preference could easily mean a 3- or 4-spot swing here or there and it wouldn't even be objectionable.

Angerer's accolades, then, come from two areas: 1) his name, which is everything you could ever hope for times infinity; 2) and his stats, which sort of sneak up on you for the same reasons mentioned in the previous paragraph. As mentioned before, he was 5th in the nation in tackles at 11.3 a game. That's pretty outstanding, especially since--as TRE noticed during the season--Angerer's real strength might have been in pass coverage, not run support.

Still, absent game-changing plays, it's somewhat difficult to notice the overall impact a player has on a game. And all of those game-changing plays seemed to happen to other players--most notably Sash and Clayborn, and to a lesser extent Spievey.

Thus we have a weird ambiguity about how we look at Angerer's standing as the most highly-lauded member of the 2009 Iowa defense. It's not that he didn't deserve it--far from it--but with a defense like Iowa's, you could basically pick a name out of a hat and feel relatively confident that you made a good choice. It was that kind of year. Effectively singling out Angerer for praise, then, seems unusual and almost a little unfair. Oh well. There are worse problems to have.

Full AP All-American teams are after the break.

First team
Offense
	   Quarterback -- Colt McCoy, senior, 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, Texas.
	   Running backs -- Toby Gerhart, senior, 6-1, 235, Stanford; Mark Ingram, sophomore, 5-10, 212, Alabama.
	   Tackles -- Russell Okung, senior, 6-5, 301, Oklahoma State; Trent Williams, senior, 6-5, 318, Oklahoma.
	   Guards -- Michael Johnson, senior, 6-6, 305, Alabama; Mike Iupati, senior, 6-6, 330, Idaho.
	   Center -- J.D. Walton, senior, 6-3, 305, Baylor.
	   Tight end -- Aaron Hernandez, junior, 6-2, 250, Florida.
	   Wide receivers -- Golden Tate, junior, 5-11, 195, Notre Dame; Jordan Shipley, senior, 6-0, 190, Texas.
	   All-purpose player -- C.J. Spiller, senior, 5-11, 195, Clemson.
	   Kicker -- Leigh Tiffin, senior, 6-2, 212, Alabama.
Defense
	   Ends -- Jerry Hughes, senior, 6-3, 257, TCU; Derrick Morgan, junior, 6-4, 272, Georgia Tech.
	   Tackles -- Ndamukong Suh, senior, 6-4, 300, Nebraska; Terrence Cody, senior, 6-5, 365, Alabama.
	   Linebackers -- Rolando McClain, junior, 6-4, 258, Alabama; Greg Jones, junior, 6-1, 228, Michigan State; Eric Norwood, senior, 6-1, 252, South Carolina.
	   Cornerbacks -- Joe Haden, junior, 5-11, 190, Florida; Javier Arenas, senior, 5-9, 198, Alabama.
	   Safeties -- Eric Berry, junior, 5-11, 203, Tennessee; Earl Thomas, sophomore, 5-10, 197, Texas.
	   Punter -- Drew Butler, sophomore, 6-2, 201, Georgia.
Second team
	   Quarterback -- Tim Tebow, senior, Florida.
	   Running backs -- Ryan Mathews, junior, Fresno State; Dion Lewis, freshman, Pittsburgh.
	   Tackles -- Bryan Bulaga, junior, Iowa; Chris Marinelli, senior, Stanford.
	   Guards -- Rodney Hudson, junior, Florida State; Mike Pouncey, junior, Florida.
	   Center -- Maurkice Pouncey, junior, Florida.
	   Tight end -- Dennis Pitta, senior, BYU.
	   Wide receivers -- Mardy Gilyard, senior, Cincinnati; Danario Alexander, senior, Missouri.
	   All-purpose player -- James Rodgers, junior, Oregon State.
	   Kicker -- Kai Forbath, junior, UCLA.
Defense
	   Ends -- Von Miller, junior, Texas A&M; Brandon Graham, senior, Michigan.
	   Tackles -- Gerald McCoy, junior, Oklahoma; Jared Odrick, senior, Penn State.
	   Linebackers -- Pat Angerer, senior, Iowa; Brandon Spikes, senior, Florida; Sean Weatherspoon, senior, Missouri.
	   Cornerbacks -- Perrish Cox, senior, Oklahoma State; Kyle Wilson, senior, Boise State.
	   Safeties -- Taylor Mays, senior, Southern California; Rahim Moore, sophomore, UCLA.
	   Punter -- Zoltan Mesko, senior, Michigan.
Third team
Offense
	   Quarterback -- Kellen Moore, sophomore, Boise State
	   Running backs -- LaMichael James, redshirt freshman, Oregon; Jacquizz Rodgers, sophomore, Oregon State.
	   Tackles -- Dennis Landolt, senior, Penn State; Ciron Black, senior, LSU.
	   Guards -- Brandon Carter, senior, Texas Tech; Jeff Byers, senior, Southern California.
	   Center -- Chris Hall, senior, Texas.
	   Tight end -- Dorin Dickerson, senior, Pittsburgh.
	   Wide receivers -- Freddie Barnes, senior, Bowling Green; Demaryius Thomas, junior, Georgia Tech.
	   All-purpose player -- Dexter McCluster, senior, Mississippi.
	   Kicker -- Hunter Lawrence, senior, Texas.
Defense
	   Ends -- Jeremy Beal, junior, Oklahoma; Brandon Sharpe, senior, Texas Tech.
	   Tackles -- Brian Price, junior, UCLA; Dan Williams, senior, Tennessee.
	   Linebackers -- Sergio Kindle, senior, Texas; Cody Grimm, senior, Virginia Tech; Navorro Bowman, junior, Penn State.
	   Cornerbacks -- Brandon Harris, sophomore, Miami; Alterraun Verner, senior, UCLA.
	   Safeties -- Tyler Sash, sophomore, Iowa; Mark Barron, sophomore, Alabama.
	   Punter -- Matt Reagan, senior, Memphis.

*Did you know he was in Tombstone, a.k.a. the SINGLE GREATEST MOVIE IN HISTORY? And in a phenomenal scene, to boot.

Your Final Score of the 2010 Orange Bowl: Iowa 80, Georgia Tech 17

Oops Pow Surprise — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:00:39 -0000

by J Pat Carter - AP

15 days ago: Georgia Tech football coach Paul Johnson, left, and Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz, right, pose for photos after a news conference for the upcoming Orange Bowl game in Miami, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

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Hate to ruin the surprise, everyone, but we figured everyone should know the truth: Iowa is going to beat Georgia Tech by nine touchdowns in the Orange Bowl. Yep. It's true.

What's that? You're calling bullshit on Iowa racking up the single highest point total in bowl history? You don't think Cumberland's Revenge will actually take place?

Well, then. Allow us to retort. Because, if you haven't been paying attention to the FanPosts (and shame, shame on you if you haven't), you've missed the most interesting subplot of the entire bowl season thus far, which is this: Iowa is going to fucking murder the Yellow Jackets. We know this because of the superlative website WhatIfSports, which provides quality reconstructions of theoretical matchups between teams, regardless of year and all that.

So yes, Iowa 80, Georgia Tech 17. Let's take a look at the statistics, shall we?

Now, you might look at the box score and think to yourself, "well, in WIS's eyes, after Iowa ran up that quick lead, Tech just let Josh Nesbitt throw the ball all over the place and disaster ensued." That's a decent inference, except WIS had the complete and total opposite idea:

Yes, sure enough, What If Sports predicts that Nesbitt won't throw a single pass all game long. And why would he? As we've previously established completely by way of our own testimony, the Iowa defense is fast, so that completely erases any notion of even trying the forward pass, no matter by which how many points you're losing.

Something our more eagle-eyed readers might notice is that this simulation supposes one simple condition: that Iowa puts together the single most dominant rushing performance in modern college football history.

After all, Brandon Wegher is allegedly the most scoringest player of the game, registering 179 yards on 20 carries and 4 TDs. By themselves, those stats would certainly seem to be the type of numbers that would swing a game in Iowa's favor.

But then Adam Robinson happened, and apparently Adam Robinson is what happens when Tony Dorsett and Herschel Walker make a Satanic anal baby. Because here's A-Rob's numbers on the ground: 25 rushes, 368 yards, 4 TDs.

All in all, here's Iowa's projected production for the night, compared to Georgia Tech's:

Yes, 43 first downs. In one game. That's how comically inept the Georgia Tech defense is, people! Iowa can literally register more than 10 yards per snap, which means any failure to gain the first down after two snaps is merely an exercise in perverse curiosity.

Our favorite aspect of all of this, aside from what we've already introduced (mainly, that Iowa will score as many offensive touchdowns against Georgia Tech as they did in the last half of the Big Ten slate (and that includes the six scored against Indiana)), is that Kirk Ferentz will absolutely not even entertain of calling off the dogs. After all, witness what happens after halftime:

Okay, as long as you didn't throw a Molotov Cocktail through your monitor in protest, you might notice something a bit off about that 4th quarter. Mainly, that there are names that you recognize from the 1st quarter.

Our favorite performance is by Ricky Stanzi, who's seen throwing a deep bomb for a touchdown with Iowa up by literally 8 touchdowns and three minutes left in the entire game. If you don't call off the dogs there, you literally have no idea what "calling off the dogs" means or entails. And what's even better, it's on a flea flicker. No, that's not explicitly mentioned anywhere, but it's in a universe where Iowa leads Georgia Tech by 56 points in a football game and the starting quarterback is still in the game; why wouldn't they run the flea flicker to the post route?

Is Amari Spievey the X-Factor in Orange Bowl?

Oops Pow Surprise — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:30:19 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Neibergall - AP

Minnesota quarterback Adam Weber, center, fumbles the ball as he is hit by Iowa's Amari Spievey, left, and Troy Johnson, rear. LOL, "rear." That can mean butt sometimes. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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We're still three full weeks away from Iowa's date in Miami, which kinda sucks for everybody not named Ricky Stanzi or Dace Richardson. Nonetheless, we're already thinking obsessively about the game and all the potentially new and different matchups it creates.

Obviously, everyone's going to want to watch the Georgia Tech offense against the Iowa defense. GT's modern interpretation of the option has confounded basically everyone who's had to face it, and Iowa's vaunted defense has looked a little suspect at times against power running attacks. Then again, they bitchmade Arizona, so who knows.

Overall, the matchup isn't too bad for Iowa. This is probably the fastest defense Iowa has ever fielded, especially among the front seven. All three linebackers can fly, and Adrian Clayborn and Broderick Binns may be athletic enough to cause problems at the point of attack if . If Georgia Tech's going to bust big runs, it'll have to be with superior blocking; they won't be able to simply outrun the Hawkeye defense to the corner with any regularity.

Further, on that corner (Iowa's right, Georgia Tech's left, specifically) is one Amari Spievey. And how he factors into this game may end up determining who wins the game.

Spievey will likely be tested in pass coverage often. We haven't seen Spievey get "beaten" very much; usually, if someone completes a throw on him, it's a pass to the flat, and it ends with Amari putting his helmet through the player's femur and ending the play. But of the last three times we've seen a deep bomb work on the Iowa secondary, two--specifically Illinois 2008 and Penn State 2009--involved Spievey chasing ineffectually after a wideout who was about 10 yards in front of him on a fly route. Otherwise, he's such a lockdown corner that it doesn't even make sense to throw toward him.

The message, then, seems to be "If you want to beat Spievey, you have to beat him deep." Slight problem for Iowa: THAT'S THE ONLY ROUTE GEORGIA TECH RUNS.

Seriously: this is their entire passing offense. And it works.

So it'll be up to Norm Parker to get Brett Greenwood over to help as a centerfielder on those plays--last year, that would have been a scary proposition, but he's been just fine in that role this season.

On run plays, however, is where Amari Spievey will have the most impact. Amari is, basically, the most physical cornerback in the country; anyone who claims otherwise has never watched him play. He doesn't miss tackles (well, he might miss one or two against Jonathan Dwyer, but c'mon, that's totally unfair). Thus, against a team that runs outside the tackles most of the time, his ability to affect the run of play will be paramount.

We don't expect Spievey to be flying into the backfield on every play or anything, but it sure would be nice to see him blitz and throw the timing off of the option with a little regularity. Granted, it's not like he can run free at will all the time or anything; Georgia Tech has large, menacing receivers and swift offensive linemen who don't much cotton to Spievey's ill intents. But if he can get past his receiver's block (or bypass it entirely with a blitz from inside position), that one blocker who's now urgently re-assigned to stop #19 isn't blocking someone else on the defense, and that's how 2nd and 9 happens.

On the other hand, if Spievey spends his entire afternoon handfighting with Bey Bey Thomas or in a nine-yard "is this enough space for you to get a blocker on me?" cushion--or worse yet, lets a go route run him out of the play by never watching the backfield--well, it'll probably be a long game for the Hawkeyes and their fans.

Iowa's D: "I hope you brought your punter."

BirdGT — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:00:22 -0000

More photos » by Mark Humphrey - AP

Derrick Morgan is my hero. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

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Iowa fans, I'm gonna warn you ahead of time. This post has numbers in it. It pertains to your team, the Hawkeyes. If either of these facts pisses you off, then it's time to stop reading. Head back to Iowa-friendly blogs and call it a day. If you enjoy viewing your team through the compound eyes of your opponent, then continue reading.

Today's analysis relates to opposing drives' end results, field position, and otherwise superfluous ramblings. The first idea I'm touching on is evaluating a defense based upon an offensive drive's end result. Also, we're negating the fact that both teams play against completely different schedules and offensive units. Therefore, in our analysis Jimbo Fisher's juggernaut = Tim Brewster's rotten egg. So here is the first set of data based upon opposing offenses against GT and Iowa's defenses. The % is the end percent of the time that an offensive drive results in either a punt, turnover, touchdown, or field goal attempt:

This chart doesn't account for QB kneels or special teams. Iowa has a comfortable lead on us concerning all of the major defensive statistics. The big one is forcing their opponents to punt 50% of their drives away. 50%!%!% That's great. That translates to 71 opposing drives ending in punts for Iowa versus only 45 for GT (and we've played one more game). The best drive for a defensive coordinator results in either turnover or a three and out and Iowa truly excels in these areas:

This is where the "Fire Wommack" crowd can chime in. We allow the opposing team to march down the field for either a touchdown or field goal ~40% of their drives. GT hardly ever forces a three and out. I think the high Iowa three and out average is not only a sign of good coaching but a sign of players that play hard every down because they have to.

They don't rely on their offensive brethren to win and need to force three and outs. As one Iowa commenter noted, "Iowa's defensive average is actually lower than the stats. We've given our opponents four touchdowns with interception and fumble returns for TD's." It reminds me a lot of the Tenuta defenses.

The final grouping of data I'm gonna pull out is the Iowan's favorite phrase, "Field position. Field position. Field position." I've put together GT and Iowa charts showing the starting field position of opposing offenses. The charts are broken down into four categories: Other, Forced to Punt, Scoring Attempt, and Forced a Turnover. Other takes into account drives at the end of game where the opposing offense ran out of time. Scoring attempts include touchdowns, field goals, and missed field goals. Turnovers include safeties, picks, fumble recoveries, and failed 4th down conversions. Please note, GT has never given the ball to an opponent inside the 10 to start a drive.

GT's chart above shows a relative lack of concern for where an enemy starts their drive. They will move down the field and probably score. Really, you gotta be about 80 yards away from our end zone to really give our defense a good shot. The Iowa graph is a little more favorable for their defense:

Iowa fans can safely assume that their defense will shut down their opponent anywhere past the 50 yard line. If an opponent starts in Hawkeye territory, it's still an uphill battle. Pretty interesting. Field position should be an interesting battle on January 5th. I don't foresee us punting very often unless CPJ feels that Wommack's crew can slow the anemic Hawkeye offense. Personally, I wanna see our offense on the field all game. I think America wants to see our offense on the field all game.

It's Not Plagiarism If You Link To It Is Still Creeped Out By "Obie"

Oops Pow Surprise — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:48:01 -0000

More photos » by J Pat Carter - AP

Obie, left, the Orange Bowl mascot, along with Georgia Tech football coach Paul Johnson, center, and Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz, right, pose for photos after a news conference for the upcoming Orange Bowl game in Miami, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

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Looking at the above picture, we're just filled with questions. What do they do with those oranges in the trophy after the picture? How often do they shuffle out the oranges? Has anyone ever eaten one straight from the trophy during one of these silly photo ops? Has anyone realized that Paul Johnson is a zombie? Doesn't Obie hate always looking to his (her? its? their?!) right? Why does he have arms where his ears should be? What's with the stalker there on the left?

Anyhoo.

More like Tricky Stanzi! Am I right? No? Fine: As expected, Ricky Stanzi returned to practice yesterday.

From Hawkmania:

With Stanzi gone to the locker room with a severe ankle sprain, the Hawkeyes lost that game.

They lost again the next week in overtime in a Big Ten showdown at Ohio State, but managed to scrape out a 12-0 victory over Minnesota in the season finale.

Stanzi was on the sidelines for those games, serving as a personal tutor to his young replacement, James Vandenberg.

He said he was proud of the way the freshman from Keokuk performed in his stead, but he’s ready to take his job back now.

And uh, we're ready for that too. No offense to Vandenberg, who was admirable as an emergency replacement, but his performance thus far wasn't terribly confidence-inspiring. Vandenberg struggled mightily against Northwestern, and though he rebounded for a solid (if inconsistent) performance at Ohio State, the yucks returned against Minnesota the next week. That's 1 for 3 on competent QBing by Vandenberg. Stanzi, as we've mentioned before, has the uncanny ability to keep both teams in a game, but he's been enough to get the job done on a remarkably consistent basis.

There's no telling how each QB will practice between now and January 5, of course, but assuming the 3 1/2 weeks are enough for Stanzi to shake any rust off, we don't really expect to see Vandenberg on the field during meaningful play. If he does, something has likely gone very wrong once again, and we are D-U-M-E-D doomed.

Laugh if you must, but these guys are more like you than you want to admit: Um, yikes.

(via the Fanshots)

Our commenters already noticed the Grant-spot in his pile of cash, but did you guys notice that under it were nothing but 20s? So he basically said "Look, I have 330 dollars in my account. I can't make it rain hundreds. We could do three 50s and nine 20s... no, that's only 12 bills. That looks thin. Okay, one 50 and 14 20s. That's 15. That'll look badass probably."

And did they have to shoot it in Cedar Rapids and find some abandoned, flooded-out old building? What are they trying to say about the Hawkeyes here? Sheesh.

You should see the other guy's leg. When Gable passes it through his stool: So Dan Gable has a broken leg. You're probably wondering how he broke it, and it's pretty normal really: some cheating bastard brought a baseball bat in during a blindfolded martial arts tournament. Errr, no, never mind. That's not true.

Gable fell after his foot got caught in one of the cracks between the decking, he said."I can't do too many things that I normally do right now, like shovel snow and all that stuff," Gable said. "So I've got it pretty much made."

I like how they say "the decking" as if we're supposed to know exactly which one they're talking about. "Oh yeah, on Doc Muller's porch! He needs to get that redone, I tell ya."

Have we figured out why "Graham" isn't two syllables? That seems to be the bigger issue: As mentioned yesterday, the Trib split the Silver Football award between Daryll Clark and Brandon Graham. Whether they split the silver football along the seams or straight down the middle is unreported.

Shockingly, Pat Harty disapproves:

The problem with Graham being selected is that Michigan finished just 1-7 in the Big Ten this season, and its defense was terrible at times. A more logical choice would have been Wisconsin defensive end O'Brien Schofield or Penn State defensive tackle Jared Odrick or Iowa linebacker Pat Angerer. Not only did they perform well, but their teams also won 10 games during the regular season.

It would be different if Michigan had finished 5-3 or 4-4, or even 3-5 in the conference. But it doesn't make sense to have the Big Ten co-MVP come from a team that finished in a tie for last place, especially when there were some other worthy candidates.

We (unwittingly) performed a pre-emptive strike on this line of reasoning during last week's podcast: Here's the deal. Graham was the best player in the BXI this season. He was unblockable. But when 9 or 10 of your fellow defensive players are miserably bad at their job, it's going to mean a long season no matter what. After all, Graham registered 25 tackles for a loss, which is an insane amount. It's still only a hair over two per game. That's maybe enough to swing a few games if the rest of the defense is competent. That wasn't the case, and that wasn't Graham's fault.

QUICK HITZ:

NCAA Tournament to go to 96 teams? Jesus god no. Keep it at 65, and if you want to make any changes, make the play-in game be the last two teams to receive at-large bids rather than two 16-seeds who actually earned an automatic bid. A play-in between two 12-seeds would be so much more entertaining.

Bryan Bulaga fails to live up to hype: As the Hlog notes, casting aside the silliness of the BXI handing him Lineman of the Year, Bulaga didn't really impress scouts a whole lot this season. He's still projected as a first-rounder, but we strongly feel that he needs to come back to Iowa. And never leave. Please don't go. We need you. We miss your musk.

Wait, your productivity hasn't been annihilated yet? Kiss that sucker goodbye: MST3K on Hulu. You're welcome.

Iowa doesn't like to score

BirdGT — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:00:17 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Neibergall - AP

I'm lumberjack and that's okay. I'll work all night and I sleep all day. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Browse more photos »

Let's say offenses are cars. GT would be a German sports car. Fast, incredibly efficient, and well engineered. Iowa's would be an F-150. It's American made so it's normal looking to the average football fan. It gets the job done but is prone to stalling or just breaking down. If it weren't for the winch (defense) on the front end, that truck'd be stuck all the time.

So with that leadoff, let's look at Iowa's offensive efficiencies compared to GT's like we did last week against Clemson. The first chart I'm gonna produce for you includes all of Iowa's drives for the entire season negating kick returns for TD's and kneel downs. This excludes Georgia Tech's game against Jacksonville State because it was a blowout (as I-AA games should be, Iowa fans) and Georgia Tech's return TD's and kneel downs are also excluded. So the % value is what percentage of your drives end in the indicated result:

Iowa punts 40% of their drives. I think Paul Johnson would've sacrificed six vestal virgins by now if he had to punt 40% of the time. In modern college football, punting shouldn't be part of your game plan. I understand the necessity to force opponents deep into their own territory but you gotta have more faith in your offense. Now, if you're wondering why this punting occurs so much it's primarily related to an offense lacking game breakers. Their primary backfield only averages 4.2 yards per carry as opposed to GT's 5.5. Interesting statistic on who wants it more: 72% of Iowa's drives of 7 or more plays result in field goal attempts or touchdowns. 72% of GT's drives of 7 or more plays result in field goal attempts or touchdowns. If you separated the field goal attempts out, GT would have over 50% of their drives of 7 or more plays resulting in touchdowns versus Iowa only 40%. If GT had the same TD rate on long drives as Iowa, we'd have scored 4 points less per game.

Hopefully, Iowa fans are pretty riled up right now. Not because of me and my GT bravado but because of how inept the Iowa offense appears when compared to GT's. I'd wanna fire my offensive coordinator with those kinds of stats. Not only is Iowa's offense punting 40% of the time, they're also going three and out ~20% of the time. If Iowa averages 12 legit offensive drives per game, then 2 of their drives are automatically useless because of fruitless three and outs. GT loses about 1 drive per game to three and outs.

By now, I'm starting to feel the heat from the Can't-stanzi-ya pundits. So, I will cut Iowa a small break and break everything down by QB at the helm. And the Iowa fans are right. Iowa's offense without Stanzi is like Seinfeld without Kramer. It just ain't that good.

Vandenberg is probably a nice guy but the stark contrast of his offense versus Ricky's is amazing. Stanzi's injury coupled with Vandenberg's bloodless coup have pulled down the offense like a lead weight. If Stanzi doesn't play, Iowa will not be able to keep up with GT. I don't think a month of practice will benefit Vandenberg or the Hawkeyes. They need Can't-stanzi-ya.

Let's Do This: Iowa to Face Georgia Tech in the 2010 Orange Bowl

Oops Pow Surprise — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:00:23 -0000

by Charlie Neibergall - AP

18 days ago: Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz speaks during a news conference following an announcement that his team will play Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009, in Iowa City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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Let's say, before the season began, you saw a prediction that the Orange Bowl (with its automatic ACC tie-in) would feature the following two teams:

TEAM A

Scheme-insistent offensive juggernaut featuring superior athletes at nearly all positions, a questionable defense, blowouts a-plenty

TEAM B

Slightly below-average offense, murderous defense, a quarterback with the uncanny ability to keep both teams in the game at the same time, deficits in vast majority of games played

You would probably look at Team B, frown, then ask, "Who the hell is the ACC dragging to the OB this year? North Carolina?" Then you'd start speculating about how much Texas was going to beat them by before settling on "two berjillion or so."

In fact, the most remarkable aspect of this matchup between Iowa and Georgia Tech is how Iowa's so much more of a typical ACC team than Georgia Tech is.

What we like about Georgia Tech is that they're a perfect example of how far, physically, the game has progressed in the last half-century or so. Watching highlights of vaunted triple option attacks from the '50s and '60s, like so:

and then comparing them to today's Georgia Tech offense:

...you think two things. The first is "Is that Keith Jackson doing the highlights in the first one?" (It isn't.) The second is "man, Georgia Tech's offense kicks the crap out of those old guys." And we're not talking about some worthless whodats of the era; Ernie Davis won a Heisman, and these two teams were a combined 19-1 going into the game, and Syracuse won the national title. Meanwhile, Georgia Tech isn't playing for the national title. They're hardly worthless whodats in their own right, of course, but the point is that such a level of physicality is more widespread these days.

One unit that's willing to crack helmets like that, fortunately, is the Iowa defense. While it's going to be a bit of a bummer that the pass defense--Iowa's sterling forte for the 2009 season--will basically only be tested on the fly routes that Josh Nesbitt heaves up about 10-15 times a game (to decent effect), it's at least encouraging that the Iowa defense will have a little idea of what's coming.

On one hand, one of the dirty little secrets of the Iowa football team is that the rush defense isn't all that great; they ranked 33rd in rushing defense on the season and were shown to be especially vulnerable by UNI, ISU, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio State. With the exception of Wisconsin (whose offense effectively disappeared as soon as John Clay returned from having his entire body severed at the waist in the 2nd quarter), each of those teams has a mobile quarterback, and O HAI JOSH NESBITT HERE TO CONFOUND YOU WITH TRIPLE OPTION DEATHNESS SIR. The lesson, it would seem, is that when the Iowa defenders have to take a second to find the ball, bad things can happen.

On the other hand, only Michigan and Ohio State put up monster numbers on the Iowa defense, and they essentially schemed to do that and only that. Once again, you're probably thinking "oh, just like Georgia Tech," and if they were an opponent waiting where, let's say, Indiana would be, we'd say for sure: Iowa is super-screwed. Hell, Ferentz even admitted so himself:

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz vividly remembers flipping his television one night last fall and instantly becoming mesmerized by Georgia Tech’s spread option offense.

"I can’t imagine trying to get ready for them in a normal week," Ferentz said.

But the Iowa defense has a full month to prepare for this game, and they'll likely use all of it on defense, defense, defense. Pat Angerer (who, by the way, is 4th in the nation in tackles; were you aware of that?) is going to be the super-duper key man here; he may do the Iowa offense the most good by taking himself away from the play by crashing the middle of the line, forcing Nesbitt and Jonathan Dwyer to the outside, where superior pursuit men like AJ Edds, Jeremiha Hunter, and Tyler Sash thrive. Oh, Angerer's still going to get his tackles; Tech's counter game probably won't do very well against an observant linebacking corps and a disruptive defensive line, so once that ball goes outside the guards, Angerer should be flying toward the outside. But the real difference between getting run over and keeping the Ramblin' Wreck somewhat in check is going to be the play of the ends and outside linebackers, guys who'll be tasked with keeping 3-yard gains from turning into 8-yard gains.

In fact, beating Georgia Tech can be done, of course; if Iowa's offense is "below average", Georgia's is "LOLOLOLOL I either peed or came I was laughing too hard to tell", and the Bulldogs still beat their rivals 30-24 over Thanksgiving weekend. In the process, Georgia put together a clinic for a team like Iowa on how to beat Tech: methodical drives, run run run run, and make Josh Nesbitt work as hard as possible. Nesbitt carried the ball 19 times for only 41 yards (and 1 TD) against Georgia; the passing went little better, as Nesbitt was just 6-12 for 135 yards and a score. Altogether it's a decent day in fantasy football; in real life, it's not a recipe for Georgia Tech success.

Knowing nothing about the key matchups (whoever's tasked with blocking Adrian Clayborn, for one, will be vitally important), my immediate gut reaction is a negative one; even given a month to prepare, Iowa's still going to give up a substantial amount of yardage--that's just the way it is with Tech's offense--and I'm pessimistic that, even with Adam Robinson, Dace Richardson, and Ricky Stanzi as close to 100% as possible, Iowa will be able to move chains with enough regularity to properly limit the amount of possessions the Yellow Jackets get. Georgia ran all freaking over Tech, but Robinson and Brandon Wegher usually only put up big stats on teams in full surrender mode, like Iowa State.

Essentially, then, this game will probably come down to punting. Not the punters, but willfully giving the ball to the other team instead of scoring points, on account of the offense's inability to move the ball into scoring position. Iowa sent up 57 punts over the course of the regular season. Meanwhile, Georgia Tech attempted 30. If that rough 1:2 ratio holds up and Iowa attempts twice as many punts as the Yellow Jackets next month, it will probably mean Georgia Tech has won handily. Their offense is just too good, and Iowa's, well, isn't.

But if Iowa registers a similar amount of scoring chances--or, even better, forces turnovers before Georgia Tech can punt or score points--the Hawkeyes should be in (relatively) good shape. The Tech defense is porous enough that a trip inside the 25 should yield a touchdown more often than not, and whether the same holds true vice versa (and how often each scenario should take place) may end up determining the winner of the 2010 Orange Bowl. Can't wait to find out more.

(I'm still calling this an L on first blush; don't read too much into that, though, as I said the exact same thing about Wisconsin. Whoops!)

2009 Quarterback Rankings, Final Edition: Across The Board, Marked Improvement Over 2008

grahamfiller10 — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 05:08:08 -0000

Another year has passed and no Big Ten QB has made any kind of national impact...or at least a positive one. Terrelle Pryor was on the tail end of some Heisman lists, but the USC game quickly bucked him off those. Daryll Clark found himself spewing astronomical stats in almost every game...except the ones that mattered on a BCS level.

2009 QB Rankings, First Edition: Optimism!

2009 QB Rankings, Second Edition: Back to Reality!

2009 QB Rankings, Third Edition: You're Better Than This!

One obvious observation - the quarterback play was improved all the way across the Big Ten. In fact, let me illustrate this:

Improved QB Situation from 2008: Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, NW, Wisconsin, Indiana,

Declining QB Situation from 2008: Illinois, Minnesota

Similar QB Situation of 2008: Penn State, OSU, Iowa

In the running back focused league of 2008, QB's struggled with injuries and consistency. Although two of them (Painter, Hoyer) made it to 3rd string status in the NFL, the ratings were horrendous and offenses stagnated badly when the run game was slowed. Last year, only four quarterbacks had a 126 QB rating or higher. This year, that number rose to nine.

Our group of QB's here, who mostly avoided injuries, consists of four seniors, four juniors, two sophomores, and one freshman. Since none of the seven non-seniors are good enough to jump to the NFL right now, that's a good amount of returning starters for next year. Weber and Forcier will face major challenges to their hold on the starting job. Without further adieu, enjoy the 2009 Big Ten Quarterback Rankings, Final Edition.

	QB	Team	Comments
#1	Daryll Clark	PSU	Destroyed Michigan State last week. Rivals has him as the 27th best QB in the nation, for what it's worth. Since this rankings inception in 2008, has always been #1 in my rankings.
#2	Mike Kafka	NW	Played his best game of the year versus Wisky, a mistake free 326 yard, 2 TD performance. Ran the NW Spread well all year and would have semi-torched PSU if not for injury.
#3	Kirk Cousins	MSU	Laser-rocket armed Baptist boy will be an asset for the Spartans for the next two years. Hit a bit of a sophomore wall toward the end of the year, running into Penn State and Purdue defenses who confused him into picks and incompletions. Cousins v. Western: 22-25, 353 yards, 2 TD's. Nice.
#4	Terrelle Pryor	OSU	All he does is win games, right? That's bullshit. He would have won more games if he didn't go noodle armed against Purdue and USC. Does TreS misuse him? Yes. But when Pryor get's unleashed, things get wild. TP is almost impossible to slow on the ground, as witnessed in AA Saturday.
#5	Joey Elliot	PU	A great leader and less injury prone than Painter. 22/13 TD/INT ratio compared to 13/11 for 2008 Painter. Also sported a QB Rating 13 points higher. 8 TD's in his final three games. Definitely one of the pleasant surprises in the Big Ten.
#6	Scott Tolzien	WI	FAR better than the 2008 combo of Evridge/Sherer. Blew apart a couple opponents selling out to stop the run. Things to work on in the offseason: 1) Mobility and 2) Not being so cavalier throwing the ball into coverage. 16/10 TD/INT Ratio.
#7	Ricky Stanzi	Iowa	Worse QB rating than 2008 and almost lost a couple of games with INT's. After an offseason of Tom Brady comparisons and TRE's orgasmic musings about perfect mechanics, took a step backward by throwing some inconceivable picks. Injury won't affect 2010 performance.
#8	Ben Chappell	IND	Another pleasant surprise who made a habit of scaring the hell out of teams in the first half, only to regress terrible in the second half. Stats v. Wisky three weeks ago: 25-35, 323 yards, 3 TD's, 2 Picks. Microcosm of a thoroughly entertaining Hoosier team.
#9	Adam Weber	MN	I called for his benching four weeks ago. After torching State like Stewie torching Brian during the "Got My Money" Family Guy episode, had three consecutive bad performances. This offense can't transition to MarQueis Gray quick enough. Threw the single worst Big Ten pass of the year (the pick6 to Derek Domino of South Dakota St).
#10	Juice Williams	ILL	Juice shredded Michigan and was generally effective versus NW. Early season struggles are hard to overcome on this list though, especially coming from the main catalyst of the Big Ten's most disappointing team.
#11	Tate Forcier	UM	He's not REALLY the worst QB in the Big Ten. But I'm a Michigan fan and he threw four picks against OSU, thus prolonging a 5 game losing streak.

BHGPODCAST EPISODE 14: In Which We Organize Things Into A List Without Being Asked To Do So

Oops Pow Surprise — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:22:36 -0000

Making a list, checking it twice, ruining Santa for you.

Slightly different approach to the podcast this week. First of all, of course, it's early; there's apparently a holiday coming up or something. Second, instead of having a guest, it was just Hawkeye State and me doing what we do best: enjoying each other's company ~~sexually~~. We shared a few laughs, maybe a couple of tears, and most of all, learned a little bit about ourselves. It was good.

Okay, actually, we just decided to commemorate the end of the regular season by ranking the Iowa games on a hazy, shifting mix of factors like performance, excitement, and consequence. After a season like that, how can we not reminisce?

Listen below or on iTunes.

BHGPodcast 14

Additionally, a full breakdown of the rankings from me, HS, Stoops Pow Surprise, and Ross Wow Burprise are after the break.

OPS

12. jNWU - Hell on Earth. None more need be said, lest we cry ourselves to sleep tonight. Again.
11. Arkansas State - Almost as excruciating as the #12 game, but through sheer boredom. Once that Epic Greenwood touchdown got called back and Iowa failed to convert with points, we knew it was going to be a long second half. Re-ignited the "Iowa doesn't deserve to be undefeated mantra."
10. UNI - An exciting game and a ludicrous finish. This was Iowa at its weakest--offensive linemen missing all over the place, Paki O'Meara as a starting tailback, and Greg Castillo getting scorched on the reg. The ending was almost too surreal to be exciting; it was the top play of the week, but it was so improbable that people just can't relate to it; after all, if a team's good enough to block two field goals in a row, why are they only leading a I-AA school by a point late in the 4th? Also, UNI's inability to make the I-AA playoffs was just a killer.
9. Minnesota - The quintessential ugly Iowa game, marred by missing offensive stars and featuring yet another stout performance by both defenses. Got Iowa to 10 wins. But unlike lots of games ahead of it, there was absolutely no excitement in this game, and all it did for clarification was to remind us that Ricky Stanzi's probably still got the starter spot on lock for the foreseeable future.
8. Ohio State - The only loss other than #12, but instead of being at #11 on account of god damn it Iowa lost, there's an argument to be made for putting it higher. Super-exciting, even though it left Iowa fans with a sour taste in their mouths for how the last two Iowa possessions went down. Very, very down. Still, it helped to legitimize the team, considering they were expected to get facefucked by the Buckeyes.
7. Indiana - What a weird game. Fun, and one of the few times we got to see the Iowa offense move the ball at will. We'd put it higher, but IU missed out on a bowl and we had to hear Iowa catch even more crap--this time for that tragic blown call in the end zone on the IU touchdown. We discuss precisely why that criticism sucks hard in the podcast, but fa real--it sucks. Still, fun game.
6. Michigan - The lustre wore off this game as the season went on--Michigan, you'll recall, wouldn't beat another I-A team all season long--but this game was fun, it was on national television, it had plenty of big plays, and Iowa was never really in danger of losing, despite the score. This is where we started to see "Ricky Stanzi As Big-Play QB" start to manifest itself.
5. Iowa State - Holy smokes, what a defensive performance. At the time, people chalked it up to a horrific mental breakdown of Austen Arnaud, but it sure seems now that his struggles weren't that much of a fluke. It was an extremely satisfying win in a town where those are awfully hard to come by for Ferentz and Iowa, and but for the fact that the game was D-U-N done in the middle of the third quarter, this might have even ranked higher.
4. Wisconsin - The fourth game in six where Iowa abused an opposing quarterback to the point that the game was within 10 points at the start of the 4th and still over for all intents and purposes. Wisconsin fans may throw the bullshit flag on account of Garrett Graham missing the second half with a concussion and John Clay's miserable post-injury performance (all while defying everything we know about medicine and science by being able to walk after that play).
3. Arizona - A game that looked better as the season went on, but what a fascinating contest: the advantage swung back and forth about five times before the Iowa defense clamped its jaws down on Matt Scott and the Arizona offense. We got to meet Adam Robinson as a legitimate tailback, and we got to see Adrian Clayborn run down a speed tailback in full stride from behind. In a straight line. Ordinarily, we'd chalk that up as Clayborn's play of the season. That designation didn't last long.
2. Michigan State - You could even say number one for this game, and we wouldn't put up a huge fight. It was, whether the SEC fans want to admit it, an SEC game: a defensive slugfest with casualties strewn about the field for 50 minutes, then a mad dash to the finish line. As fourth quarters go, there's few as entertaining in the Ferentz era, and the last drive made believers of us all, if only for a week or two. If anything's to pull it down, it's the consequence of losing three starters for multiple games, a fact that would eventually catch up to Iowa. Still, wow, what a game.
1. Penn State - But there could be only one, and it had to be the game that put Iowa squarely in the national attention. Even after PSU's one big play to open the game, the Nittany Lions were up by 5 going into the fourth quarter, but still fully dreading how the rest of the game played out. Then Adrian Clayborn happened, the lead happened, and the Daryll Clark Implosion happened. This game was the catalyst for all sorts of themes for the season, it was emblematic of everything we liked and hated about this team--right down to the nervousness and second-guessing of Ferentz as he lined up for a field goal with an 8-point lead and under 20 seconds on the clock--and it was as euphoric as we'd been after a win since, well, the last time we played Penn State.

HS

12. jNWU -- Ugh. Might actually deserve higher billing because of the Stanzi injury, but it's just Northwestern, right?

11. A-State -- Cupcake where the final score looked much worse than it really was. This really wasn't in doubt until the last 2 minutes.

10. Minnesota -- A game so ugly, it should be taken out back and shot. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), by the time it got here, nobody more than 50 miles from Iowa City cared.

9. Michigan -- At the time (before UM turned into MSU and went all death-spiraly), an important test. Now, an embarrassingly close game in prime time.

8. Northern Iowa -- Let's admit the obvious: It was the second-most exciting game Iowa played this year. Also, the bizarre two-FG-block ending made it into the MSM consciousness (it was the Sportscenter #1 play of the day on the opening weekend of the season) and set the stage for the "But Iowa needed two blocked field goals to beat Northern Iowa" meme that followed. Don't underestimate that effect on the current polls and, in turn, the BCS standings.

7. Indiana -- Because Iowa had entered the national consciousness by this point (it was the highest-rated 11:00 kickoff on ESPN all year), and because the officiating was so incredibly horrible and effectively kept Iowa in the game, and because the media is stupid, Indiana replaced UNI as the reason why Iowa had to be stopped. Terry Bradshaw, of all people, put a dagger in this team the day after this game, based solely on the fact that the refs fucked up a clear touchdown that would have allowed Indiana to lose by 11 instead of 18. Rage followed.

6. Iowa State -- They're probably going to a bowl, but they're still Iowa State, and beatdowns are expected. Nevertheless, it was a cathartic curbstomping of a rival on the road, it set off the Tyler Motherfuckin' Sash movement, and it was the only time all year when Iowa looked like a worldbeater against a clearly inferior opponent.

5. Arizona -- Looks better now, but at the time Arizona was a middling Pac-10 opponent with a terrible quarterback and a halfback with good numbers against Northern Arizona and Central Michigan. Set the stage for the Penn State game, though; without a win, we're probably not in prime time when Clayborn goes wild on Darryl Clark.

4. Ohio State -- OK, yes, it was a loss. But at the time, with the Northwestern game finishing the undefeated season and knocking out Stanzi, Iowa was staring in the face of a season-crushing blowout. To walk into the Shoe with a first-time starter at quarterback, a true freshman at halfback, and a MASH unit on the line, and to then take Ohio State to overtime on national television after being behind by 14, was practically inconceivable. It proved more about this team than half of this season's wins. Also, it was an incredible, epic game.

3. Wisconsin -- Ran.

2. Michigan State -- out of.

1. Penn State -- Time.

[Ed. note--He talked about these games at great length in the podcast. Ha ha ha, I just said great length.]

StoopsMyAss

12. Arkansas State – weird and I try to act as though it did not happen.
11. Wisconsin – the most typical of Iowa’s wins.
10. Minnesota – a win that was expected but not this way.
9. Ohio State – a loss that was expected but not this way.
8. Michigan – national TV and we overcame. Kept the ball rolling.
7. Arizona – introduced the defense to America, and Iowa for that matter.
6. jNWU – end of NC run. Unexpected and sad.
5. Iowa State – needed this one for the psyche, and got it in spades.
4. Michigan State – sensational. Probably deserves to be rated more highly but the season is filled with crucial moments.
3. Indiana – most improbable game I have ever seen Iowa play.
2. Penn State – confirmed the potential of this team. Winning in front of 100K+ who were blood thirsty for revenge. Sweet.
1. UNI – the whole season might have turned on one play. Uh, sorry, two plays.

RossWB

12. jNWU -- From ecstasy to agony in about 15 minutes. This went from looking like yet another cathartic romp over a hated rival (see below) to a season-deflating loss. Sadly, Stanzi getting sandwiched between two purple assholes will be one of the lingering and defining moments of the season for me, if only because it will prompt so much "what if..." daydreaming.

11. Arkansas State -- The game that firmly cemented the 2009 Iowa Hawkeyes as a team that was helpless to do anything but play to the level of their competition. Great when playing Penn State or Ohio State... near-disastrous when playing Arkansas fucking State. The stubborn insistence on trying to develop a running game was probably the biggest problem here -- Stanzi could have (and should have) chucked it deep on the hapless Red Wolf secondary all day.

10. UNI -- A win that actually seems worse now than it did twelve weeks ago, now that the the myth of UNI being an unstoppable I-AA powerhouse has been fatally punctured by now. The two blocked field goals will be an unforgettable memory, but we're better off pretending that it happened against someone else, because it should never have happened against a team like UNI. Sure, there are plenty of excuses to toss out -- Iowa was trying to find a running back while juggling a slew of missing pieces on offense (and a few on defense) and UNI was super-motivated to try and knock off the big-time program in the state -- but at the end of the day they're all lame rationalizations for the fact that we played like shit against an inferior opponent... and managed to get away with it. In hindsight, it was an unsettling but eerily accurate harbinger of the season to come. And, hey, those blocked field goals... good luck ever seeing that again in your lifetime.

9. Minnesota -- It pains me to bag on a game that featured a stellar performance by the defense (shutting out a hated rival and keeping the best damn rivalry trophy in sports = WIN), but let's also not forget that Minnesota's offense has, for the most part, been as lethal as a carton of yogurt this season. They had no offensive identity, no even mildly consistent offensive playmakers with Decker injured, and a quarterback that badly regressed. They stunk and we were far from the only defense to make them look foolish. And that doesn't even address the issue of the offense, which was only slightly less rancid than the Gopher attack. So through five full halves of work,Vandenberg has had three epic stinkbombs and two quite good halves. That the two quite good halves came on the road, in Columbus, against Ohio State, in some of the most pressure-packed stakes imaginable is so improbable that I would chalk it up as sheer delusion if I hadn't witnessed it (and countless other "WTF that cannot possibly be real" moments this season). Suffice to say, we should probably hold off on printing up the "VANDENBERG IS THE MANDENBERG" t-shirts for the time being -- unless we plan to put a picture of Two-Face on there as well. (Hey, go big or go home in the world of intellectual property infringement.)

8. Michigan -- Like the UNI win, a close win that became more embarrassing as the season progressed and we got a better idea of how good (or, um, not good) Michigan truly was. Their two-point margin of defeat in this game represented their smallest margin of defeat in any of their Big Ten losses this season, which is faintly humiliating. The Iowa defense also gave up 28 points (well, technically just 21, but just roll wit hit), the most it's given up in the last two-plus years. The two things that wound up damaging Iowa's season the most (aside from injuries) -- a wildly incosnistent offense and an inability to really clamp down on a top runnig game -- both reared their ugly heads here.

7. Indiana --- For entertainment value, this game was hard to beat. Between Sash's rigoddamndiculous pinball pick-six to Stanzi's apocalyptic third quarter and jaw-dropping fourth quarter, this was perhaps the craziest and most improbable Iowa win in Kinnick since the 2002 win over Purude. Big, big plays were the order of the day and Iowa delivered. Stanzi delivered maybe the worst and best quarter I've ever seen from an Iowa quarterback -- in one half, no less.

6. Arizona -- The only game all season I was unable to watch live, which might be one reason I find it difficult to have strong feelings about it. It was a solid, workmanlike performance, which is notable only because there were so few performances like that by Iowa this season. It would be nice to say that this was a win that got much better as the season progressed and the Wildcats kept winning, but that rings a little hollow when the quarterback that led them to so much success was mainly a bystander during the Iowa game.

5. Wisconsin -- One of the more impressive in-game turnarounds of the season. From 10-0 down, getting mauled on the ground by the Badger running game, to running off the last 20 points of the game and stifling the Badger rushing attack (thanks in part to a cringe-worthy sandwich tackle job on John Clay). This was also perhaps the cleanest game Stanzi played all year -- no turnovers and some beautiful, accurate passes to Tony Moeaki and DJK to score touchdowns/keep drives running.

4. Iowa State -- Deeply satisfying and significant for a few reasons: in hindsight, it was a clear indicator of this team's ability to significantly raise its level of play on the road, and was also a win that gained a bit more cache in retrospect when it became clear that this wasn't the usual putrid Iowa State outfit, but a halfway decent team. Plus, on a personal level, not only was it a win in Ames, the site of considerable misery and angst in 2005 and 2007, but it was a Fry Era-level beatdown. And it gave birth to the legend of Tyler "Motherfucking" Sash.

3. Ohio State -- The best loss by an Iowa team since, um... a really long time. I was going to say Texas in 2006, but in terms of proving legitimacy and boosting national respect this loss did far more on those counts. Aside from the Pryor meltdown in Purdue this year, no one played them as tight as Iowa did, and doing it in Columbus (a house of horrors for Iowa for at least two decades), and with a freshman backfield (including a quarterback making his first start)... absolutely remarkable. And the fourth quarter of this game was stupid exciting. That said, this will always be a deeply bittersweet game -- to be so close to the Rose Bowl and then to have it end the way it did... sigh. Intellectually, I can understand and support Ferentz's end of game decision, but I'll never be able to totally erase the "what if" argument. Coming so close to the Rose Bowl and coming up short is always going to lead to a strange concoction of pride, pain, and second-guessing.

2. Penn State -- Maybe Penn State wasn't as great as their ranking before this game suggested... but still. A win over a top-five team, at night, in the rain, in front of a revenge-crazed "Whiteout" crowd is still pretty damn satisfying. The defense was otherworldly after the first few Penn State drives and the way they caused Daryl Clark to meltdown in the second half was extraordinary. And Clayborn's punt block touchdown will deservedly take its place in the annals great Hawkeye plays. This game confirmed preseason hopes that this might actually wind up being a special season.

1. Michigan State -- I'm probably a bit based since I was here live, but even watching this later on TV, I thought this was a pretty amazing game. Some people may want to diminish it since Sparty wound up pulling a "same ol' Sparty" routine down the stretch and going 6-6, but I think a more charitable interpretation would be that they put a ton into this game and never fully recovered from what happened. Being there live, I had no doubt that the players and fans were absolutely amped to the gills for this game and the players certainly played like it - especially on defense, where they were flying around like tackle-crazed lunatics. This game may have done more to damage Iowa's Big Ten/national title aspirations than the Northwestern game thanks to the body count it left in its wake. Losing two of the most consistently effective pieces of our offense (Robinson and Richardson), our best punt returner by far (Sandeman), and the quarterback of the defense (Greenwood) was a hugely painful blow. That said, this game was something else, full of brutally hard hits (on both sides), a pair of ridiculous goalline stands inside the 2-yard line, and a final three minutes or so that was completely batshit insane, what with a fucking hook-and-ladder and the immortal Stanzi-to-McNutt play.