SB Nation - Allen Reisner

It's Not Plagiarism If You Link To It Is Ready for Primetime

RossWB — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:00:32 -0000

Whiteout? That's OK... all the white will just hide their tears; in totally related news, just five days until this:

That doesn't look so intimidating, eh? Just 100,000 ~~ghosts~~ ~~Klan members~~ Penn State fans, under the lights, on ABC (7pm CST, in case you've been living under a rock), with a full day's worth of tailgating fueling their rage (well, that and the 323 days they've had to think about this) ... no big deal. I mean, the last time Iowa played a game after nightfall, this happened ... and of course there's no difference whatsoever in the circumstances of those two games. 55-0 here we come!

Unlike Poor Guy, At Least Tony Still Has His Foot. Monday came and went and brought to light this week's depth chart, which is every bit as insightful as the usual Ferentz depth chart. The major news is that there's still no sign of Bulaga, DJK, or the Flyin' Hawaiian (Tongan?) in the depth chart. Considering this depth chart comes less than 48 hours since that trio was declared unable to play in the Arizona game, it's perhaps not surprising that there has been no miraculous improvement in their conditions. There's obviously still plenty of time for them to improve before gametime. In their absence, Riley Reiff, Colin Sandeman, and Allen Reisner are the named starters on the depth chart; all three filled in admirably last Saturday, but a night game in Happy Valley against a pissed-off top ten team is an entirely different challenge. We'd particularly like to see Bulaga and DJK make it back for this game; DJK had the best game of his career (to that point) against Penn State last year and no offense to the Naked Panchero's Bandit, but we'd much rather have Bulaga defending Stanzi's blindside. In other depth chart news:

As we saw last week, Adam Robinson remains the starter at halfback and Brandon Wegher remains his back-up. But as both the Iowa State and Arizona games have shown, each guy will get plenty of touches. It would be nice to work Jeff Brinson into the mix, too, but there's been nary a sighting of him (nor much ~~watercooler~~ message board buzz about him) since his garbage time carry against Iowa State, so any Brinson action will likely have to wait until Arkansas State at the earliest (barring injury).
Having finally made his 2009 debut (and doing so in rather impressive fashion), Shaun Prater makes the expected jump up to the other starting cornerback spot opposite Spievey; Willie Lowe moves to the back-up spot.
Chaney remains the main return option at both kick and punt returner; DAS PAKIBOMB is the other listed option at kick returner, but hopefully that just means he'll be serving as an extra blocker to try to spring a big return for Chaney. Chaney had a nice punt return against Arizona on Saturday and he continues to look more motivated and focused than he has at any other point in his Iowa career; with that attitude and his speed, he's bound to break a big play sooner or later.

And then JoePa called the apothecary. You mean Iowa's not the only team dealing with injuries to key personnel? Per ESPN, LB Sean Lee is day-to-day with a sprained left knee and LB Navarro Bowman is still questionable after missing the past two games with a groin injury (although our friends at BSD think he'll play). Losing both guys would be a definite blow to PSU's front seven. But given what happened last year and that both men are seniors, we expect to see both guys out there even if they have to attach their legs with duct tape. Wide receiver Graham Zug is also questionable after being concussed in the game against Temple, although we all know that's total bullshit and he's just petrified of being on the same field as the Adrian Clayborn Pain Train.

He may be a ginger and an Irishman, but he's got a fucking Howitzer for a leg. Ryan Donahue was named Co-Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week, which makes three weeks in a row in which an Iowa player has been awarded a Player of the Week award by the Big Ten (Jeremiha Hunter also won the Special Teams Player of the Week award after his game-saving field goal block in Week 1, while Tyler Sash was recognized as Co-Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for his three-interception effort against Iowa State in Week 2.) On Saturday, Donahue had four punts over fifty yards (including one 62-yard moonshot), two were downed inside the Arizona 20, and only one was returned (for a measly four yards). He's, um, good. Really, really fucking good. (For the record, Donahue shared the honor with Wisconsin's Chris Borland, who blocked one punt and forced a fumble on another punt in the Badgers' game against Wofford.)

What the fucking fuck? Yes, bowl projections at this stage of the game are pretty much inherently retarded and barely worth paying attention to... but they should still make a little bit of sense, right? Try telling that to Bruce Feldman, ~~ESPN Insider blogger~~ cuntbag extraordinaire. For the second week in a row, he has Iowa MIA from his bowl projections on ESPN. This despite picking eight Big Ten teams to go bowling, including 2-1 justNorthwestern (who just lost to Syracuse) and Minnesota (who has looked fairly middling in all of their games thus far) and 1-2 Michigan State and 1-1 Illinois, two teams whose only wins have come against I-AA opposition. Other college football luminaries picked to go bowling by Feldman? Florida International, Arkansas State, and SMU. Feldman can go get fucked by a roomful of syphilitic cocks. (For the record, Feldman's cohort in bowl-based prognostication, noted SEC homer Mark Schlabach, picked Iowa to play Georgia in the BHGP-approved Outback Bowl.)

Poll watchin': like bird-watching, only with less chance of contracting avian flu. Like early season bowl prognostication, early season polling is pretty much intrinsically idiotic, but every year we get sucked into caring about it anyway. This week, despite being ranked 19th in the only poll we officially give a shit about, Iowa is ranked 31st in the AP poll and 30th in the Coaches poll, up slightly from last week.

In other news...

The gametime and broadcast info for the October 3 tilt with Arkansas State has been set: 11am CST on either ESPN Classic or ESPN2. Being on ESPN2 likely means Pam Ward and Ray Bentley on the call, but also probably HD. Being on ESPN Classic means no Ward or Bentley, but also no HD. Hmm. And it's frankly shocking that this game isn't on BTN.
Herschel Walker listens to voices in head, decides to take up MMA. This will not end well.
Finally, the greatest thing on television this year.

The Takeaway: Arizona

Oops Pow Surprise — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:01:34 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Neibergall - AP

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Spinning side kick!

Sure, Iowa just beat up on Arizona, 27-17. But how much do we really know? What was really important about beating Arizona? What does it all mean, Basil? The Takeaway has the answer.

Okay, time for the real Iowa to face a real quarterback: As we mentioned Saturday, Iowa's defense has absolutely obliterated the last two starting quarterbacks it faced; Austen Arnaud and Matt Scott, in their two appearances against Iowa, combined for 14-36, 129 yards, 0 TDs, 5 INT, and 2 benchings. That's goddamn brutal. Scott, especially, suffered Iowa's wrath; he was 4-8 for 50 yards. Then the second half started, and he completed precisely 1 pass: a perfectly thrown can of corn to Tyler Sash, who announcers said "almost called for a fair catch" on the play. Lucky for Iowa, he didn't; Sash ended up returning the pass 43 yards, and Iowa would soon thereafter kick a field goal that put the game out of reach for Arizona.

But the one nagging issue is that Matt Scott sucks, and Arnaud's credentials are little better. Pat Grace--the one good QB Iowa has faced--antagonized Greg Castillo for a whole game, but Castillo was never supposed to be starting; that's basically Shaun Prater's job, and Prater looked pretty damned good in his first game back. Darryl Clark, meanwhile, is generally accepted as one of the two best QBs in the conference, depending on your opinion of Terrelle Pryor and--if you're clinically insane--Juice Williams.

No holding was called on this play. Not that Karl Klug cares, of course; not here, not ever.

It'll be good. No, really, it will be. Nobody thinks Iowa's going to hold Clark to the median of the last two starters' performances (7-18, 64 yards, and a statistically curious 2.5 INT), but what he can accomplish with a meh receiving corps against a legitimate pass defense does remain to be seen. We're still looking quizzically at the linebackers and their pass coverage, but does anybody really think Clark's going to victimize anybody in the Iowa secondary? Prater, maybe. Greenwood, maybe (By the way, CLICK HERE for awesome footage of the Iowa secondary in action). The real hay's going to be made over the middle for PSU, though, not over the top or outside the hashes, and it's going to be interesting to see if the Nits have the patience to stick with that. Arnaud didn't, and hell followed.

Speaking of which, holy crap Tyler Sash: Obviously, this trend of Tyler Sash and his separations of offense and possession cannot keep its pace. Sash, who we might remind you is just a sophomore, picked off his fourth pass on Saturday, and it might have been his easiest takeaway of his Iowa career. That makes 7 interceptions in his last 5 games, and it says nothing of Sash's missile-like pursuit to the sidelines.

This dominance has its costs, though, and the primary unbeneficiary of them is David Cato. Cato made his presence known by knocking Grigsby for a big loss after the Cats got to Iowa's 1. Ah, but the third down that failed on that play? Effected by Sash pressuring Scott into an impossible pass after Scott rolled out. So you see the problem here.

Making things tougher is the fact that both players are sophomores; Cato burned his redshirt out of necessity last season. But Cato is necessarily a strong safety. It seems like Ferentz is trying to get him on the field more often, usually on special teams, but someone's going to have to switch positions to get both guys playing. That someone isn't going to be Sash, who's probably the best strong safety Iowa's had since Bob Sanders (yeah, I said it). Fortunately, Cato's frame looks like it might be big enough for a move to LB; we'll see what the team decides after the season. It's a shame, because Cato looks legit in his own right; that legitimacy may necessitate a transfer for his own sake, though, and that would suck.

But we digress. If Sash keeps up this kind of production, he's going to go down as one of the best safeties in Iowa history. We're three games into his sophomore season, so it's obviously not quite the time to start deciding his place in the list of the greats; that pace has to actually, y'know, keep up first. But man, he's good.

The Paul Chaney Jr. end around: We think the novelty's worn off, guys. Yes, the defenses need to respect Chaney or he'll bust one, but... they've tried it, what, four times now? Five? And he hasn't come close to taking one to the house. Unless this is some first step in a grand scheme to pull off an epic quadruple reverse, Iowa has probably shot its "end around" load.

Two tailbacks? And neither of them are Jeff Brinson or Jewel Hampton? Um, we did not expect this: First of all, everybody who thought three months ago that Adam Robinson would rush for a C-note on Arizona, please raise your hand. Okay, thank you, Robinson family and Lincoln alumni; the rest of you are fucking liars.

On one hand, Robinson registered 101 yards on the ground and you cannot take that away from him. That said... 43 of those yards came on a busted draw on 3rd and 23, a play where the Arizona DBs would have faced sodomy from a Mag-Lite if they'd bit on any sort of play fake. That's important because the prevailing narrative about Iowa's uncaring treatment of Nic Grigsby included a caveat about 58 of Grigsby's 75 yards coming on one carry, and we cannot have it both ways. Yes, A-Rob was better per carry even with the big run taken away, but if we say Arizona's run game was taken away, we have to admit Iowa's fared little better on median; excepting the big run, between A-Rob and Brandon Wegher, Iowa rushed 34 times for 104 yards. That's about 3.1 yards a pop, and if Arizona can do that to Iowa, Penn State should expect something similar. That does not bode well.

All of this is to be expected, though. After all, we're talking about a backfield tandem of a redshirt freshman who was generally thought of as the 4th best returning tailback six months ago, and a true freshman from Sioux City. Yes, they've outproduced those bona fides thus far, but not by that much, and here comes a real Big Ten defense just wishing a motherfucker would try to go between the tackles on them.

So what to take away from the rushing game? Well, Robinson ran hard, Wegher did things nobody else on the team can do (A cannonball from the 4 on a goal line dive that scores with ease? Come. on.), and together, they're in for the fight of their young lives against a PSU defense that's going to be amped as fuck when Iowa comes to town.

EPIC ANGERER.

And finally, this team is pretty close to legit. We're not about to say Iowa was underrated when they were at #21/22 coming into the season. Based on the way the AP votes, that designation is just about all a random Team X could ask for after these first three games.

At the same time, Iowa's missed 6 of its top 7 players on offense for at least a full game this season. Don't believe us? Bryan Bulaga, DJK, Tony Moeaki, Kyle Calloway, Jewel Hampton, Julian Vandervelde. Of those six, only two are healthy now, and we're not sure how many more will be ready to rock by the time the Happy Valley date rolls around. Every one of those players Iowa gets back is one step closer to a win at Penn State. We don't think Iowa's got the victory in hand by any stretch, especially in its current form.

But Bulaga's better than Riley Reiff. Moeaki's better--especially for the run game--than Allen Reisner. DJK's better than Colin Sandeman. Even if improvements are incremental, they're still improvements, and Iowa could use all the help it can get towards getting closer to full strength for the PSU game.

And yet, Iowa's still already 3-0, and the defense is rounding into mid-season form already. Granted, this could still all end in a 40-point victory for the Nittany Lions, but we'll see how much good news Iowa gets in the lead-up to the game. Plus, if there's anything Ferentz has proven himself to be up for, it's BEATING PENN SCHTAAAATE.

27-17: TIME TO UNDERSTAND THE HORROR

Oops Pow Surprise — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 01:52:28 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Neibergall - AP

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27-17. Feeling pretty good about that, right? As well we ought to be; that Arizona defense was fast. The headlines are probably going to be about Robinson's 100 yards or "OMG 2 FRESHMAN RBS"--maybe even about Stanzi--okay, probably not about Stanzi--but the real story has to begin on the other side of the ball.

Now, you wouldn't normally see a game in which your (underdog) opponent scored 17 points and conclude, "wow, that defense is legit."

But that's exactly what to take away from the Iowa victory today: fear this defense. They... oh, you know what? Put this music on first, then read on (but don't actually watch the video, because it's stupid):

Got it going? All right.

Here's the last two starting quarterbacks' combined stats from when they faced Iowa: 14-36, 129 yards, 0 TD, 5 INT. Oh, and 2 benchings. Austen Arnaud, you are not alone; you may take solace in the fact that while you threw 4 INT in the game, you were able to complete more than 4 passes to your own team. Not so for Mike Scott, who just submitted a stunning 4-14, 1 INT, 50 yard performance. Like, that was his entire day through the air. 50 yards.

Arizona held the ball for only 22:04 of the game today. That number makes sense, considering the team only managed 8 first downs. 2-12 on third down conversions, which is only slightly mitigated by going 2-3 on 4th down.

Put it like this: Arizona's scoring started with a horrific first quarter pick-six by Trevin Wade (who is unimpeachably awesome). It ended with a score on a hurry-up late TD with Iowa protecting a 17-point lead. Inbetween was one field goal off of a 58-yard run to the 1 by Nic Grigsby... and pain. Lots of pain.

The chief agents in Iowa's dissection of the Matt Scott Show were Adrian Clayborn, Karl Klug, and Tyler Sash. Clayborn and Klug were helldemons on the defensive line, continually pressuring Scott and wrecking the point of attack for Grigsby. Clayborn ended with 10 tackles, a sack, another tackle for loss (by running Grigsby down from behind, which a 280-pound man absolutely should not be able to do), and a forced fumble. But if he ended 10 plays, he affected about three times as many; Mike Diaz was little more than a turnstile at LT. Klug, too, had his name called plenty of times, and Sash was EPIC TYLER once again, his 43-yard interception return cementing the end to Scott's day.

As for the offense? Ehh. Ricky Stanzi was fine in the second half, as you might have guessed, but after the opening TD drive in the first quarter, Stanzi looked on the verge of implosion. He threw that interception to Wade, then spent most of the next few drives throwing balls to random places on the field. It was bad. Very bad. But for an utterly improbable 43-yard draw on 3rd and 23, Iowa might have gone into the locker room down at the break. Totally different game at that point? Eh, maybe. Not sure that does anything to the defense's demolition of the UA offensive line.

Also, taking nothing away from the effort-filled performances of Allen Reisner, Colin Sandeman, Paul Chaney Jr., and Riley Reiff... it's really obvious this team could use Tony Moeaki, DJK, and Bryan Bulaga back on the field. Like, soon. Preferably for next week.

Last, we would also be quite remiss if we didn't acknowledge a strong candidate for team MVP, Ryan Donahue. The Redheaded Cannonfoot boomed five punts for an average of 51 yards--2 stayed inside the 20 and another was a 62-yard touchback. Net punting on the day: 46.2 ypp. Considering that Arizona's was only 34.2, that's a significant benefit in the field position fight. Ask Arizona if they enjoyed staring at a long field after every time they held Iowa to a punt. Matt Scott will probably answer, and his response will be uncontrollable tears.

So that's that. 27-17 in the books, and a defense that is starting to look like the fearless ass-kickers we thought they'd be before the season began. Next week, Happy Valley. And the salvos begin firing... now.

Bring it.

There's A Game On Saturday? Arizona MORE LIKE THE MILDCATS

Oops Pow Surprise — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 03:50:03 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Neibergall - AP

3 months ago: Iowa's Tyler Sash runs off the field after his team's 35-3 win over Iowa State in this NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009, in Ames, Iowa. Sash had three interceptions in the win. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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Iowa's toughest challenge yet this season comes against an Arizona team that ended last season with a win over BYU... who just went down to Dallas and took out Oklahoma last week. Plenty of WAITWAITWAIT disclaimers to be thrown around those facts, but still, facts is facts. Vegas is putting the line at Iowa -4, which means those of you unscrupulous enough to actually bet on Iowa games are probably in for an ultra-stressful weekend. So who're we giving the edge to? Read on, children... read on.

With Iowa on defense

It would be disingenuous to say the offense revolves around Nic Grigsby--quarterback Matt Scott accounts for more than 250 yards of offense per game on his own--but the odds are a lot better that the Cats win on the ground than through the air. Grigsby is the rare home run threat in a pro set, something of a Tavian Banks-esque relic. But kid can move.

Arizona's offensive line goes about 320 per across the board, with both guards over 330 pounds. What should that tell you? Eh, not much. ISU's line was also big, and they didn't really push Iowa around. Further, even with Bulaga around, Iowa's line is about 25 pounds lighter across the board, and nobody thinks the Hawks' line sucks or is undersized. Skill's more important than size--well, once you get above 275, anyway.

The problem is that as Austen Arnaud and Pat Grace demonstrated, when Iowa has two running threats to account for in the backfield, they usually end up stopping neither. Both teams ran on Iowa with a surprising amount of ease; considering Scott has logged about 65 yards per on the ground this season (yes, it's totally shocking that NAU didn't shut Arizona down), A.J. Edds and Pat Angerer might be in for a long day of pursuit tomorrow.

It's not all bad news, though. As we mentioned before, Arizona's probably not passing to beat Iowa; they're missing a legitimate weapon at TE in Rob Gronkowski. El Gronko, as nobody calls him, is still sidelined with back problems. Add to that the hamstring issues lingering on top receiver Delashaun Dean (he's back, but we'll see how effective he can be), and it seems pretty obvious that Iowa's top priority is going to be shutting down Grigsby.

As for Scott, as we mused earlier, we imagine Tyler Sash is going to be spending a good amount of time creeping into the box and letting Greenwood mind the deep routes (eight days ago, that sentence would have been met with substantial trepidation here). Sash, Jeremiha Hunter, and Edds are all capable of spy duty if Scott gets an itch to run; we'll see if Dr. Octopus goes that route or leaves that task to the guys in short pass coverage.

As Bellanca noted earlier today, Grigsby's in the mold of a tailback that Iowa shut down with frightening regularity last season. That should continue Saturday.

Needless Intermission

This seems incredibly unacceptable.

With Iowa on offense

Okay, so things still aren't back to normal, but the situation is hardly dire. Bryan Bulaga's still likely out, but Riley Reiff didn't look too bad in relief last week. Ol' Reliable, Tony Moeaki, is nursing a bum ankle; Allen Reisner is an experienced (if pedestrian) replacement. And there's also whispers that Derrell Johnson-Koulianos tweaked his ankle over the course of the week. Scary, yes, but if there's one deep position on offense for the Hawkeyes, it's wideout. The top three wideouts will probably be Marvin McNutt, Trey Stross, and Keenan Davis; Iowa should be fine there.

And then Rick Stanzi. Ohhh, Stanzi. Kaiser Von Manzi is gleefully removing the last glimmers of color from Kirk Ferentz's hair; at this rate, KF's going to go whiter than Ted Danson by the end of the season. And while Stanzi seems to be settling into a somewhat predictable pattern (1st quarter: suck beyond belief; 2nd quarter: do nothing; 2nd half: annihilate all defenders), the first half bedwettings have to stop. Iowa can get away with it against the little brothers of the state; I'm not so sure they can against a stingy Zona defense.

Adam Robinson's getting the start over Brandon Wegher, though that seems like a less meaningful distinction than usual. After all, if the game's 17-13 and Iowa's got one drive left, we're pretty sure Wegher's going to be in the backfield, not Robinson. And if it's Paki O'Meara, we will find a puppy and shoot it. A cute puppy.

We would spend the next few paragraphs musing about the Arizona defense, but that would be impossible, since--as regular podcast listeners already know--they haven't been on television this year. They've shut down Northern Arizona and Central Michigan, which is about as impressive as shutting down Northern Armenia and Central Mauritania. Okay, that's not fair to Dan LeFevour and Central Michigan, who are actually good. But this is going to be their toughest test of the year too.

Prognosis

It won't be pretty. Not at all. Until he proves otherwise, we're marking down Stanzi for an early turnover or two, stunting the Iowa offense's early production. But for Stanzi's early struggles, we're thinking Scott has a worse game for longer. And while Kirk Ferentz is 39-22 against the spread at home, Mike Stoops loses football games. An Arizona win simply goes against both men's pedigrees.

Our initial thinking was 19-10, but past performance suggests Arizona ought to be able to get at least an easy field goal off of one Iowa mistake. So let's say 19-13, Hawkeyes, in an oft-ugly game of the "get the W and get the hell out of here" variety. No top 25 without a lot of help from teams above Iowa, which probably means no GameDay at PSU for next weekend. We're all right with that.

Assume the Position 2009: Tight End

Hawkeye State — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:33:12 -0000

It's about that time again. For the next three months, BHGP will be previewing this year's Iowa Hawkeyes, position-by-position. Naturally, as the earth revolves around the sun, things will change. Therefore, we're starting with the position where we are most certain, and ending with the position of which we are least certain. To date:

1. Quarterback
2. Offensive Tackle
3. Safety
4. Linebacker

Tonight: Tight End

I'll give you a topic: The Flyin' Hawaiian is neither flying nor Hawaiian. Discuss.

In normal circumstances, tight end would be a top three ATP selection. A top-flight senior returning for his ~~nineteenth~~ fifth season, ordained as the starter two years ago (wow, did that jackass get it wrong) with the vexatious almagam of route-running/pass-catching/linebacker-blocking ability needed from an Iowa tight end and no real competition from below, would look like a certain starter for all 12 weeks.

Funny how a broken hand, dislocated elbow, broken foot (x2), strained calf, pulled hamstring, and concussion can change things.

The Starter

Tony Moeaki (#81, 6'4", 250, Senior) - I think it's safe to say that Tony Moeaki is the biggest wild card on this year's squad. There is no doubting his God-given abilities; when healthy, he has been that rare member of the Class of 2005 that has actually lived up to the hype. Two seasons ago, he made JC6 look like Dan Marino in both players' signature game at Iowa, the 35-0 shellacking of an admittedly inferior Syracuse. Moeaki caught 8 passes for 112 yards and 3 scores that day, then had his arm asplode into 29 pieces two weeks later against Wisconsin and missed the rest of the campaign. In 2008, he missed 5 games completely and played sparingly in 5 others; essentially, his entire season was Michigan State, Minnesota, and the Outback Bowl. Sadly, a player formerly known as the tight end version of Cris "just catches touchdowns" Carter only recorded one score last season (against Minnesota, of course, because everyone scored against Minnesota). He then sat out the spring after another surgery on the foot that kept him out most of the season.

In 2007, Moeaki's absence was one of the primary causes for the collapse of the offense, as Brandon Myers was quite clearly not yet ready for prime time. Last year, Moeaki's absence turned Myers into an NFL (well, Raiders) draft pick. Given Reisner's lack of experience, it's 2007 all over again. If Moeaki is healthy and KOK keeps calling that stupid roll-one-way-throw-it-back-the-other-way-like-we're-playing-motherfucking-Madden-99 tight end screen pass, he'll be the straw that stirs the drink. ~~When~~ If he's hurt, we'll find out just what we have in the tank. Let's just hope, for everyone's sake, that Tony can finally survive an entire season in one piece.

The MAS*H Unit

Allen Reisner (#82, 6'3", 235, Junior) - Let's face it: He's going to play, and not just garbage time. All things considered, that might not be a bad thing. Reisner, a universal 2-star from Cedar Rapids Marion, learned at the foot of Moeaki and Myers for the past two seasons and got limited snaps last season as the de facto backup in Moeaki's absence. He caught 11 passes last year, all in the five games where Moeaki couldn't play. What he lacked in quantity, he made up for in quality: He averaged 18 yards per reception and picked up a late touchdown against Wisconsin. His stat line actually stands up well against Moeaki's; put the two together and it's a good season for a tight end.

Should See the Field

Brad Herman (#39, 6'5", 242, Sophomore) - Let's run through the checklist, shall we?

Under-the-radar recruit from small town? CHECK.
Talks constantly about the strength and conditioning program? CHECK.
Shows up on campus, immediately puts on 15 pounds? CHECK.
Despite being stuck behind logjams at tight end and linebacker, burns redshirt and plays special teams as a true freshman, just so he can hit people? CHECK.
Adds another 10 pounds before the start of fall practice? CHECK.

I think we have ourselves a winner, folks. Herman was the rare 3-star recruit who nobody wanted. Finally, he sent a game tape to Iowa and had an offer 5 days later. Since the moment he hit campus, the coaches have raved about his play (in that, they have mentioned him more than once despite the fact he's only on special teams; there's never too much raving from Ferentz and Co.) It looks like the experiment with linebacker is over; given his size and the depth at that spot, it's probably a wise move. When Moeaki finally finishes his starcrossed career this fall, Reisner will get his shot for one season, but make no mistake: Herman is the heir apparent. Look for him this season. He'll be the one running pass patterns in a linebacker's jersey.

Kyle Spalding (#30, 6'5", 250, Senior) - OK, so he's probably not going to play (he's sharing a number with Brett Greenwood, and one of those things is not like the other), but the guy is a senior 4-year walk-on who has never stepped foot on the field during a game, let alone caught a pass. That kind of dedication to the program, without the smallest of rewards whatsoever, deserves a mention. Plus his mugshot is positively sublime.

The Takeaway: Iowa State

Oops Pow Surprise — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:01:30 -0000

Sure, Iowa just outlasted an underwhelming Iowa State team, 17-5. But how much do we really know? What was really important about beating ISU? What does it all mean, Basil? The Takeaway has the answer.

In the most gruesome play of the afternoon, Matt Kroul rips Iowa State quarterback Austin Arnaud's head off. No penalty was called, as Kroul did not grip the face mask.

The Hawkeye defense is as deep as it is tough. For the third time in as many games this season, Iowa held its opponent out of the end zone, limiting the Cyclones to five lousy points; ISU's points came from a made field goal and two pity points after kicker Grant Mahoney clanged a kick from 21 yards away.

The third quarter looked disturbingly similar to the first half of last season's Iowa-ISU game, where the ball was on Iowa's side of the field the whole time. This time, the Cyclones couldn't even put points on the board with special teams. All credit goes to what might end up being the stoutest defense in the conference. While most of the top-end talent is on the defensive line, there are no real weak spots in terms of athleticism, performance, or depth.

Nowhere is that more ably demonstrated than the secondary. If you'd told us that Jordan Bernstine would barely be on the two-deeps at this point, we'd be horrified at the prospects for the pass defense. Sure enough, as he recovers from hamstring problems, Bernstine is essentially the fourth corner on the depth chart, and those in front of him are showing no signs of relenting any snaps. Bradley Fletcher has improved demonstrably from last year, Amari Spievey is the surest tackler at CB for Iowa since Benny Sapp, and true freshman Shaun Prater was in at crunch time, breaking up ISU's last gasp in the back of the end zone on fourth down.

All in all, though Austen Arnaud seemed to pick apart the Iowa pass defense at times, the Clones couldn't get in the end zone again (it's been more than 10 quarters since they've hit pay dirt vs. Iowa), and the Iowa defense is now ranked third nationally in pass efficiency. Credit should also go to the linebackers, especially AJ Edds, but great pass defense starts in the secondary, and Iowa is rock-solid there.

Another example? Why, sure. Harold Dalton started all last season at strong safety, and he was no liability. Then, during spring practices, coaches frequently mentioned Dalton's backup, Lance Tillison (who, by the way, is jacked as hell), as a strong contender to start. So with both Tillison and Dalton healthy, the coaches started Tyler Sash, a freshman from Oskaloosa. Sash responded with 12 tackles, a key third-down sack, and a goal-line interception that he ran out to the one-yard-line before walking out of bounds. That was one boneheaded play in an otherwise brilliant debut for Sash, who should be a strong contender for the BXI's defensive player of the week honors.

Broderick Binns is also good.

You want more? We'll give you more. Pat Angerer's first two years at Iowa were disasters, last season marked by mononucleosis and a variety of injuries. He thought about quitting football, and few would have questioned him. He stayed, and on Saturday he usurped Jacody Coleman, who started multiple games as a true freshman last season in relief of Mike Klinkenborg. Angerer was flying around the field all day against ISU, but no play was bigger than him blowing up a screen pass on third and short with Iowa protecting a 10-3 lead. Iowa State was forced to punt, and this happened:

Ballgame.

Iowa's ground game is no longer a question mark. Shonn Greene's numbers look good on their own: 20 carries, 120 yards, one touchdown. That they came in the rain is seemingly no surprise, as rain is supposed to help a ground game (and let's be clear, in dry conditions, he doesn't sneak out of that tackle and gain 31 yards in the first quarter). But make no mistake, Greene would have easily topped 150 yards on a decent field yesterday.

Greene slipped several times on the slick surface, usually every time he tried to make a hard cut. Thanks to outstanding blocking from Bryan Bulaga and the rest of the offensive line, Greene rarely encountered any trouble near the line of scrimmage, and when he did, his strength was enough to carry him forward for respectable numbers. Perhaps ISU's just miserable in the front seven, but we're not so quick to discount the quality of what appears to be Iowa's most brutish ground game since the days of Nick Bell.

The Surgeon General recommends that you avoid trying to tackle Shonn Greene at all costs. Also, eat 4-6 servings of vegetables every day.

Iowa's passing game, on the other hand, is more of a concern than ever. Oh boy, where do we even start? How about Stanzi to Brodell in the first quarter? Having drawn ISU offsides on a hard count, Stanzi had a free play, and he rolled out to his right, looking long. There was Andy Brodell, who was laughably, insanely open. Rather than squaring his shoulders and planting his feet, Stanzi threw on the run, despite no evident pressure from the ISU rush. The pass sailed and missed Brodell by about three yards, and what should have been an easy touchdown to put the Cyclones down by 10 early instead fell to the ground harmlessly. A false start erased the five-yard bonus of the offsides call immediately afterwards, and the Iowa drive would end in an interception. Indeed, Iowa wouldn't see those points until the fourth quarter, well after the end of the Ricky Stanzi Experience.

Stanzi's overall numbers were as horrifying as his play seemed to indicate: 5-14, 75 yards, 0 touchdowns, two interceptions. The second pick was so ill-advised that Ferentz had no choice to bring in Christensen--it was a curl route into triple coverage that wouldn't have even garnered a first down on third and long. Stanzi sailed passes all game long, including one on third down in the end zone to an easily open Allen Reisner on the game's first drive. Between that and the Brodell debacle, Stanzi left 11 points off the board for Iowa on those two throws. It's tough to say whether Christensen would have erred so badly on the same two plays.

Christensen entered the game with one play remaining in the third quarter. He started the drive with a checkdown pass to Shonn Greene, who motored ahead for a first down, and later Christensen made arguably the most important move of the game without throwing the ball. Facing 3rd and a long 4 at the ISU 25, Christensen audibled to an off-tackle run for Greene, who took it inside the Clones' 5-yard-line. Greene scored on the next play, and Iowa had all the momentum from there on out.

Don't tackle him, it only makes him mad.

Christensen still looked shaky, though, despite converting four of his five passes. Only the pass to Greene resulted in over five yards or a first down, and Iowa went three and out while trying to protect that 10-3 lead late in the fourth.

Anyone who tells you right now who will start at Pittsburgh this Saturday is either guessing or lying. They don't know. Kirk Ferentz doesn't even know. So naturally we don't know. We do know that nobody was booing Jake when he came in this week, and nobody's going to be booing him for a while after Iowa hoisted that stupid-looking trophy that ought to be thrown into a volcano like some sort of reverse sucktastic Ring of Sauron. The QB race continues, and as long as Iowa keeps winning, that's just fine.

It may be a shitty trophy, but it's our shitty trophy.

Photo credits, top to bottom: John Schultz, Lee News Service/QC Times; John Schultz, Lee News Service/QC Times; Doug Dornath, HawkeyeSports.com; John Schultz, Lee News Service/QC Times; AP Photo/Charlie Niebergall; John Schultz, Lee News Service/QC Times

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