SB Nation - Iowa Hawkeyes

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.

Derrick Morgan vs. the Iowa OL

BirdGT — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:30:28 -0000

More photos » by Al Goldis - AP

Booyah. Sacked. (AP Photo/Al Goldis)

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Iowa's offensive line has 8 guys with solid experience. They've accounted for over 148 starts. Derrick Morgan has started in 26 games on the Flats and earned AP All America status this season. Three Iowa lineman have started in more games than Morgan: Junior Bryan Buluga (27) and seniors Kyle Calloway (36) and Rafael Eubanks (36).

Iowa is notorious for poor pass protection. They've allowed almost 30 sacks/season over the last three seasons. Reese Morgan is the offensive line coach and has been for the last 10 years.

Morgan has racked up 19.5 sacks and 29 tackles for loss in his three seasons at Tech. He saw little action his freshman year as he was behind current NFLers Michael Johnson and Darrell Robertson. Last year, Morgan built up his stats and MJ was the focus of opposing OL coaches and their double teams. This season, despite constant double teams, Derrick has continued to improve. What makes him such a force is his strength, speed, and motor (see 2:59 mark). The reason his NFL Draft stock is so high is because he plays hard on every play.

I've already pointed out the fact that Iowa is prone to pass on 3rd down and this tendency has led to a majority of their sacks. Tech fans are generally excited when they look at this match up on paper. If Iowa wants to succeed at all in the passing game, it'll require a heckuvan effort from their freshmen running backs chipping the Beast from Coatesville.

I'm assuming Bulaga, Eubanks, and Calloway are starting alongside Julian Vandervelde and Riley Reiff, the relative weak links. Reiff is a redshirt freshmen with only 12 games of experience. Reiff moved over from defensive end to play guard for the Hawkeyes. Vandervelde is a seasoned junior who's seen a bit of action but never quite had the talent to break into the starting role until attrition slid him in. Look for Morgan to pick up weaknesses in the game film and exploit them.

Poll

What do you expect from Derrick Morgan against the Iowa OL?

Demaryius Thomas vs. Amari Spievey

BirdGT — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:06:40 -0000

More photos » by Sara D. Davis - AP

Beasted. (AP Photo/Sara D. Davis)

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Note: This was supposed to publish at 8AM but it seems there has been some issues with the scheduling of posts. Either way, here you go.

Two guys. One catches all of our passes. One hits guys that catch passes. I'm not familiar with the Hawkeyes' defensive backfield philosophy (boundary/strong side/man-man) but based on talent alone I'm assuming Amari Spievey will be assigned to defend Demaryius Thomas a majority of the time. Black Heart Gold Pants said this of Spievey:

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.

The match up is not the first this season for Thomas against talented players in the secondary. Thomas' statistically worst game was against the Tarheels. Two All-ACC performers in Deunta Williams and Kendric Burney were assigned to Bay Bay but in limiting Thomas, the Tarheels couldn't slow down the rushing attack. They sacrificed run support for stopping Thomas and his big plays. UNC didn't win but they limited our deep passing game.

Wake Forest limited Thomas, as well. Wake defended the edge and the pass with great discipline but sacrificed the dive. Jonathan Dwyer racked up 200 yards because of it. Wake limited the QB and A-Backs to 5.4 yards per carry but gave up a whopping 8.7 yards per carry to Dwyer and Preston Lyons. (averaged between the two)

The problem presented to defensive coordinators is that wide receivers in Paul Johnson's offense are expected to block. Thomas is a big dude and he enjoys leveling unsuspecting defensive backs - particularly safeties on the triple option. Because of his excellent blocking ability, we typically run to Demaryius' side of the field. Corners have to keep their eyes in the backfield in case it's play action or an option-pass. The worst place to be on defense when playing against a Paul Johnson offense is at the point of attack. For the most part, we'll be lead blocking all of our edge plays with Demaryius Thomas and the corner matched up with him will be catching Hell all night. If Thomas isn't picking up the corner, then a tackle or slot back will. The corner's gotta be able to take a beating and just be prepared to force the slot backs back inside or beat the block and make a tackle. If Spievey can't make 5-6 solo tackles in this game, I don't see Iowa's defense having much success at all

Outside the realm of blocking, Bay Bay has become a pretty refined wide receiver in Johnson's offense. He has an excellent ability to fake corners. He beats guys on jump balls with regularity and is fast enough to beat safeties in single coverage. Norm Parker's guys have got their hands full.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Demaryius in one on one at first just so Norm can see how the talent lines up. It would take a nasty turnover for Paul Johnson to stop going to Demaryius Thomas deep. Even then, if it were a poorly thrown ball, I wouldn't be surprised if we kept going his way. Seeing as Iowa's defense relies on the front seven, we should probably expect an unusual mix of passing to start the game. Like BHGP said, this battle could be an important part in determining the winner of the looming Iowa-GT War.

Hawkeyes vs Yellow Jackets coverage

Idle Musing About Big Ten Expansion

Oops Pow Surprise — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:26:49 -0000

More photos » by Keith Srakocic - AP

Is this really the best we can do? Really? (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

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Okay, so even though expansion is probably a go--probably--none of this talk is going to be relevant for at least a year and probably much longer. Is that going to stop us? Has it ever?

Notre Dame's not going to happen. Why? Because there's likely far too large a disconnect between each side's perception of Notre Dame's value to the conference. Both the school and the conference probably think "they need us more than we need them," and only the conference would be right. Jim Delaney would likely want no part of such a radioactively bitchy athletic department and fanbase.

I get why Pitt's a natural fit for the conference and everything, but doesn't it seem like they're almost too good a fit? By that I mean their inclusion doesn't bring anything to the table except a "12th for the sake of 12." The footprint doesn't grow at all and there aren't any markets that come into play; would that even be a net positive in terms of BTN money per school? And that's not even taking into consideration the looming nightmare of crafting divisions. So yeah, might happen, but we'd prefer something a little more beneficial than the Wannstache and his minions.

Cincinnati is right out.

Missouri still intrigues me, although "Big Ten West" would scarcely be better at football than "Big Twelve North." Not a dig on Missouri, but just saying--all the post-1955 greatness (and about 90% of the pre-) is on the other side of Lake Michigan. It's likely in Missouri's best interests to at least entertain some overtures from the Big Ten, though; Missouri fans have been feeling far more disrespect from the Big 12 than any school should get from its conference (passed up for ISU? Seriously?), and if nothing else they should use the opportunity to strengthen their standing within the Big Roman Numerals. Otherwise, that BTN revenue sharing looks better and better.

Iowa State would immediately diminish the Big Ten's standing in every single aspect. They don't even belong in Division I, much less the Big Ten. No. No no no.

Any other Big 12 North schools would probably not have much reciprocal interest; they're too far away geographically and pretty well entrenched in that old Big 8 family.

As for Texas, yes, they were on the conference's radar, but there's no damn way they'd share their TV money. They're the king of the Big XII, and it'd be moronic for them to pass up any aspect of their relationship with the conference. Delaney would love to have them. And I'd love to be able to dunk on a 12-foot rim.

Syracuse and Rutgers are candidates for roughly the same reason: New York Money. Granted, they're both fine institutions with solid academic reputations, but let's be honest, the Big Ten wants to get on television screens in the Big Apple. It's quite reminiscent of when the NHL took a franchise from Winnipeg to Phoenix, since the Phoenix market is several times larger than Winnipeg. That, I assure you, has not worked out very well. You can't plop something foreign down in a major market and just expect people to pony up money. So if Syracuse or Rutgers joins and Delany tries to pressure cable companies in New York to buy into the BTN, guess what? It's probably not going to happen, and we're going to look remarkably stupid for thinking it would.

Of course, the best option--still and always--is Cornell.

Getting To Know the Hawkeyes' Traditions

Winfield Featherston — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:00:25 -0000

Georgia Tech and its fans pride themselves themselves on traditions of the Institute, both in football and academia. From the Ramblin' Reck to Rat Caps to Budweiser, every tradition has a story that we know and love. Some of the best traditions in college football are traditions that can just be considered "dumb" with "dumb stories" from outsiders such as dotting the "i" in Ohio State (I didn't call it dumb), the mascots of Auburn, and yes, even Budweiser. As such a tradition-rich school like Georgia Tech, I wanted to see what type of traditions Iowa holds.

Why a Hawkeye? The term "hawkeye" was first used in the book "Last of the Mohicans" and it was later used as a term to describe those who lived in the Iowa area in the the 1840's. I could not exactly find the relation between Iowa and Last of the Mohicans. I guess it just sounds cool or something.

Mascot: Their mascot is a hawk named Herky, a reference to Hercules. Costumed Herky is older than Buzz, first taking the field in 1959. I guess it's more original than Buzz. Herky's head is made of ceramic which lets him have his mouth open at all times and seemingly willing to eat small babies in one fell swoop. Naturally this is a terrifying thought to a small child and I can only imagine how many kids run away from the sight of the Hawk running up to them, wings spread out.

Bears!: Just like Georgia Tech, Iowa also has had a bear live under the bleachers and serve as an unofficial mascot. Unlike, Georgia Tech, this bear was not a product of a Rose Bowl victory and the story does not end well. The Iowa bear's name was "Burch" and he was imported from the land of Idaho. From the years of 1908-1910, he was the school's unofficial mascot as he lived in the stadium and toured the sidelines until he drowned in the Iowa River. Yet again, Georgia Tech proves to win in the "unofficial mascot Bear war" in that "Bruin" AKA "Stumpy's Bear" outgrew his stadium and was donated to the zoo. Though, we do have "Sideways the Dog" a lovable pup who died due to eating rat poison.

Burch vs. Bruin

Fight Songs: Their fight song pales in comparison to ours. All fight songs take a backseat to ours. The songs goes as follows (click the lyrics to hear the song):

The word is "Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,
Let every loyal Iowan sing;
The word is "Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,"
Until the walls and rafters ring (Go Hawks!)
Come on and cheer, cheer, cheer, for IOWA
Come on and cheer until you hear the final gun.
The word is "Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,"
Until the game is won.

Yes, I will take drinking and daming the rival please.

School Colors: The Iowa Hawkeyes wear black and gold and I don't know why. We wear gold because we wanted to insult the university [sic] of georgia by beating them handidly in a color they refused to wear because they believed yellow was"cowardly."

War Heroes: Both Iowa and Georgia Tech have men who are influential in Heisman Trophy history who leave their impacts beyond the gridiron. Iowa has a man by the name of Nile Kinnick who won the Heisman in 1939 and was a consensus All-American that same year. During World War II, Kinnick was a Naval pilot. In 1943, Kinnick was flying a routine training mission off the coast of Venezuela when he had to do an emergency landing in the water and died in the process. His body was never recovered. Nile Kinnick is one of two numbers retired in Iowa football history.

Georgia Tech has a similar story that we all know, the story of Clint Castleberry. In 1942, Castleberry's freshman year, the Yellow Jackets went 11-2 with Clint finishing 3rd in the Heisman race which is still the highest a freshman has ever been placed for the Heisman. After the 1942 season, Castleberry joined the Army Air Force. On November 7, 1944 Castleberry was flying a B-26 Marauder over Liberia. He never arrived at his destination point and was never heard from again. To this day, Clint Castleberry's jersey number (#19) is the only number to ever be retired in Georgia Tech football history.

I think we'll still take Georgia Tech traditions and history over Iowa traditions and history but it is always interesting to see where the other schools come from and what is special to them. Traditions are what make college football so great.

Iowa fans! Did I miss any key event or tradition?

Hawkeyes vs Yellow Jackets coverage

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

8 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?

Ranking The 2009-2010 Bowls: Part 3

Mark Kieffer — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:00:24 -0000

Here we go! Part 3 of the series. Pushing it out a day earlier than originally planned, with plenty of time to spare before bowl season!

Below is the list of the 9 Bowl Games that I am going to try and do everything in my power to watch. With these 9 games, if I were able to watch all of these, I would be perfectly content with bowl season.

As I've said before, there's a lot of people out there that think there are way too many bowl games. That they are all meaningless for the most part. If you're one of those fans, I'm totally with you, 100%. The main reason why there are so many, is because people are able to make money off of it, and I have no problem with people getting paid money. All I will do as a consumer, is watch the games I care about, and not watch the others. If everyone did that, then you probably wouldn't be as bothered by the Bowl System.

For me, I just pick and choose the matchups that look the most appealing. In some years, it may be just a few bowl games. In others, it might be 10-15. It all depends on how the season goes, and what the match ups look like. These people that try to make a Top 10 list every year are silly. Some years, the number of good games in a given year aren't constant, which is why for 2009-2010, I've got 9 games, as opposed to some round number like 5 or 10.

With that said, click the jump to see how I have my Top 9 bowl games ranked!

#9: Gator Bowl (West Virginia vs. Florida State), 1/1/2010, Noon CST, CBS

A historic game, as Bobby Bowden says goodbye to Florida State and coaching altogether. I'm interested in seeing the kind of pregame CBS will air. I'm sure the Florida State players are going to do everything in their power to come out prepared, and working as hard as they can to get their coach one more win.

#8: Las Vegas Bowl (Oregon State vs. BYU), 12/22/2009, 7:00pm CST, ESPN

I am really looking forward to this matchup. I've had the chance to watch quite a few Oregon State games this year. I will say that although they do not tackle well, they have a good offense, and are a tough opponent. BYU has had some head-scratching performances, like a blowout loss to Florida State at home, but I think a lot of those issues are taken care of, and they are a physical team. I look at BYU trying to pass all over the place, while Oregon State tries to run over BYU. I also think it will likely come down to the final possession or so to win it.

#7: Sun Bowl (Oklahoma vs. Stanford), 12/31/2009, 1pm CST, CBS

This game starts about 4 hours before the Insight Bowl. I'm hoping someone tailgating has a TV setup where we could watch this one as it should be a good one. I'm a big fan of OU's defense, and an even bigger fan of Toby Gerhart. The Sun Bowl did well with this matchup in my opinion this year.

#6: Rose Bowl (Ohio State vs. Oregon), 1/1/2010, 3:30pm CST, ABC

Uber-conservative Ohio State, against a more free Oregon offense. Typically when Tressell has a while to gameplan, he is able to keep the Buckeyes in the game. I also think that he often plays "not to lose" instead of playing to win. If he does that, I think the Ducks make him pay. Either way, I think it's a lopsided game, and Oregon wins by 2 TDs. I just love the way Oregon runs that option-attack, and this is one of the more traditional bowls that I do like to check out.

#5: Orange Bowl (Iowa vs. Georgia Tech), 1/5/2010, 7pm CST, Fox

I know Hawk fans are disappointed in not making the Rose Bowl this year, but it isn't all bad. They are in a BCS game, yet again, and get to face an opponent they actually have a chance at beating. I honestly think that Iowa would have gotten spanked against Oregon this year. If I'm a Hawk fan, I'm happier to see my team have a chance to win on the big stage. Both teams like to run it, and both play decent defense. The Hawks have played close games all year, and I don't think this one is any exception

#4: Sugar Bowl (Florida vs. Cincy), 1/1/2010, 7:30pm CST, Fox

Even though Brian Kelly bolted Cincy, I think these guys play hard in the biggest game in Cincy's history. It's also Tebow's last college game, and I'm interested in seeing how he goes out, after having a bad game in the SEC Championship.

#3: BCS Championship (Texas vs. Alabama), 1/7/2010, 7pm CST, Fox

Usually I find these games disappointing and not living up to the hype. Part of me thinks it will be a good game, while the other part thinks that Alabama is just going to throttle the Longhorns. The fact that Texas nearly lost to Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship game suprised me, and I think they are vulnearable. If 'Bama brings that physical play they brought to the SEC Championship game, it's over.

#2: Fiesta Bowl (TCU vs. Boise State), 1/4/2010, 7pm CST, Fox

I feel bad for both of these programs. From everything I've seen, I have no doubt in my mind that both of these teams could compete with anyone in the BCS. I would've like to see Iowa get in the Fiesta Bowl, playing one of these teams, with Georgia Tech playing the other. Regardless, the BCS is going to discount both of these programs, plus they can pat themselves on the back for taking Boise State as an At-Large as opposed to a Virginia Tech.

With that said, I think it's going to be a hell of a game. TCU with their explosive defense, and Boise State with their explosive offense. If I had the ability to stay in the Phoenix area for longer, I would try to get to this game as well, but it's not happening. It should be just as epic on TV!

#1 Insight bowl (Minnesota vs. ISU), 12/31/2009, 5pm CST, NFL Network

If you are not an ISU or Minnesota fan, this game probably ranks the lowest amongst Bowls with teams from 2 BCS Conferences. I get that, so don't rip if you aren't a fan. I am an Iowa State fan, pumped that they made it to a game in a fun location, and looking forward to a great trip down to Tempe! Having a chance to play a team in which I have friends and family that follow that program, make it that much more fun for me.

If you are an ISU fan, and aren't excited about this game, I don't know what to do for you. Realistically, this is closer to the ceiling in terms of Bowl Games for ISU; at least in the near term. If you're a student or on the fence about going to this one because you're "going to wait for the bigger one next year", don't fall in that trap! That is exactly what I did when I was in school! The team went to 3 Bowl Games, and I went to neither, because I was waiting until they made the Cotton, Holiday, or Alamo Bowl. I thought I'd be heading to Big 12 Championship games in the future, and we know how it has turned out. This year the team is bowling. Other than mode of transportation, tickets and hotels are very reasonable. The New Year's Eve Block Party in Tempe is one of the better New Years Celebrations in the US. Don't miss out on this, waiting 4 years for the next time this happens.

That concludes the series. I'd love to hear which games you're most forward to watching this bowl season!

---

Part 2

Part 1

The Sinclair Broadcasting Group Hates Hawkeyes, Iowans, You

Oops Pow Surprise — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:43:13 -0000

Seriously, why would people in Eastern Iowa want to watch the Orange Bowl? Sinclair can't figure out why:

Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which owns KFXA-28 (the local Fox affiliate) and KGAN-2 (the local CBS affiliate), wants to be paid a higher fee for Mediacom to carry the two channels on its cable system.

Mediacom doesn’t want to pay. Their agreement expires on Dec. 31.

The big problem around Iowa City and for much of Eastern Iowa is that the Jan. 5, 2010, Orange Bowl between Iowa and Georgia Tech is on Fox. Additionally, the Feb. 7 Super Bowl is on CBS.

Yep. This isn't the first time this crap has happened; just three years ago, Sinclair pulled the exact same card on Mediacom, forcing the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids market to switch to the Quad Cities CBS feed instead.

Slight problem: that's no longer legal, thanks to legal wrangling by our friends at Sinclair. Now, KGAN basically has exclusive rights to broadcast syndicated CBS programming in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. Why this makes any sense, we'll never know.

Also, if you're thinking, "no, I vaguely remember hating Sinclair with all my heart, but for entirely different reasons," yes, you're also correct. Back during the 2004 Presidential election, Sinclair planned to force its 60-odd stations to preempt their primetime programming to air what was essentially a hit piece on John Kerry about a week before Election Day... while just six months prior, refusing to air a Nightline special on the soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, calling the Nightline piece "motivated by a political agenda."

And look, we know that there's plenty of staunch Republicans who read BHGP. Welcome, Elephants, one and all. But we imagine they would agree that regardless of one's personal preference in politics, a cable conglomerate has absolutely no business trying to influence a national election, especially in such an overt manner.

Further, lest we interpret all of this as an isolated incident or Mediacom as a sole agent of opposition to Sinclair's retransmission practices, Wikipedia has a slew of other incidents from around the country.

So you get what we have here. Sinclair--one of the most manipulative, contentious station owners in the country--threatening to take two of Eastern Iowa's stations off the air immediately before two of the most high-profile live events, over what they call "a simple business negotiation" (translated: "we demand more money because we can, and screw your customers if they don't like it"), and there's nothing Mediacom can do to stop it without caving in, because there's legally no chance for competition. It's a real shame. If there were another station or firm allowed to come in and say "we can transmit the CBS feed with local news to you for 60% of what Sinclair wants," you best believe Sinclair's demand would go down in a hurry.

Yep, that'd be nice. But we'll sooner see this happen...

...than that.

Big Ten Expansion Warning System Reaches DEFCON 2

Hawkeye State — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:30:12 -0000

Remember the "back burner" talk of the Big Ten adding a 12th school? It's not so implausible anymore. This is what happens when expansion stops being hypothetical and starts getting real, per Teddy Greenstein at the Trib:

According to a league official, the Big Ten will release a statement Tuesday saying the matter has moved to the front burner.

The first sign of change came from former Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez, who told Wisconsin's athletic board on Friday that Delany "is going to take this year to really be more aggressive about it. I just think everybody feels [expansion] is the direction to go, coaches and administrators."

A league source on Monday cited a "growing groundswell" of support among athletic directors for expansion.

The candidates have been debated since Penn State joined the conference 20 years ago, and have been beaten to death by the Big Ten blogosphere in the past few years (most recently, and most thoroughly, by We Will Always Have Tempe). We know the usual suspects: Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, Rutgers, Missouri (who, according to a post at the Kansas City Star, would be open to the idea), etc. Things to keep in mind if this, in fact, goes down:

(1) NERDS! Regardless of what is said, here and elsewhere, about a Big Ten Championship Game as the holy grail, no expansion will take place unless the eggheads approve. Unlike the Big XII or SEC, the CIC (the Big Ten's academic arm, which includes the 11 member schools plus the University of Chicago) holds veto power over any choice, and will freely exercise it over any institution it deems unfit for entry.

(2) NERDS! Part Deux. There has been extensive discussion of U.S. News rankings (or this guy's inexplicable reliance on Nebraska's number of Academic All-Americans) when comparing possible expansion candidates' academic standing with the rest of the conference. This is not the proper metric. The CIC is not primarily interested in undergraduate program rankings, as undergraduate programs are secondary to their goal: Research. If a school is to be accepted, it must have a vibrant graduate program churning out high-quality academic research. In fact, it's this criteria that makes some people think Notre Dame, a fine academic institution but not research-heavy, might not be the white knight that the athletics fans believe it is.

(3) The Old Guard. OPS detailed it earlier this week, but it bears repeating. The Big Ten is not about to give up tradition for the sake of expansion. That means Michigan will play Ohio State and Michigan State, Indiana will play Purdue, Illinois will play Northwestern, and the Iowa-Minnesota-Wisconsin troika will take place annually. This puts a serious kink in any plan to split the conference geographically should another eastern team be added. Some have suggested an ACC-style split, based less on geography and more on historical power, but such a split would still demand UM-OSU-MSU be placed in the same division, requiring Penn State to either join them and tilt the scales in the east's favor (and, as entertaining as the thought may be to Iowa fans envisioning annual championship game trips, would initially create a Big XII North situation) or give up the land grant trophy (I know that's not a dealbreaker) and join the western teams (which might well be one, given the potential travel issues).

(4) Get Creative. Did you know Texas almost joined the Big Ten fifteen years ago? Had it not been for a moratorium on expansion post-PSU and some serious questions over travel expenses (questions which would be less of an issue today, as income from revenue sports grows exponentially and travel costs fail to keep up), we could be playing in that behemoth of a conference today. The knee-jerk response is to list the institutions in border states which might meet the criteria, but don't be surprised if the final selection is someone outside the current list of candidates. Probably not Texas, but someone of that ilk looking to improve their standing academically as well as athletically.

I've learned not to get my hopes up, but Teddy Greenstein doesn't have a history of making empty threats. It looks like this could finally go down, making it the most entertaining offseason in recent memory.

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)

Browse more photos »

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.