September 2009

With the star offensive lineman, stud tight end (who's a fantastic blocker), and the top returning running back out, most coaches would draw up a game plan to pass more. With a deep and talented pool of receivers, a veteran quarterback, and 2 freshman running backs, most coaches would spread it out more. Kirk Ferentz and Ken O'Keefe are not most coaches.

Instead of trying to get more and more wide receivers on the field, the Iowa coaches staff is trying to get more offensive linemen on the field. Yes, offensive linemen. During Saturday's game Iowa debuted a package with offensive guard Andy Kuempel playing as the second tight end. Kuempel is not at all a threat in the passing game and was in there for blocking purposes only, and I guarantee Penn State knew that as well. And what did Iowa do...run it straight at them.

Most team's only bring in extra linemen during goal-line and short yardage situation. Not Iowa. This package was used through out...1 and 10, no problem. In the 4th quarter KOK called 16 straight runs and not a single pass. The Hawkeyes ran for 61 in the quarter and scored 10 points on offense (also 6 off of Clayborn's blocked punt return). They also owned the time of possession limiting Penn State's chances. In the 4th quarter, Iowa controlled the ball for 9:02.

And, did I mention that Iowa's only offensive touchdown of the game, Adam Robinson's fantastic 13 yard run, was out of the 6 offensive linemen package. This package actually had 6 o-lineman, a TE, and a fullback...it doesn't get much more obvious than that. Penn State knows it's a run and has 9 guys (!!) in the box. Despite that, Robinson takes off and runs right through a huge hole created by Richardson, Calloway, and Kuempel (who completely takes the defensive end out of the play) on the right side and rides his blockers to the endzone. (See around the 2:15 mark in this highlight video.)

Kuempel lined up at "tight end" but not fooling anyone.

I am really curious to see if KOK and Ferentz decide to keep a package like this in the game plan the upcoming weeks. With Bulaga officially back and the way Reiff has been playing, maybe we'll see him play this OL/TE hybrid position, especially if Moeaki isn't playing. I have to think once Moeaki is completely healthy though, we use him and Reisner in the 2-TE sets as Moeaki is an excellent run blocker and a real threat catching the ball as well.

Just a quick post here...fantastic news from Coach Ferentz's presser today: Bryan Bulaga as of yesterday is cleared to play. As rumored, Bulaga had a thyroid condition. The great news is that it has passed and that he will not need to be on medication the rest of his life.

Bulaga has been out since week 2 against Iowa State, and Riley Reiff has done a very good job filling in. However, this week is potentially the first time all season that we see the starting offensive line at full strength (Vandervelde and Calloway missed the first week with an injury and suspension respectively). Ferentz said that Bulaga would start if he practice well this week. I'm assuming that means he will get the start. The good news too, is that he can kind of use this game (no offense Arkansas State) as a tune up game to get ready for Michigan and the rest of the Big Ten slate.

Another good week for Hawkeye commits. A few teams stayed undefeated and one got its first win. The stars of the week were Marcus Coker, who led his team to a 42-0 victory with 3 touchdowns and James Morris, who filled in a quarterback and put up big offensive numbers.

Marcus Coker: DeMatha 42 - Paul VI Catholic 0
Coker racked up another 256 yards and 3 touchdowns on 15 carries in a route of the Paul VI Panthers. On the season Coker has 880 total rushing yards and has scored 11 touchdowns. He is averaging 12.4 yards per carry. His success on the field has him on the watch list for the high school National Player of the Year award.

Jim Poggi & Anthony Ferguson: Gilman 35 - Georgetown Prep 14
Gilman only had 2 complete passes, but rushed for over 300 yards in a 3 touchdown victory over Georgetown. I couldn't find if Poggi played this week, but read the linebackers played well, so I"m guessing that he did.

Christian Kirksey & Don Shumpert: Hazelwood East 41 - McCluer North 28
Trailing by one, Hazelwood East scored 14 4th quarter points to beat McCluer North for their first victory of the year. Shumpert had 4 recpetions for 50 yards. Kirksey returned a kickoff for 38 yards and added 12 tackles on defense.

Andrew Donnal: Anthony Wayne 37 - Maumee 20
On Parent's Night at Anthony Wayne, the Generals beat the previously undefeated Maumee Panthers. You can see a picture of Donnal ready for action here.

Austin Vier: Ballard 28 - Perry 7
Ballard's defense held Perry to only 127 total yards, winning easily 28 to 7 and moving to 5-0 on the year. Vier had an okay game at QB going 9 of 17 for 81 yards. He also had 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions.

Mike Hardy: Kimberly 27 - Appleton West 13
After falling 0-13 in the first quarter, the Papermakers stormed back to defeat Appleton West.

James Morris: Solon 41 - North Cedar 15
Solon moved to 5-0 on the season and is ranked #1 in Iowa Class 2A. Solon was without its starting QB, so Morris (usually a running back and linebacker) stepped in. The offense managed over 450 yards under Morris's command and he even threw a 50 yard TD.

Matt Hoch: Harlan 48 - Winterset 3
Harlan also moved to 5-0 beating down Winterset on Friday night. Hoch caught a 28 yard touchdown pass and ran for 44 yards on 2 carries.

Louis Trina-Pasat: Lane Tech 49 - Hyde Park 0
Lane Tech played its best game of the year running all over Hyde Park.

Brandon Scherff: Denison 14 - Sergeant Blugg-Luton 31
I was only able to find the score on this game.

Previous Recruit Roundup:

Iowa makes its way back into the polls after the 21-10 victory against Penn State last night. In the USA Today Coaches Poll, the Hawkeyes come in at #17...4 spots behind Penn State. What?! Penn State is #13 after beating exactly nobody and then getting dismantled at home in front of their famed white out. Maybe all the coaches went to bed before the 4th quarter last night, but there is really no reason why you should rank PSU ahead of Iowa. I usually don't get too worked up about the polls, but this is just ridiculous.

The AP Poll is much more respectable. Iowa is ranked #13 and shockingly (kind of sarcastic, but kind of not) Penn State is #15.

I am mostly pleased with the #13 and #17 rankings, but there are just so many good arguments why Iowa should be ranked higher. Iowa has now won 8 games in a row...the only team with more, Florida, who is currently ranked #1. Texas also has 8 in a row and is ranked #2. Also, look at the teams Iowa has beaten this year. They are a combined 12-4 (the only losses coming to Iowa) and have outscored their opponents (excluding Iowa) 410 to 130...that's an average of 34.2 points scored and 10.8 points allowed. Against Iowa, they are only averaging 11.5 points score and allowing 25.

Somebody figured it out too...Jeff Sagarin. In his ELO_CHESS rankings (a computer ranking used in the BCS formula) he has Iowa ranked #1 overall. You read the right, NUMBER FREAKIN' ONE! Iowa is #5 when he factors in his predictor rankings that take into account points scored. Also, Iowa is the only team in that is 2-0 very top 30 Sagarin ranked teams (PSU 23 and Arizona 21) and the strength of schedule is #11.

Other Thoughts on the Polls:
Going back to Penn State....why were they not punished very much? Ole Miss and Cal, 2 other top 10 teams last week, both lost on the road to good opponents and they fell all the way 21 and 24 in the AP and 18 and 19 in the Coaches. Penn State, on the other hand lost at home and only fell to #13 and #15.

Why isn't Auburn ranked yet? And, what about Wisconsin? Both teams are undefeated (something about half of the teams ranked in front of them can't say) and have put up some impressive numbers. Auburn is averaging on 45 points per game and has beaten a couple of decent teams in West Virginia and Mississippi State. Wisconsin has also beaten a couple of decent teams (Fresno State, Michigan State...maybe even Northern Illinois) and QB Scott Tolzien has been very good.

Boise State is in the top 5. Yes, Boise State is good, and has won some tough games, but really I think it is a little premature. I think Houston probably has a better arguement as far as the non-BCS teams go for being rated so high beating Oklahoma State and Texas Tech (that's more impressive than a win over Oregon).

It's very late, and I'm just getting all my thoughts together on this game. Obviously it was a sweet, sweet victory, made even more sweet by the fact that Clark all basically guaranteed a victory, then pretty much stunk it up after PSU's first 2 drives. Also, knowing the Penn State has had this game circled on the calendar since last year...the players, coaches, and fans were all dying for revenge...the white out was on (I loved seeing that little sea of gold in the corner)...and all broadcast nationally on ABC in prime-time and with GameDay there (by the way...thanks Corso for picking Penn State).

Iowa's Defense Dominates:
The real story of this game was defense, and really, hats off to both defenses because they were both excellent. In the end though it was Iowa's D that made the big, timely plays. The defensive line, led by Adrian Clayborn was fantastic. They were constantly in the backfield, wreaking havoc on Clark either with sacks, QB hurries, or just knocking him down.

I cannot say enough about Clayborn. He was practically unblockable, and though his stats don't show it (just 2 tackles) he was causing all sorts of problems for Penn State. Binns also had an excellent game...and was maybe even better than Clayborn (if you don't include that blocked punt return for a TD). Binns had 8 tackles, including 2.5 for loss and that big sack/forced fumble that resulted in the safety. Klug too...6 tackles, 2 for loss. Just a good effort by the d-line.

I thought the linebackers had their best game of the season as well. Angerer and Hunter combined for 26 tackles (14 and 12 respectively). They were also excellent against the pass doing a good job protecting the middle of the field. Angerer had a big interception and returned it 38 yards down the sideline and Edds had the game-sealing interception late in the 4th.

Overall, the defense was just remarkable. If you take away that first play (I can't believe Spievey got beat so bad...and where were the safeties?) Penn State did not do much offensively at all. Iowa held Royster to just 69 yards, and PSU only had 109 rushing yards total on the day. And, after the first 2 drives, Iowa held Clark to a misserable 94 yards on 6 of 23 passing. One the day, Clark's QB rating was just 81.04.

Special Teams are Special:
I've said it time and time again this year (maybe not enough on this blog, but I did write last night that special teams would be the difference maker), but the Iowa special tames are really good and a big advantage in close games. Donahue had a solid game, and his punt downed at the 5 led to the safety and he had another downed inside the 20.

Daniel Murray was just okay today, but the 2 field goals he made were definitely big (would have been a really good game if he hadn't missed that 42 yarder at the end of the first half). It was kind of fitting that the field goal to end that game was from 31 yards out, exactly the same distance as the game winner that year.

Adrian Clayborn's blocked punt and ensuing return for the touchdown was the play of the game. It turned momentum completely in Iowa's favor, it gave Iowa the lead for the first time and they would not relinquish it, and it was just awesome.

The Offense was Good Enough:
Stanzi did what Stanzi does: play bad to start the game (though he wasn't really that bad...how many dropped balls were there in the first half?), then play good (enough) in the second half and lead the Hawkeyes to victory. His stats weren't great, but he played well enough going 11-26 for 135 yards.

The running backs and offensive line are continuing to improve. Though Penn State's front 7 were very good all day, Iowa managed 163 yards led by Adam Robinson with 88. Especially in the 4th quarter when Iowa was putting the Nittany Lions away, the o-line was getting a good push and creating some decent holes. Robinson looked good on his 13 yard touchdown run, breaking a couple of tackles. I have been very impressed with his ability to get yards after contact for the second week in a row.

Best Team in the Big Ten?
Iowa has a good of argument as any team, that its the best in the Big Ten. Undefeated, won 8 in a row, knocked off Penn State in Happy Valley, amazing defense, good offense and special teams... Next week should be a win against Arkansas State, then if Michigan beats Michigan State, we have a serious battle for homecoming. Michigan does not have a good enough defense to challenge for the Big Ten title (Indiana should have won that game today if they only had a decent red-zone offense). Then come Michigan State who has looked bad, espeically on defense. Then Wisconsin, which will be a good test in Madison. A couple of "easy" games at home, before the game against Ohio State. At this point, it looks like that game could decide the Big Ten Champion. Man, I'm getting ahead of myself here, but an 11-1 seems very, very possible at this point and honestly 12-0 is not out of the question (though I seriously doubt that it will happen). If this team continues to play with the same ferocity on defense, and the offense continues to improve (which I think it has played better each week, PSU defense was just really good this week), then this team has a chance to be really special.

Great game. Special Teams. Defense. Adrian Clayborn. Everybody. Just awesome. GO HAWKS!!

My efforts to put of meaningful posts has been some what poor this week. Sorry, about that. Hopefully it'll pick up here as the Big Ten season gets rolling. Anyway, unlike Iowa's first 3 opponents, Penn State is in-conference and by means of playing them every year, the Big Ten Network, Adam Rittenberg's blog, even ESPN with GameDay in town...I feel like we all know more about Penn State and I don't really need to do a full on unit-by-unit analysis. So instead, here are some of my general thoughts on the match up.

First, I think this will be a close game. Without breaking everything down, it just seems like these teams are pretty evenly matched.

Defense: Both team's have had very good defenses thus far. They sit 1st and 2nd in the conference in average points allowed and pass yards allowed, 1st and 3rd in total yards and pass efficiency, so basically they are just good defenses.

However, both team's have had their weaknesses exposed in the first 3 games as well. Iowa has been susceptible to long runs...especially on draw plays. The middle of the field on pass plays has also been somewhat open. Penn State's weakness is in the secondary where the team is especially inexperienced.

Injuries: Obviously both team's are currently has injury problems and much has already been said about it. I actually think though, that Penn State's injuries may hurt more. Yes, they are linebacker U, but you can only have so much depth. If Lee and Stupar really are out, or if they are playing not 100% and with Bowman maybe not 100%, then I think Iowa can really exploit this part of the defense. The offensive line is good enough to get to the second level on rushing plays, and Reisner (or Moeaki) and Wegher when we runs routes should be able to get open if they linebackers are not running full speed.

For Iowa, I think Reiff has been playing well enough that Bulaga out doesn't kill the offense. And, I am not at all concerned if DJK doesn't play (he's still a game time decision). This Iowa team is deeper at wide receiver than I can ever remember. If Moeaki can't play, that obviously hurts, but Reisner has played well. The only thing is that his absence kind of limits the 2-TE and even the crazy 3-TE sets that KOK likes to run.

Difference Makers: For Penn State, it's Daryll Clark. He has put this game on his shoulders...he blames himself for last year's game (though he should be giving some credit to the Hawkeyes!) and has basically guaranteed a win tomorrow. My hope is he's putting too much pressure on himself and comes out over zealous and makes a few mistakes.

For Iowa, it's the special teams...Donahue, Murray, Chaney (?!), the whole lot. Iowa's defense should keep this game close and this game (much like last year) could come down to special teams. Donahue should help the field position battle. Penn State will not score many points if they have to drive over 80 yards all day. Also, field goals are vital in close and low scoring games. Penn State's kicker, Wagner, is inexperienced and has struggled a little bit so far, so this is advantage Iowa. If you look at the return stats, Penn State has been horrible. They average only 15 yards per kickoff return. Iowa has not been much better averaging just over 17, but Chaney has been a bright spot on kick and punt returns. In a tough battle, one return for a TD, or even 20+ yards could really change the game.

Final Thoughts: Both teams have a lot to prove in this game. Iowa has the 3rd longest win streak in the nation on the line (and the still aren't ranked!) and wants to prove they are contenders. Penn State is looking for revenge, but also wants to justify its top 10 ranking and prove it can beat non-cream puffs. Anyway, I think it's great that GameDay will be there spotlighting this match up. Hopefully both teams will be able to gain some respect with a national audience and the put on a good showing for the Big Ten.

I haven't had a chance to watch any Penn State games yet, so to get a little better perspective on the Nittany Lions I had a Q&A session with Devon at www.nittanywhiteout.com. Check out my responses on the Hawkeyes too.

1. How big of a factor is revenge? Ferentz and Joe Pa both kind of down-played it in their pressers, but Clark has not been shy about the fact that he's had this game circled on his calendar since last year.

For the fans, and for a lot of our players, it's everything. Penn State had a chance to do something last year that we haven't in a while, and after we beat Ohio State, it looked like the path was clear. The loss to Iowa really caught us all a little off guard. Now, we feel like we have the same kind of chance, and I don't think it's as much revenge fueling the fire as it is the sense that we don't want to let Iowa ruin our chances again. Much like Michigan up until last year, Iowa's had our number, so that adds to the frustration, too. If we can't beat Iowa this year, it just expounds the failure of a year ago.

2. The offensive line, wide receivers, and secondary are all pretty inexperienced. What new player should the Hawkeyes look out for? And, on the flip side, what player really needs to step up this weekend?

It's no surprise that those three positions are the least experienced at Penn State, and have drawn by far the most scrutiny. However, both the wide receivers and the defensive backs have performed admirably. Penn State's offense hasn't been as dynamic as it was a year ago, but we have a talented group of wide receivers whose best asset might be their size. And while Graham Zug is a prototypical possession receiver, Derek Moye has burst onto the scene as a big play receiver. He's 6'5, and has great speed, and he's been a home run threat over the first three weeks. Similarly, Penn State's defense is designed to take pressure off of the defensive backs, with a keep-everything-in-front strategy. The biggest weakness has been at safety, where Nick Sukay has struggled at times, and that's against the likes of Akron, Syracuse, and Temple. The big worry for most Penn State fans, though, has been the offensive line. We struggled to get any semblance of a run game going in the first two matchups, and even though we did last week against Temple, the pass protection struggled in its stead. Iowa's got a better line than any we've faced all year, and the offensive line needs to open up running lanes and protect Daryll Clark if we'll have a chance. Keep your eye on right guard Lou Eliades, #77, who's been the culprit on a lot of QB hurries.

3. The Penn State defense has been impressive so far giving up only 20 points in the first 3 games. How much of that is a result of poor opposing offense? Also, with Lee and Bowman's injuries, and an untested secondary, what is the defensive game plan for Iowa?

Well, Penn State's defense is for real. Even though the opponents haven't been up to snuff, you can see the makings of a great defense coming together. Sean Lee had been having a tremendous season up until now, and his status is still up in the air for Saturday. He's a real gamer, a tough player, and if there's any chance he can play, he'll give it a shot. He's been the main catalyst for the defense, as he has this preternatural ability to tell where the play is going. The defensive line has been great in stuffing the run, but pressure hasn't been too consistent on pass plays. It seems that every year Penn State is great against the run with a philosophy designed to contain, rather than shut down, a passing offense, and that's no different now. Expect a lot of nickel sets, very few blitzes, and a soft zone which should allow Ricky Stanzi to throw underneath for short gains. It's Penn State's defensive line, though, which should get enough pressure to not allow Stanzi to go through his entire progression before getting rid of the ball.

4. The offense hasn't exactly been wowing anybody this year. And last year, after the first couple of games, everyone was saying how the Spread HD was the best thing ever. Any cause for concern that margin in the first 3 games has not been what it was last year?

To be honest, it seems that Penn State hasn't been playing with the urgency they did a year ago. Last year, we had a test in week two, against Oregon State, so we knew we had to be in top shape early in the season. This year it seems we've been complacent, as Daryll Clark has tried to force a few bad throws and has hung a couple deep balls, mistakes he simply shouldn't make against sub-par defenses. On the other hand, the offensive line has struggled, and it's tough to chalk that up to lethargy alone. It's not replacing the skill players that's been an issue, but picking up the pieces in the trenches after the graduations of 3 great linemen. Penn State's kept the book a little closed, using a more traditional passing offense than we'd expect. I'm preparing to see a few new wrinkles unleashed on Saturday, especially to get speedster Devon Smith, a 5'6, 140 pound true freshman who can FLY, the ball in space.

5. Looking at Penn State's schedule before the year I saw no way the team is worse than 10-2. Now 3 weeks in, it's still hard to find more than 2 losses, especially with Illinois and Michigan State's troubles. What is your prediction for the year, and will you be satisfied with anything less than a Big Ten Championship?

Honestly, coming into this season I saw Penn State at 11-1, and I really did think we were the best team in the Big Ten. And as bad as we've looked at times this year, I'm even more confident in my prediction. You can't tell me Ohio State looks like a world-beater either, after struggling against Navy and falling to USC. Michigan State? Lost to a MAC team. Illinois? Please. Iowa? You guys struggled with a 1-AA team. But the one game that scares me more than any other, as it did when the schedule came out, is our visit to the Big House on October 24th. Tate Forcier looks legit, and Michigan has been as impressive as any team in the conference so far in the season. We haven't won in Ann Arbor in years, and even though we should be the better team, Michigan just might have what it takes to beat us. A win wouldn't surprise me, but I just have a bad feeling about that game. Aside from the Michigan game, there isn't another game on the calendar that I'm really afraid of, and that includes Ohio State. 11-1 is my prediction, and though I'd be okay with 10-2, anything less is an abomination. I wouldn't mind a BCS at-large bid, though.

6. I know a couple of guys (Hawkeye fans of course) leaving for Happy Valley tonight. What should they expect when they get there? Will the crowd be hostile for a prime-time game...especially with the WhiteOut and College GameDay?

Well, the hatred for Iowa isn't normally what it is for Ohio State or Michigan, but with 12 hours of tailgating, and the events of a year ago fresh on everybody's mind, I'd tell them to wear a white T-shirt and shut up about being Hawkeye fans. As a whole, we tend to be a pretty nice fanbase, and while the student section might call you names, you won't get beer thrown on you or anything. The general rule for visiting Beaver Stadium, as it is anywhere, is to be gracious in defeat, and apologetic in victory. If Iowa [somehow] wins, and your buddies start celebrating in public, well, they should expect a confrontation.

7. Final score?

I think Penn State wins, but that Iowa gives us a hell of a game. Let's say 24-13, with the last TD coming in the last few minutes.

Touchdowns were the theme of the week for future Hawkeyes as many of them had multiple TD games on Friday. Coker had 2, Morris 3, Hoch 3, Vier 3...that is definitely promising.

Marcus Coker: DeMatha 45 - Friendship Collegiate 12
DeMatha started off the game scoring 24 unanswered points rolling over Friendship Collegiate. Marcus Coker followed up his huge week against Gilman with a modest 70 yards on 12 carries and scored 2 touchdowns.

Jim Poggi & Anthony Ferguson: Gilman 37 - Good Counsel 49
For the second week in a row the defense was not good enough as Gilman fell to Good Counsel. This highlight video shows Ferguson (#75) getting some good penetration on a few plays. I didn't see Poggi playing at all (#7 in cause I missed him). I've read rumors that he broke his shoulder, but then I also saw he was a game time decision. So it's likely not extremely severe, but I don't think he played.

Christian Kirksey & Don Shumpert - Hazelwood East 42 - Hazelwood West 61
The defending champs struggled yet again as Hazelwood East fell to rival West in a shoot out.

Andrew Donnal: Anthony Wayne 35 - Southview 42
Anthony Wayne got down early and was a comeback was ultimately thwarted by a late interception and Southview hung on to win by a touchdown.

Austin Vier: Ballard 42 - Saydel 0
Ballard racked up 437 yards of offense and only gave up 127 in a route over Saydel. Austin Vier had his best game of the season going 10 of 12 for 166 yards and 3 TD and 1 Int. (Maybe quarterback isn't out of the question after all...)

Mike Hardy: Kimberly 36 - Fond du Lac 23
Kimberly rallied against Fond du Lac scoring 22 fourth quarter points on the way to victory.

James Morris: Solon 40 - Tipton 0
Solon rolls over yet another opponent, beating Tipton by 40. Though Morris will be playing linebacker at Iowa, he been having an amazing time at running back in high school. On Friday he ran for 213 yards on 14 carries and had 3 touchdowns.

Matt Hoch: Harlan 42 - ADM 14
Harlan had no problems on Friday against ADM winning by 4 touchdowns. Hoch did his part rushing for 71 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Louis Trinca-Pasat: Lane Tech 21 - Curie 28
Lane Tech fell by only a touchdown against Curie.

Brandon Scherff: Denison 14 - LeMars 27
Though Denison went up 14-0 early, they were unable to stop a LeMars rally and fell 27-14.

Previous Recruit Roundup:

I'm just wrapping up my grades here for the Arizona game. The offense and defense both did very well on Saturday (especially the defense), but the special teams also had a large part in the victory.

The Special Teams

Kicking/Punting: A+
Ryan Donahue is the best punter in the nation. He had 4 punts over 50 yards including a 62-yarder and 2 downed inside the 20. His play over the weekend earned him a co-Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week award (marking the 3rd week in a row that a Hawkeye has earned PotW recognition.

Murray also had a good day accounting for 1/3 of the Hawkeye's total points by kicking 2 field goals (20 and 40 yards) and 3 PATs. He also handled kickoff duties and had particularly nice placement on one that fell between the returner and the blockers that Iowa almost recovered.

Return Game: C
Both sides of the return game, in coverage and actually returning the ball were somewhat mediocre on Saturday. Punt coverage was good as always, thanks mostly to Donahue, but the kickoff coverage was scary. Arizona almost broke one that ended up going for 42 yards and one the day (besides the one "pooch" kick off) the Wildcats averaged 29.2 yards per return.

On punt returns, I think the coaches have found the man for the job. Chaney had a very nice 24 yard return that set up a field goal. I think he'll probably be handling kickoff returns too. He got a shot later in the game after a very bad decision by Speivey to bring the ball out of the endzone. Overall it was a poor showing though, averaging only 15.3 yards per kickoff return.

Special Teams as a Whole: B
Donahue has been excellent this season, and Murray has only missed a 48 yard field goal (which is very excusable). If we get the return game figured out, which I think Chaney can be that guy, then I think special teams can be a real advantage for Iowa this year.

I got the offensive grades up yesterday (a B+ overall) and tonight is the defense. Much like the offense, the defense improved for the 3rd week in a row. They stuffed Arizona all day besides 3 long running plays...and basically only gave up 3 point (one TD was a pick-six, and the other was when Iowa was playing prevent defense after the game was already over).

The Defense

Defensive Line: A-
The defensive line was probably the most improved unit on the entire team. As a whole they were very disruptive and were consitently in the backfield pressuring the QB. They also did well against the run except on a couple of draw plays.

Adrian Clayborn was an absolute beast recording 6 tackles, 1 sack, 3 QB hurries, and a forced fumble. He completely worked #74 all day long and that one play that he ran down Grigsby from behind was just ridiculous. Klug had a nice game as well coming up with a big sack and 5 total tackles.

Linebackers: B+
The linebackers had a pretty good game. They definitely were able to stay in the box and make plays a little bit more in the previous weeks with Arizona's more "traditional" offense. Hunter's name was called a lot as he racked up a team high 7 tackles. Angerer also had a good game. He was pretty good in coverage, and knocked down a pass on a zone blitz. The middle of the field was open for Arizona's receivers often however.

Secondary: A
The Wildcat passing game was almost non-existent. Arizona's QBs combined for only 105 yards on 10 of 26 passes. Again the safeties were excellent. Sash got his 7th pick in 5 games and recorded 5 tackles. Greenwood also had 5 tackles and was generally solid (minus the one long run in the 4th quarter where he totally missed the runner). Cato, coming off the bench, also had a huge tackle for loss on 1st and goal.

Shaun Prater came of suspension and earned the starting spot opposite of Spievey. He looked very sharp, especially considering it was his first game. He had 3 tackles and I don't remember him getting beat at all. Spievey, of course, was excellent. He had a pass breakup on the goal line and had 4 total tackles.

Defense as a Whole: A-
Really the only thing the defense needs to work on is avoiding the occasional long running play. It seemed to be a combination of bad tackling and being surprised by draw plays that lead to the long runs. Other than that, the rush defense was good and the pass defense was excellent. Next week will be more of a test, but I think Iowa is up for the challenge.

I decided to re-watch the game before I did the grades. I had great seats on Saturday location-wise, but the fans in front of me were obstructing my view most of the game so it was hard to get a good feel for how individuals were playing. (They were some "kids" probably around 5'7", so not really short, who stood on the stands the for the majority of the game. We asked them the step down, but sure enough every time the ball was thrown in the air, or a run went for more than 2 yards, they were back up on the stands. And guess why the couldn't see very well and needed to jump up on the stands??...their dad, a freakin' grown man, was right in front of them up on the stands the whole time as well. Come on people! Just because they are named "stands" does not mean you should stand on them.) Anyway, it's late now, so I'm just doing the offense tonight. Defense and special teams will come tomorrow.

The Offense

Quarterback: B
I'm probably going to sound like a broken record here....but for the third week in a row, Stanzi had a bad first half (C-) and an excellent second half (A-). Just look at the stats: 1st half - 9/18, 101 yards, 0TD, 1 Int = QB rating 86.0; 2nd half - 11/14, 104 yards, 0 TD, 0 Int = QB rating 206.7. He was particularly impressive on the final scoring drive in the fourth quarter going 4 for 4, including 3 3rd down conversions. The drive chewed up 8:30 and put the game out of reach for the Wildcats.

Running Back: B+
Last week was Wegher's turn for a 100-yard game, this week was Robinson's turn. Robinson looked particularly good today rushing for 101 yards on 18 carries. He had 2 goal-line touchdowns and a game changing 43 rush on a 3rd and 23 draw play where he broke about 5 tackles.

Wegher also had a good game going for 46 yards on 17 carries. He had another leaping touchdown (the picture on the right is the from the play a second before he jumps) and a couple of catches out of the backfield. He and Robinson both did a very nice good picking up blitzers and blocking for Stanzi.

Wide Receivers: A
I am very excited about this group of receivers. It is as deep and as talented as I can ever remember. Today they were able to find holes in the talented Wildcat defense (mostly over the middle against the linebackers) and I saw some good downfield blocking that led to yards after the catch.

Each week, different guys have been stepping up...this week was Colin Sandeman. He has been nursing an injury the first couple of weeks, but turned in a 5 catch, 47 yard performance today. He had a great catch over the middle on 3rd down on the first drive of the game that led to a touchdown.

Chaney has also been impressing me this year. He looks like a totally different player than years past. He got the ball on the end around 3 times (KOK must be setting something up with that play...we've seen it a lot so far this year) gaining 16 yards on the ground. He also had 3 catches for 22 yards including a great 3rd down catch on the final scoring drive where catch the ball short of the marker but was able to beat his defender for the 1st down.

McNutt had a couple of note worthy plays as well. He had a ridiculous one handed grab for 7 yards and the longest completion of the day, a 34-yarder that led to the Hawkeyes second touchdown.

Tight End: B
Reisner put in a good effort yesterday filling in for Moeaki. He did a good job catching the ball in traffic and had a great 29 yard catch where he ran right up the seam. I didn't notice him a whole lot blocking wise, but that's probably a good thing.

Offensive Line: B-
The offensive line was pretty good today and did not give up too many negative plays. I think the running backs were stopped behind the line only twice (not 100% on that), but Stanzi was sacked 3 times. Bulaga was out for the second game in a row, but Reiff held his own once again. The line really started to dominate later in the game against a worn down Arizona defense as Iowa had a huge time of possession advantage (37:56 - 22:04).

Offense as a Whole: B+
Considering this was by far the best defense that Iowa has faced this year, the offense did really well. Even with the slow start by Stanzi, Iowa was able to dominate the time of possession in the first half, and it showed in the forth quarter when the Arizona defense looked gassed on the final 8:30 drive.

I'll get to my reactions from the Arizona game a little later. But for now, I just saw that it has been confirmed that ESPN's College GameDay will be headed to Happy Valley next weekend. This should be great national exposure for the Hawkeyes and the atmosphere will be, no doubt, electric as Penn State fans will be in all white and the players looking for revenge. The game is also the prime-time ABC game and will be shown nationally.

The special teams have been a pain point for Arizona this year. They are breaking in a new kicker who has been hit or miss so far. He made 4 field goals (all short) against CMU, but missed his only attempt over 40 yards, had a chip shot blocked against NAU, and missed a PAT (supposedly hit his own player in the back of the helmet with the ball…horray for low kicks!).

The punter has been okay this year only needing to punt 3 times. He has a decent average at 41.0 yards a kick, but hasn't had a single one downed inside the 20 (Donahue's specialty).

In the return and coverage game that have been decent as well. They average about 30 yards per kickoff return and give up only 22 yards. However, they did allow at 57 yard return against Northern Arizona last Saturday.

Overall Thoughts:

Iowa definitely holds the advantage on special teams. The Hawkeyes should be better in every facet.
A big advantage could be Donahue versus Crier. If the game is the defensive battle that is expected, field position should play a big roll.

Oh my, how will Iowa be able to compete with all the speed? So Arizona’s defense is fast…they shut down a Central Michigan team that just beat Michigan State and they handled Northern Arizona without putting up much of an effort. The Hawkeyes will be the first team, however, that can pose a real threat to run the ball.

Against the Pass:
The real strength of the Wildcat defense is against the pass. They have a lockdown corner and ball hawk, Trevin Wade, who’s only a sophomore but very talented and has 2 interceptions on the year already. The other cornerback, Devin Ross, is a senior with starting experience and is second on the team with 11 tackles.

The safety positions also have some experience. FS Cam Nelson is a senior and this will be his third year starting. He is the team’s leading returning tackler from last year and the leader of the defense. The other safety Robert Golden is a little green (not gold yet) and is just a true sophomore. He’s played well in his first two games starting, though, and has 7 tackles.

Against the Run:
Arizona has only given up 141 rushing yards in the first two games…though neither team they faced had much of a running threat. The defensive line is chock full of experience as the 4 starters have 62 game of starting experience between them. The defensive ends are probably the strength of the line. Ricky Elmore has 7 tackles on the year including 1 sack.

The linebackers are probably the least talked about unit on the defense, but the unit is solid overall. All three are seniors. Middle linebacker Vuna Tuihalamaka leads the team in tackles with 12 and WLB Xavier Kelley has been good as well with 8 tackles.

Overall Thoughts:

Arizona has been some what susceptible to give up the short, underneath routes, so that may be one area that Iowa can try to gain an advantage.
Iowa will need to establish a run gain against this offense and hopefully force the Wildcats to stack the box freeing up some room in the secondary.
The Wildcats have 4 takeaways in the first 2 games. Iowa (especially Stanzi) really needs to protect the ball in this game.

Arizona will bring a different look to the game tomorrow than Iowa's first two opponents. They like to run a variety of different formations and we will see some spread, some power I, and somethings in-between. This team actually huddles though, so none of that stand there for a while then turn to look at the coach garbage.

Running Game:
Rushing the ball has been the strength of the Wildcat offense thus far this season. It’s not secret that running back Nic Grigsby will be getting the ball a lot via a variety of formations (they like to mix it up with the I-formation and spread formations not unlike Penn State). He’s currently the second leading rusher in the nation, trailing only Purdue’s Bolden, averaging 162.5 yards per game and 8.6 yards per carry (he had a 94 yard run against Northern Arizona that kind of pads those stats though, still impressive though). He is a quick, shifty little back at 5’10” 190 lbs, and has the ability to break the long one. He had fumble problems a year ago (4 fumbles in the first half of the season), but seems to have righted that ship. His backup, Keola Antolin, is no slouch either. He has 97 yards and 19 carries and a touchdown.

Another big part of the Arizona running game is with quarterback Matt Scott. He has averaged over 8 yards on his 16 carries thus far. He’ll have his name called on a few designed runs, and he’s not afraid to tuck it and take off if he can’t find anyone open.

The offensive line is a big reason why Arizona has been able to run the ball so effectively (obviously). The two tackles are seniors and the center, Colin Baxter, is a third year starter. The unit is big as well, averaging over 320 pounds.

Passing Game:
The passing numbers for QBs Scott and Nick Foles don’t look bad (completing 67% of their passes, averaging about 7 yards per attempt, and have a 2:2 TD:Int ration), however, neither has been particularly impressive. Scott has taken most of the snaps thus far and most of his stats come from short passes (only 4 passes have been for more than 20 yards).

The wide receivers have been okay for the Wildcats this year. They have some returning talent from last year, most notably in Terrell Turner. For his career he has 105 catches for 1,263 yards and 6 touchdowns. Delashaun Dean has been bugged by a hamstring injury thus far and has seen limited action, but he also bring a lot of experience to the table.

Arizona also like to utilize its tight ends and its TE/HB hybrids in the pass game as well, but will be without superstar Rob Gronkowski. His older, and less talented brother Chris has caught a couple passes as the TE/HB and A.J. Simmons has done okay filling in.

Overall Thoughts:

Iowa’s stats against the run have been less than impressive this year, but they should be able to focus more on the run this week. The linebackers won’t need to be used as much in coverage and can key on the talented running backs
With a running QB (Scott) much like Arnaud and Grace, my thought is that containment will be the name of the game again. Probably not too many sacks, but not many QB rushing yards either.
Arizona has struggled to put the ball in the endzone the first 2 games. The loss of Gronkowski has really hurt, as last year they were able to just toss the ball up once they got past the 20, and he would do the rest.

Saturday's game against Arizona is probably the only one I'll make it to this year, unless Iowa shocks the world and makes it to the BCS Championship game or plays Auburn in on of those Florida bowls (my wife went to Auburn. War Eagle!) I have my tickets taped to the door so I don't forget them (last year for the Penn State game we got about 20 minutes down the interstate before my wife asked if I remembered the tickets...yeah, I'm kind of forgetful).

Anyway, the week has been kind of busy thus far preparing for the road trip to Iowa City (that would explain the lack of posts...though I have my fingers crossed that I will be able to get some good content out tomorrow before we hit the road). I just live in Ankeny so it's only a 2 hour drive, but when you have a 1 year old, just going to the store can be a whole production.

So anyway, I probably won't be updating at all on Saturday unless I'm wide awake when I get back home. More likely I'll be typing away on Sunday. See you at Kinnick!

Rumors have been flying around, Kirk Ferentz had his weekly presser, the new depth chart is out, the very thought of playing the mighty Hawkeyes has a certain AD shaking in his shoe...it's been an interesting couple of days to start the week.

Injuries:
First off, it makes me sick to my stomach to think Tony Moeaki is hurt again. He sprained his ankle against UNI and played through it last Saturday. Rumor has it that his ankle swelled up after that game and he's been nursing it this week. I really, really hope this is not a nagging injury all season long.

Bulaga and Castillo, who both did not play in Ames, are still "day-to-day" per Kirk Ferentz's presser. They are both on the depth chart, so that is at least hopeful.

Depth Chart:
Speaking of the death chart...here it is. As noted, Bulaga and Castillo are listed. Other news is that Wegher is now #2 at running back, and Prater coming off of suspension is listed behind Willie Lowe (who looked pretty good against ISU). Yes, DJK is still behind McNutt, but as we saw on Saturday, the depth chart for receivers doesn't matter much. They all saw time and when KOK is flashing 5 wide, there's the potential for them all to play a lot. The only other change I see is that Chaney has taken Spievey's spot as the top returned (kickoffs and punts). I think that's probably a good choice as Chaney is the fastest guy on the team and has looked much better this year.

(No) Ball(s) State:
Iowa and Ball State are scheduled to play September 25th, 2010. The Athletic Director at Ball State however, is too scared to play back-to-back games against the Big Ten (the Cardinals have Purdue the week before). The last time the two schools met Iowa won 56-0, so yeah, maybe they should be scared.

This is just a reminder that Blackout Saturday is this weekend for the Arizona game. I'll be there in my black IOWA t-shirt. My wife just bought a new black Hawkeye shirt too.

I hope the turn out is good...I know it hasn't been in the past. Yes, the athletic department could do a better job of advertising the colored themed games, but part of it is on the fans too. I'm tired of the nonconformist elitist fans that think they're too cool to oblige the isochromatic request of the athletic department (that's a lot of big words to say those guys are dumb). Others think that every one should wear gold to every game and that a blackout is unimpressive. If everybody does it, then it will look good. Go back to that dreaded Michigan game that we lost in overtime a few years ago. The stands looked fantastic in all black. I remember my dad went all out for that game with black pants, black shoes, black shirt, black jacket...if only all fans had that kind of dedication.

Anyway, enough ranting. Just wear black, okay?

The theme of the week was close games and strange endings. There were 8 of 11 games decided by a touchdown or less...and many were decided in the final minutes of the game. The only problem is that most of the opponents were not good, and the Big Ten lost 3 games it shouldn't have. (OSU, MSU, Purdue...I'm talking to you, but not so much Purdue, nice try there)

Indiana 23 - Western Michigan 19
Indiana narrowly escaped against a lesser foe for the second week in a row. The Hoosier did everything they could in the fourth quarter to blow the lead (had a 22 yard field goal blocked, let the Broncos drive down to the 5, and after a fumble recovery took a safety with 17 seconds left). Indiana definitely ran the ball better out off the Pistol offense, but still have a ways to go if they want to win any games in the Big Ten.

Prediction: Wrong (Western Michigan wins narrowly)

Michigan State 27 - Central Michigan 29
I didn't expect MSU to lose this game, but I didn't buy that they were a contender for a second and to those who were saying the Spartans are better than Iowa, you were and still are just plain wrong. Anyway, the Spartans blew this one big time giving up 16 4th quarter points. The Chippewas drove down the field and scored a touchdown with 32 seconds to play. Instead of kicking a game tying PAT, CMU opted to go for the win and were thwarted on their 2-point conversion attempt. CMU then kicked and converted one of the most perfect onside kicks I've ever seen. They got in field goal range and with 8 seconds to go attempted a 42 yard field goal for the win. Miss...but wait, MSU is dumb enough to line up off sides! Now 3 seconds left, and the kicker put it right through.

Prediction: Very wrong (Michigan State wins by a couple of scores)

Northwestern 27 - Eastern Michigan 24
Another nail biter against a much lesser foe. Northwestern blew a 21 point lead and needed a last second field goal to down the Eagles. The Wildcats had a little bit of the turnover bug (1 interception and 2 lost fumbles) that kept the Eagles in the game late.

Prediction: Kind of correct (Northwestern wins easy for the second week in a row)

Penn State 28 - Syracuse 7
Penn State beats another mediocre team...same old story. Penn State wasn't exactly an offensive juggernaut in this game only gaining 318 yards, but the defense completely shut down the Orange. Syracuse on gain 200 yards all day and only 65 on the ground.

Prediction: Correct (Penn State rolls again)

Wisconsin 34 - Fresno State 31 (2OT)
Another game that came down to the wire as Wisconsin needed to come from 14 down to tie it and take it to 2 overtimes to put away the Bulldogs. It finally ended when safety Chris Maragos intercepted a Fresno State pass in the second OT.

Prediction: Sort of correct (Wisconsin pulls away in the second half)

Michigan 38 - Notre Dame 34
I'll give credit to Michigan for that game winning 4th quarter drive. That was impressive. But both the defenses were not very good this game. The Michigan secondary had an absolutely terrible performance. I still can't figure out if Michigan is good or if Notre Dame is just that bad. We'll find out soon enough, I guess, and I was happy to see Notre Dame lose.

Prediction: Correct! (Michigan capitalizes on its home-field and wins in a close game)

Illinois 45 - Illinois State 17
Juice was squeezed a little to tight (sorry) and backup QB Eddie McGee led the Illini to an easy win over FCS foe, Illinois State. The outcome of the game was never in question as Illinois was up 24-0 at half time.

Prediction: Correct (Illinois takes its frustration out and wins big)

Minnesota 20 - Air Force 13
Minnesota had a somewhat shaky day in the debut of TCF Bank. The defense did well against the Air Force's crazy rushing attack, but the offense needed 17 4th quarter points to pull away for the win. Eric Decker had a big day with 10 catches for 113 yards.

Prediction: Sort of correct (Minnesota holds off a comeback by Air Force to win)

Ohio State 15 - Southern California 18
Ugh. I really thought OSU would pull this game out. You can blame Tressel's decision making or Terrelle Pryor's complete lack of QB mechanics, but plain and simple OSU just can't win the big games lately. The defense played outstanding completely shutting down the USC offense for about 53 minutes. I'm already sick of the Matt Barkley coverage. The kid was equally as a bad as Prior. He finished completing less than 50% of his pass and had a QB rating of less than 100, and yet he is the next great quarterback? Ugh.

Prediction: Close but no cigar (Ohio State wins in a close game)

Purdue 36 - Oregon 38
I stayed up late for this game!...only to be disappointed. Purdue's offense has been very good the first two weeks, and if you haven't heard of Ralph Bolden yet, you will. He's only leading the country with 357 rushing yards. Anyway, Purdue gave this game away having an interception and fumble returned for touchdowns against them. Also, a missed PAT led to a needed and failed 2-point conversion to tie the game in the closing minutes.

Prediction: Shoot out yes, Purdue no (Purdue wins in a shoot out)

Fight For Iowa is now a real website! No more .blogspot tacked on, no more silly blogger nav bar, but still all the Hawkeye football coverage (and I'm still using blogger...I like Google a lot). Anyway, if you had a link saved to the site or RSS subscription, everything should still work. I'm going through and updating everything I can and verifying that nothing is broken with the new domain name. If you find something not working, please let me know. Anyway, enjoy www.fightforiowa.com for now, and I'll get back to the Hawkeyes tomorrow.

Obviously a much better game this week, pretty much across the board. The offense looked good, especially in the second half, and the defense completely shut down Iowa State's spread passing attack.

The Offense

Running backs: B
Brandon Wegher brought a new hope to the Hawkeye rushing game. I'm not ready to anoint him as anything yet, because most of his yards game against a tired and defeated ISU defensive front 7, but what we saw on Saturday was very good. He was patient behind the line, was elusive in space, broke tackles, made a ridiculous 1 handed catch, lined up in the slot and ran a good slant, went for over 100 yards, scored a touchdown on a superman leap, and that was just his first "real" game (he played special teams last week). I'm looking forward to see how he develops over the next 4 years.

Robinson had a nice game as well. He ran for 69 yards on 12 carries, and 3 of the runs were over 10 yards. I wouldn't be surprised if he remains the starter for a while, with Wegher the main back up.

Quarterback: C
It almost seems wrong to give Stanzi a C when he threw 4 touchdowns and 197 yards. But, for the second week in a row it was the tail of 2 halves. In the first half Stanzi was just 12 of 24 and had thrown 2 interceptions and 2 touchdowns. Stanzi missed some wide open receivers as well that resulted in stalled drives and missed opportunities. In the second half, Stanzi was better going 6 of 10 with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. He's known for his ablility to shake off mistakes...but it would make me much happier if he just eliminated those errant throws altogether.

One other note: we found out who is number 2 after a long time of the two redshirt freshman being listed with an "or" on the depth chart. James Vandenberg came in on the final drive and completed 2 of 3 passes for 38 yards. Besides his first pass, which was way off, he threw 2 very nice balls. He will definitely have a bright future.

Tight End: B+
I'm pretty sure Iowa State's game plan was to take Tony Moeaki out of the game. He was well covered all day long and finished with just 1 catch. He did, however, have a huge impact on the running game. He was absolutely dominating ISU's defensive ends all day, but he did have a hold called against him. Allen Reisner also had a good day with a touchdown grab.

Wide Receiver: A-
Granted it wasn't all wide receivers, but 12 different Hawkeyes caught a pass on Saturday. That is a crazy number...in all of last year there were just 16 different players. With the ball being spread all around, nobody really had a standout performace, but the unit as a whole was very good consistently getting open. Stross had a good game with 4 catches and DJK had a great touchdown. Keenan Davis is another true freshman that had a great game. He had 2 catches and a touchdown that he really showed his athleticism.

Offensive Line: B+
A much, much, much better performance by the offensive line this week. Having Vandervelde back at guard was a huge help, and Calloway back at right tackle allowed Richardson to slide inside. The big question coming into the game was a left tackle with redshirt freshman Riley Rieff as Bulaga was out. Rieff stepped up huge yesterday. He had a couple of false starts (which is excusable), but otherwise had an excellent game. It definitely makes me feel more comfortable with the idea of Bulaga leaving for the NFL after this year (though I'm still hoping he stays).

Offense as a whole: B
Give credit to Ken O'Keefe, who often doesn't get enough when he deserves it. The game plan was excellent. The ball was spread all over the field, there were lots of different formations (including 5 wide!), we passed when we usually run, and it was just overall a good game.

The Defense

Defensive Line: B
I think the line improved over the last week. Though the defense gave up 190 rushing yards and allowed Robinson to get over 100 (when was the last time Iowa gave up that much on the ground?), the line was still pretty strong. It was very rare that Iowa lined up more than 6 guys in the box, so the line had a heavy task trying to stop the run. Against the pass, a pass rush was definitely present, even if it didn't lead to sacks. Binns in particular had a good game. He had 9 tackles, knocked down a pass, and had one QB hurry.

Linebacker: B-
It was another quite game for the linebackers. They were mostly used in coverage and I would say they did a pretty good job. Iowa often went to a 3-4 in obvious passing downs and sent all 4 linebackers into coverage.

Secondary: A
The safeties get an A+. Just a great game from Sash...10 tackles, 3 interceptions, a forced fumbled, and 2 tackles for loss. He was also good in coverage. I didn't see any one running by him like in the UNI game. Greenwood was also excellent, with 2 interceptions and 6 tackles to his name.

The cornerbacks were also solid. I was very happy to see Willie Lowe step up and play a good game when he got thrown in late this week with a minor injury to Castillo. I don't really remember ISU throwing in his direction all that often, so that's a good thing. Spievey was Spievey and had another good game.

Defense on a whole: B+
The Hawkeyes kept Iowa Sate out of the end zone for the 14th straight quarter. The pass defense was very good and confused Arnaud all day (until he was pulled). If it wasn't for a somewhat shaky rush defense, I'd give the unit an A. This definitely looked like the top 10 defense of last year.

The Special Teams

Special teams as a whole: B+
Ryan Donahue again had a great game with 3 of his 4 punts downed inside the 20. When he had the chance to boom one, he did, kicking a 57 yard punt. Not much to say about Murray...no field goals attempted, made all his PATs, and did pretty good with the kickoffs. The return game still leaves something to be desired, but I'm still confident in Chaney and Spievey returning kicks. Coverage was pretty good only allowing 99 return yards on 6 kickoffs.

For the second time this year we had a head-to-head match up between future Hawkyes. Out in the Washington D.C. area, DeMatha and Gilman squared off on Saturday afternoon after rain postponed the game that was originally scheduled for Friday night. RB Marcus Coker, of DeMatha, got the best of Jim Poggi and Anthony Ferguson of Gilman, as DeMatha won 56-35 in an offensive battle.

Marcus Coker - DeMatha 56 - Gilman 35
Coker absolutely destroyed Gilman on the ground. He racked up 391 yards and 5 touchdowns on just 24 carries. That is a absolutely ridiculous 16.3 yards per carry. He is going to be a good Hawkeye.

Anthony Ferguson and Jim Poggi - Gilman 35 - DeMatha 56
Poggi and Ferguson were unable to stop the Coker show and Gilman got beat down despite putting up over 450 yards on offense.

Andrew Donnal - Anthony Wayne 64 - Otsego 7
Anthony Wayne dominated in every facet of the game. Donnal helped lead the team to over 400 yards of offense.

Austin Gray - Fitzgerald 39 - Lakeview 41
Warren Fitzgerald gave up 21 4th quarter points, losing by just 2.

Mike Hardy - Kimberly 28 - Menasha 14
Hardy and the Papermakers defense held Menasha to zero second half points on the way to a 14 point victory.

Matt Hoch - Harlan 38 - Atlantic 0
Hoch contributed to the route with a fumble recovery as Harlan won easily on Friday.

Christian Kirksey and Don Shumpert - Hazelwood East 7 - Hazelwood Central 28
Hazelwood East lost its third straight falling to rival Hazelwood Central. Last year, East was the Class 5 state champion and Central was the Class 6 state champion.

James Morris - Solon 59 - Wilton 0
Solon is just dominating every team they play, and James Morris is leading the way. Morris had 7 carries for 98 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Brandon Scherff - Denison 6 - Bishop Heelan 28
Denison could not get anything going offensively and their only points came off of a 91 yard kick off return for a touchdown.

Louis Trinca-Pasat - Lane Tech 42 - Chicago Vocational 0
After sitting out with an injury last week, Trinca-Pasat came back and caught 4 passes for 78 yards and 1 touchdown as Lane Tech got its first win of the year.

Austin Vier - Ballard 28 - Dallas Center-Grimes 7
Vier had a good game throwing 125 yards and was 12 of 18. He threw for 2 touchdowns to just 1 interception. The game was 7-7 at half time, but Ballard scored 21 in the second half for the win.

Well that was much better than last week. Iowa dominated in pretty much every facet of the game.

Quick Thoughts:

Welcome to the Wegher era. He looked good today. I'm glad he got 100 yards.
Stanzi played pretty well and hit a lot of different receivers. He still need to limit his mistakes though...and not freak out when a guy is wide open.
The defense played way better than last week. The safeties looked excellent. Sash, you were the man this week.
The offensive line looked much, much better. In the second half they were in complete control.
That's 14 straight quarters without giving up a TD to the Cyclones.
WOW...Arnaud was bad.
Just a good game overall. I'm feeling much better about this season, as I'm sure most Iowa fans are. Let's go celebrate!

Good first half...much better than last week. The offensive line looks much better with Richardson and Vandervelde as the guards. Hopefully Bulaga will be back and we'll be clicking on all cylinders. Stanzi is obviously struggling a little bit. Those 2 interceptions were bad...he just need to calm down a little. He has made some good throws, especially that TD to DJK.

Defensively, the hawks have been very good. Some poor tackling on some of the runs plays, but nothing too bad. The pass defense has been excellent, and they are making Arnaud pay for all of his mistakes.

Hopefully the second half will be more of the same. Go Hawks!

It's just 2 hours until kickoff, so here is one last look at the Cyclone's before the game begins. GO HAWKS!

ISU: Quick Look -

2009 Record: 1-0; 2008 Record: 2-10
Returning starters*: Offense - 10, Defense - 6
Starters by Class: Seniors -9, Juniors - 9, Sophomores - 4, Freshman - 0
Key Returners: QB Austin Arnaud, RB Alexander Robinson, WR Marquis Hamilton, P Mike Brandtner
Key Losses: WR R.J. Sumrall, LB Michael Bibbs
Injuries: WR Darius Darks (will still play)
Suspension: TE Kurt Hammerschmidt
Previews: Offense, Defense

Game Info -

Time: Saturday, September 12 at 11:00 AM
Place: Jack Trice Stadium, Ames, IA
TV: Fox Sports Net

*Returning starter numbers for ISU are very inaccurate. Players have changed positions and been demoted making it difficult to pinpoint the exact number of returning starters.

Possibly the biggest reason for hope against ISU tomorrow, is the Cyclone's defense, more like lack of defense. Oh Snap! Anyway, ISU struggled, particularly against the run last week against NDSU, and even with the absence of Bulaga, I think Iowa's line can create some holes for Robinson and whoever else may be running the ball (Brinson...Wegher....I'm looking at you two). And Stanzi should be good enough to find open receivers against ISU's secondary. The offense just needs to execute (as always) like it did in the 3rd quarter last week. We cannot have a repeat of the first half and expect to win this game. Anyway...Iowa State's defense.

Against the Run:
Iowa State gave up 210 rushing yards to the Bisons last week on 38 carries. That's 5.5 yards per carry. The NDSU offensive line just dominated the line of scrimmage.

ISU has 2 returning starters on the d-line (Rashawn Parker and Nate Frere), but the unit as a whole is pretty mediocre. Frere has good size (295 lbs), but the rest of the line undersized like Iowa's. The big difference is that these undersized guys do not have the same motor. It will likely be one of the weakest defensive lines Iowa faces all year.

The linebackers are also nothing special. Yes, the 3 starters are all seniors, but they are undersized and do not cover the field particularly well. The MLB, Jesse Smith, is the one to watch out for. He had a team high 15 tackles last week.

Against the Pass:
Iowa State is better against the pass than the run. The secondary is led by strong safety David Sims. Sims had an interception and 8 tackles against the Bison. Both corners are fine, but neither is a look down corner like Spievey.

Back to the linebackers. There is just no way they will be able to cover Moeaki, or even Reisner if he plays much. If Iowa needs a place to attack, this is it. The game plan usually involves the TEs a lot (see last week), and it should be effective against ISU.

Overall Thoughts:

Iowa's offense must take advantage of the Cyclone's weak defense. The offensive line needs to establish control of the line of scrimmage and get to the second level. If NDSU can put up 210 rushing yards with their line, then Iowa should have no problems doing the same (not saying 200+ yards is likely though).
Tony Moeaki can win this game for us too. ISU's linebackers will not be able to cover him consistently. He should also be an asset in the run game as a block taking advantage of the Cyclone dismal front 7.

Does anyone really care about a scouting report on Iowa State at this point? I'm just so anxious for the game. Bulaga will be out (but should be back soon!) and it sounds like LT is completely unsettled…I think it will be Calloway, but have heard Rieff, Richardson, and Doering all have a shot. Which is a little scary, but probably the line will still better than last week. I expect ISU to test the o-line early with lots of pressure from blitzes. If Iowa can pick up on the blitzes I think Stanzi will have a good game distributing the ball. I'm still not very confident in the run game though and it would not surprise me if we see a lot of sets with 1 RB, 1 TE, and 3 WRs passing 65% of the time.

Anyway, I'm doing a scouting report anyway, but maybe not as in-depth as last week (who am I kidding…I'll probably end up ranting about something). I did watch most of the ISU-NDSU game last week and have been trying to read up on the Cyclones a little. I was also told I was too nice on UNI (though look how that turned out), so I'll mean it up a little for ISU.

Passing Game:
ISU fans seem to think Austin Arnaud is the greatest thing since sliced bread (side note…the inventor of the first loaf-at-a-time-bread-slicing-machine is actually from Iowa), that he is leaps and bounds better than Stanzi, and a "proven" quarterback. I'm not sure what he's proven other than that he loses a lot as a starting quarterback. And, if you look at their stats from last year to compare Arnaud to Stanzi, they are actually pretty similar.
Arnaud - 247 of 401 for 2792 yards, 15 TD and 10 INT Stanzi - 150 of 254 for 1956 yards, 14 TD and 9 INT
Their completion percent is about the same favoring Arnaud just slightly (AA - 61.6%, RS - 59.1%), the number of TDs is just 1 different though Stanzi threw the ball 147 less times, QB Rating favors Stanzi slightly (AA - 127.4, RS - 134.8), yards per attempt favors Stanzi (AA - 6.9, RS - 7.70)…not sure why Arnaud is so much better. The argument that I can see is that he is pretty good on his feet, but Iowa was able to neutralize that aspect of his game last year giving up on 10 yards on 5 carries.

Also, after watching last week's game, Arnaud has a little Jake Christensen in him. He was throwing balls with all his might to guys 3 or 4 yards down field. His timing was also off as a lot of balls were slightly behind the intended receiver. He still had a fairly good game though throwing for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns. And like years past he'll likely be good enough to move ISU down the field between the 30s, but will likely stall when the defense clamps down.

Enough about Arnaud…on to the receivers. Iowa State has a decent stable of wide receivers and an okay tight end in Collin Franklin. They have 2 returning starters at WR, but Darius Darks is battling an injury and probably won't be a huge factor tomorrow. Marquis Hamilton is probably the guy to look out for (Spievey should cover him) and he had 4 catches for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns last week. Darius Reynolds is supposedly the next big thing per ISU fans, but has played in just one whole game, but had a team him 6 receptions. Franklin, who is also supposedly just as good a Moeaki (those silly ISU fans again…) has a whopping 16 career catches, while Moeaki had 10 in last week's game alone. He does average about 17 yards per catch though, but I don't think the linebackers will have any real trouble covering him.

Rushing Game:
As stated before, Arnaud is some what a threat running the ball, though probably less of a threat on designed runs and more of a threat scrambling when the pocket breaks down (which it will…he had very little time last week against NDSU). I expect somebody to be spying on Arnaud most of the game.

The Cyclones do have a pretty good running back in Alexander Robinson. He played well in the first half against NDSU, but ISU kind of went away from him in the second half. He probably good for about 15 carries and 75 yards. Behind Robinson is RS Freshman Jeremiah Schwartz. He's obviously unproven as a freshman, but did average over 6 yards per carry last week, all in clean up time in the 4th quarter though.

Iowa State has some big offensive linemen. The starting 5 averages out to about 6'3" - 327 lbs. (I'm not sure exactly who the starting 5 will be for Iowa along the o-line but it's safe to say their average size would be at most 300 lbs.) The line is also fairly experience with 4 returning starters. They did not look particularly good last week against the Bison, but were good enough for ISU to rack up over 200 rushing yards.

Overall Thoughts:

ISU did not show much offensively in game 1, at least in terms of play calling. Arnaud hinted that they have some tricks up their sleeve for the Iowa game. I'm guessing that means some different misdirection/reverse type plays and I guess I wouldn't be too surprised to see some form of Wildcat, since that's the vogue thing to do these days.
I'm a little worried about the hurry-up-no-huddle-spread-option-short-pass-wide-open-2-minute-type offense that ISU will be running, because Iowa has struggled a bit recently against the 2 minute offense. Iowa let UNI drive at the end of the game last week, same against Purdue last year (thankfully Mitch King had a huge sack and the hail mary was unsuccessful), Illinois drove down to kick a game winning field goal, Northwestern drove with ease before half, etc…I'm sure Norm will figure something out though.

Just some quick thoughts on the Bulaga rumors. First, I hope the rumors are false and that he is doing well. If they are true and he is indeed unhealthy, whether or not he gets back on the football field, I wish him a full and speedy recovery.

The rumors I've seen range anywhere from a mild knee injury that would just require him to miss one game, to a thyroid problem which would be more like a couple of weeks, all the way up to a career ending heart condition. (Check the message boards for all the rumors). Hopefully we'll get some real information soon.

I really hope this kid is okay, he had a bright future ahead of him in football.

In terms of Iowa football, this is not good news considering the offensive line is already in flux. For Saturday, I'd like to see the 4 non-Bulaga starters retain their place and put returning Kyle Calloway in at left tackle. I think the line starter to gain some continuity in the second half last week, so the coaches should stick with them. And if Gettis or Doering are not playing well, rush Vandervelde back in there.

Again, best of luck Bryan.

After a successful week 1 (at least in terms of wins) the Big Ten comes into week 2 with a much more difficult slate of games and a lot more to prove. The marquee game is obviously Ohio State vs. USC and a win would do a lot to quite the Big Ten haters. There are still a fair share of cupcakes and it is completely likely that week 2 will match the 10-1 record put up week 1.

Indiana (1-0) vs. Western Michigan (0-1) - 11:00 AM: BTN
After narrowly escaping with a win against Eastern Kentucky, Indiana will have its hands full against the Broncos. Western Michigan struggled against Michigan last week, but the quarterback Tim Hiller will likely be able to put up some big numbers on Indiana's defense.

Prediction: Western Michigan wins narrowly

Michigan State (1-0) vs. Central Michigan (0-1) - 11:00 AM: ESPN2
Michigan State should continue to put up big offensive number on Saturday against Central Michigan. However, they likely won't hold the Dan Lefevour led offense to only 3 point like they did against Montana State.

Prediction: Michigan State wins by a couple of scores

Northwestern (1-0) vs. Eastern Michigan (0-1) - 11:00 AM: BTN
Eastern Michigan should put up more than a battle than Towson, but they are still not an impressive foe. EMU's quarterback Andy Schmitt is pretty good and should be able to move the ball down the field a little bit, but the defense will not be able to contain the Wildcats.

Prediction: Northwestern wins easy for the second week in a row

Penn State (1-0) vs. Syracuse (0-1) - 11:00 AM: BTN
Does anyone play a team that actually won a game? Syracuse actually put up a fight (at least in the first half) against Minnesota last week, but they will not be able to play with the Nittany Lions.

Prediction: Penn State rolls again

Wisconsin (1-0) vs. Fresno State (1-0) - 11:00 AM: ESPN
Last year the Bull Dogs kept the game very close at home but lost 10-13. This year, the Badgers are likely better, while Fresno State is probably not as good. Playing in Madison is never an easy task either.

Prediction: Wisconsin pulls away in the second half

Iowa (1-0) at Iowa State (1-0) - 11:00 AM: FSN
More to come on this game (hopefully I'll get something written up...it's been a busy week).

Prediction: Iowa blocks 3 field goals in a row to win (more like wins in a close game)

Michigan (1-0) vs. Notre Dame (1-0) - 2:30 PM: ABC
Michigan looked good in week 1 against Western Michigan and Notre Dame shut down Nevada. Last year Notre Dame won 35-17 as both teams were pretty bad. This year should be closer and the teams better.

Prediction: Michigan capitalizes on its home-field and wins in a close game

Illinois (0-1) vs. Illinois State (0-1) - 6:00 PM: BTN
After the abysmal performance last week against Missouri, Illinois should be able to rebound fairly easily against Illinois State. The Redbirds are missing their starting QB and the Illini should have Benn back.

Prediction: Illinois takes its frustration out and wins big

Minnesota (1-0) vs. Air Force (1-0) - 6:00 PM: BTN
In the first ever game in TCF Bank Stadium Air Force will certainly challenge the Gophers. Air Force won last week 72-0 and have 5 players rush for more than 50 yards. Minnesota needs to play well to win this game.

Prediction: Minnesota holds off a comeback by Air Force to win

Ohio State (1-0) vs. Southern California (1-0) - 7:00 PM: ESPN
Ohio State struggle some against Navy, and USC destroyed San Jose State. So the Trojans are going to win easily, right? This is a very big game for the Buckeyes and I'm sure they were looking past Navy last week. This game will be much closer than the 35-3 blowout last year and OSU has a very good chance at winning.

Prediction: Ohio State wins in a close game

Purdue (1-0) at Oregon (0-1) - 9:15 PM: FSN
A little over a week ago I would have said Oregon wins this game easily. But Purdue's Ralph Bolden and Oregon's completely pitiful offensive performance against Boise State changed my mind. Purdue has a real shot a winning this game and putting the Duck's program into complete disarray.

Prediction: Purdue wins in a shoot out

The results are in...

The Ken O'Keefe Challenge Week 1 is officially over. Here's a look at the play calling on each drive and how a coin flip, KOK Bot, and I did on guessing run or pass correctly.

Drive 1: 13 plays - 52 yards - 5:43 - Field Goal
Play Calling - 6 Runs, 7 Passes
Prediction Results -

Me: 7 correct calls
Coin: 4
KOK Bot: 4

Drive 2: 3 plays - 10 yards - 1:26 - Fumble
Play Calling - 2 Runs, 1 Pass (1 Sack)
Prediction Results -

Me: 2
Coin: 1
KOK Bot: 3

Drive 3: 3 plays - -9 yards - 2:20 - Punt
Play Calling - 2 Runs, 1 Pass (1 Sack)
Prediction Results -

Me: 2
Coin: 2
KOK Bot: 1

Drive 4: 4 plays - 33 yards - 1:23 - Punt
Play Calling - 3 Runs, 1 Pass
Prediction Results -

Me: 3
Coin: 1
KOK Bot: 4

Drive 5: 4 plays - 12 yards - 1:39 - Punt
Play Calling - 1 Run, 3 Passes
Prediction Results -

Me: 2
Coin: 3
KOK Bot: 1

Drive 6: 5 plays - 14 yards - 0:56 - Downs
Play Calling - 1 Run, 4 Passes (2 Sacks)
Prediction Results -

Me: 4
Coin: 1
KOK Bot: 3

First Half Results:

Me: 20
Coin: 12
KOK Bot: 16

Drive 7: 2 plays - 0 yards - 0:20 - Fumble
Play Calling - 1 Run, 1 Pass
Prediction Results -

Me: 1
Coin: 0
KOK Bot: 0

Drive 8: 6 plays - 70 yards - 3:12 - Touchdown!
Play Calling - 2 Runs, 4 Passes
Prediction Results -

Me: 2
Coin: 4
KOK Bot: 3

Drive 9: 3 plays - 8 yards - 1:43 - Punt
Play Calling - 2 Runs, 1 Pass
Prediction Results -

Me: 1
Coin: 1
KOK Bot: 2

Drive 10: 4 plays - 18 yards - 1:17 - Missed FG
Play Calling - 0 Runs, 4 Passes (2 Sacks)
Prediction Results -

Me: 3
Coin: 2
KOK Bot: 1

Drive 11: 7 plays - 73 yards - 3:16 - Touchdown!
Play Calling - 3 Runs, 4 Passes
Prediction Results -

Me: 5
Coin: 4
KOK Bot: 6

Drive 12: 6 plays - 34 yards - 2:40 - Downs
Play Calling - 3 Runs, 3 Passes
Prediction Results -

Me: 5
Coin: 4
KOK Bot: 3

Drive 13: 5 plays - 17 yards - 2:12 - Punt
Play Calling - 1 Run, 4 Pass
Prediction Results -

Me: 5 (perfection!)
Coin: 2
KOK Bot: 2

Final Results:

Me: 42 (out of 65) - 64.6%
Coin: 29 - 44.6%
KOK Bot: 33 - 50.8%

I think I did pretty well guessing what Ken O'Keefe would call today, especially in the second half when we moved to throwing the ball the majority of the time. I think the KOK Bot was off today because it was calibrated last year when we had Shonn Greene running the ball all day long. But, this was just one game, so we'll see how the year pans out.

Play Calling:
In terms of actual play calling, I thought it was mediocre today. The first half was way too conservative. I'm sure the coaching staff wanted to see what they could do with just a shell of the offense, but it was obvious fairly quickly that running inside zones all day was not going to work.

In the second half, things opened up a little bit more. We saw the stretch play in the run game, and some play action. We also we running more vertical routes and Stanzi was throwing it down the field. I think this is the offense that KOK is going to have to use this year. Let Stanzi make some plays and move him around in and outside of the pocket. And of course, run the ball enough to keep the defense honest.

Numbers:
On the game on a whole, there were 27 runs called and 38 passes (4 sacks). That's 41-59% run to pass, almost exactly opposite of last year.

The 34 passing attempts by Stanzi was the most in his career (the previous high was 30 against Northwestern) and his 22 completions were also a career high. Iowa only passed the ball this many times once last year (against Pitt).

On the 3 scoring drives, Iowa ran it 11 times and passed 15, which is the same 41-59% ratio as the overall play calling.

No.	Name	Pos.	Year
3	Jason White	DB	JR
28	Ellis Jordan	RB	RS FR
30	De'Andre Johnson	RB	RS FR
34	Marcus Coker	RB	SO
38	Brad Rogers	FB	SO
41	Jacob Reisen	FB	SO
?	Damon Bullock	RB	FR
?	Jordan Canzeri	RB	FR
?	Rodney Coe	RB	FR
?	Mika'il McCall	RB	FR

No.	Name	Pos.	Year
2	James Hurt	WR	JR
6	Keenan Davis	WR	JR
7	Blake Haluska	WR	RS FR
7	Marvin McNutt	WR	SR
8	Don Shumpert	WR	SO
12	Kyle Steinbrecher	WR	SR
18	John Chelf	WR	RS FR
23	Jordan Cotton	WR	SO
83	Steven Staggs	WR	JR
89	Kevonte Martin-Manley	WR	RS FR
?	Marcus Grant	WR	FR
?	Jacob Hillyer	WR	FR

No.	Name	Pos.	Year
50	Drew Clark	OL	SO
53	James Ferentz	OL	JR
56	Markus Zusevics	OL	SR
59	Conor Boffeli	OL	SO
60	Matt Tobin	OL	JR
66	Casey McMillan	OL	JR
68	Brandon Scherff	OL	RS FR
70	Brett Van Sloten	OL	SO
72	Woody Orne	OL	SR
73	Adam Gettis	OL	SR
76	Nolan MacMillan	OL	SO
77	Riley Reiff	OL	JR
78	Andrew Donnal	OL	RS FR
?	Austin Blythe	OL	FR
?	Dan Heiar	OL	JR
?	Jordan Walsh	OL	FR

No.	Name	Pos.	Year
2	Greg Castillo	DB	JR
4	Jordan Bernstine	DB	SR
10	William Lowe	DB	SR
13	Tom Donatell	DB	SR
16	Collin Sleeper	DB	JR
18	Micah Hyde	DB	JR
19	B.J. Lowery	DB	SO
28	Shaun Prater	DB	SR
29	Nick Nielsen	DB	JR
31	Anthony Hitchens	DB	SO
40	Jack Swanson	DB	JR
49	Tanner Miller	DB	SO
?	Torrey Campbell	DB	FR
?	Cole Fisher	DB	FR
?	Nico Law	DB	FR
?	Jordan Lomax	DB	FR
?	John Lowdermilk	DB	FR
?	Travis Perry	DB	FR

No.	Name	Pos.	Year
35	Martin Hopkins	DL	SO
54	Steve Bigach	DL	JR
58	Lebron Daniel	DL	SR
61	Casey Kreiter	DL	SO
71	Carl Davis	DL	RS FR
74	Donavan Johnson	DL	RS FR
75	Scott Covert	DL	SO
79	Dominic Alvis	DL	SO
87	Thomas Nardo	DL	SR
90	Louis Trinca-Pasat	DL	RS FR
91	Broderick Binns	DL	SR
93	Mike Daniels	DL	SR
96	Joe Forgy	DL	SR
98	Mike Hardy	DL	RS FR
99	Joe Gaglione	DL	JR
?	Darian Cooper	DL	FR
?	Riley McMinn	DL	FR
?	John Raymon	DL	FR

No.	Name	Pos.	Year
11	Austin Vier	TE	RS FR
39	Brad Herman	TE	SR
80	Dakota Getz	TE	SO
85	Zach Derby	TE	JR
86	C.J. Fiedorowicz	TE	SO
92	Jonathan Gimm	TE	JR
?	Jake Duzey	TE	FR
?	Ray Hamilton	TE	FR
?	Henry Krieger-Coble	TE	FR

No.	Name	Pos.	Year
20	Christian Kirksey	LB	SO
35	Matthew Meyers	LB	RS FR
37	Shane DiBona	LB	SO
43	Jim Poggi	LB	RS FR
44	James Morris	LB	SO
45	Tyler Nielsen	LB	SR
50	Lance Tillison	LB	SR
51	Terrance Pryor	LB	JR
54	Marcus Kloos	LB	SO
57	Bruce Davis	LB	SR
65	Cameron Olson	LB	JR
?	Quinton Alston	LB	FR
?	Marcus Collins	LB	FR
?	Melvin Spears	LB	FR

No.	Name	Pos.	Year
6	Eric Guthrie	P	SR
8	Trent Mossbrucker	K	JR
9	Jonny Mullings	P	RS FR
69	Charlie Knipper	LS	SO
96	Mike Meyer	K	SO
?	Marshall Koehn	K	FR

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