Ricky Stanzi gets recognized

Stanzi, Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week
Stanzi went 17 of 24 for 248 yards with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions against Michigan on Saturday. His performance earned his first ever POTW award. It was his second best performance of the year from an efficiency perspective (Ball State was his best) and improved his overall QB Rating to 180.50, 3rd best in the nation.

Hawkeyes #15 in initial BCS rankings

Full BCS Rankings
So, the computers don't like Iowa. The two human polls (Harris and Coaches) both rank Iowa 12th, but the computer average has Iowa at 17. The computers look at Iowa's strength of schedule and are not impressed, which is understandable I suppose. What is kind of laughable though, is that Oklahoma and LSU are #1 and #2 in the computer average. Anybody who has actually watched either of these teams play knows that they are not the two best teams in the country. I have a hard time even putting them in the top 10, but I guess it's hard to argue with wins.

Iowa will have its chances to move up in the rankings over the next few weeks. The Hawkeyes still have 3 teams in the top 15 (Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Ohio State) on the schedule. The good news too, is that all 3 of those games will be a home. Win all 3, and that's at least 3 spots that the Hawkeyes move up...plus the strength of schedule will move up helping the computer rankings. Just winning this next weekend against Wisconsin could shoot Iowa up into the top 10. Not only would Wisconsin fall, but Oklahoma plays Missouri and Auburn plays LSU. The losers of those games could very well fall below Iowa as well. Plus you could do the whole transitive thing with Iowa beat Wisconsin who beat OSU...thus Iowa should be ahead of OSU. I'm getting ahead of myself though. Iowa still needs to play very well to beat Wisconsin on Saturday.

DJK breaks the record

DJK breaks receiving yardage record
With his third touchdown receptions of the day, a 19-yard slant in the 4th quarter that ended up being the game winning score, DJK broke the Iowa receiving yardage record surpasses Tim Dwight with 2,275 yards. The record is nice and all, but what has really been pleasing is his emergence as a touchdown machine this year. In the past 3 seasons, which he led Iowa in receiving yards, he had a modest 2, 3, and 2 TDs respectively. This year he already had 7 touchdown grabs to his name and has only gotten better as the season has progressed with his career high 3 TDs on Saturday.

New depth chart

Iowa Depth Chart [pdf]
The depth chart for the Wisconsin game is out. There are just a couple of items worth noting. Jeff Tarpinian is still not listed at middle linebacker. Mike Daniels, who left the game Saturday early with an arm injury, is still on the 2-deeps. Brett Morse, who dressed on Saturday but did not play, is also still on the depth chart.

A few more Michigan game notes

Next man in: I'd like to hand out a couple of Next Man In Awards to Troy Johnson and Brad Rogers. Johnson has excelled the fill in starter role before and he had a solid day as Jeff Tarpinian's replacement. He had a couple of not-so-good plays, but made enough big plays to make up for it. With the defensive line funneling the ball carriers his way, Johnson finished the game Saturday with 13 tackles (tied with Hunter as the team high). He also had an interception that effectively ended the game, and a pass breakup.

Rogers started at fullback from Brett Morse and played a very good game, especially considering that he is the backup at fullback and runningback right now. He didn't light up the stat sheet (but what fullback does), but had some key blocks that helped Adam Robinson have a big day. Rogers also had one reception for 11 yards.

Adjusting to Forcier: For the second year in a row, Iowa knocked out Michigan's starting quarterback. Last year, Adrian Clayborn laid a huge hit on Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson came in as the backup and led Michigan down the field to score a late touchdown. On Saturday, it was Robinson in the starting roll, leaving the game early after re-aggravating a shoulder injury and Forcier coming in and leading a Michigan rally, putting up 3 TD drive in the fourth quarter. Both lead me questioning Iowa's ability to adjust to a new quarterback. Iowa for sure game-planned and prepared all week (and maybe 2 with the bye) for Robinson's unique attack...a devastating run threat and a decent passer. When Forcier came in, Michigan almost completely abandoned the run and let Forcier sling the ball around. Iowa had trouble adjusting to the better passer. The cornerbacks were burnt, the defensive line still didn't get a lot of pressure (aside for a couple of plays), etc... I don't think Michigan will have a QB controversy on its hands, but if they make opponents prepare for what both quarterbacks can do, their offense could be even more difficult to defend.