An Early Look at Iowa vs. Iowa State

There are just 36 more days until the start of Iowa's football season, and I've only previewed Eastern Illinois thus far. So, let's get moving on this preview...for today: Iowa State.

The Game

Opponent: Iowa State
Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, IA
Kickoff: 2:30 PM - September 11, 2010
TV: ABC Regional (ESPN2 elsewhere)

The Basics

Location: Ames, IA
Head Coach: Paul Rhoads
Mascot: Cyclone
Conference: Big XII
2009 Record: 7-6 (3-5)
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Links For Iowa: Tickets!

It's been a busy week in my neck of the woods. In terms of site stuff I have been working on some of the behind the scenes scripts just getting it cleaned up a little. There probably won't be any noticeable changes, but the site my load a slightly faster. Anyway, some good news and bad news today...I'm a good news first type of person, so here it goes.

Tickets! There are tickets available!
Iowa sold over 59,000 sets of season tickets for this year, so with visitor tickets, special group tickets, packaged tickets, etc... that doesn't really leave a lot of seats for single game sales. However, there are a few tickets left for the Eastern Illinois and Ball State games. And by few, I really mean few. They went on sale earlier today and I tried seeing what tickets would be available and I wasn't able to get more than a single ticket to either game. So act fast! I'd also suggest trying to get the kid tickets...there may be a few more of those and they are only $25 instead of $55.

The Magic Bus has its permit denied
Regarded as one of the best tailgating spots for Iowa football games, the Magic Bus has been denied a permit to operate. Needless to say, the whole future of the Magic Bus is currently in jeopardy and if it does survive in some capacity it's unlikely to be same. This is not the first blow to the tailgating atmosphere this off-season as earlier this summer Sally Mason stated she wanted to clean it up and that there will probably be changes this fall. I doubt anything drastic will happen, but it'll be interesting to follow.

Bullets:

• Ricky Stanzi on Manning Award Watch List - The Manning Award goes to the best quarterback. If he cuts down on the INTs he could have a shot. This year's class of QBs isn't quite what it was last year with Tebow and McCoy as the clear favorites.
• Stanzi, Clayborn, and Klug at Big Ten Media Days - This is semi-old news, but these 3 seniors will be representing the Hawkeyes at the Big Ten Media Days next week. The most interesting thing to come out of this event will likely be an update on the suspensions being handed down to Hampton, Binns, and Bernstine.

Update: All tickets are now sold out. If you still need some, you can find Iowa Football tickets on Stubhub.

BlogPoll: Who's Number One?

I am excited to announce that I will be participating in the (formerly CBS Sports, now most likely SB Nation) BlogPoll this year. Brian from MGoBlog runs this thing and tries to get a diverse collection of college football bloggers as the voters. In years past it has been entertaining to follow the BlogPoll and I am thrilled about the opportunity to participate in it this year.

Anyway, part of being in the BlogPoll is soliciting feedback from readers (something that the AP Poll or Coaches Poll could use). So, even though I don't think there is an official vote for a while, I wanted to start getting feedback on who should be number 1.
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By the Numbers: Clayborn Prediction

Adrian Clayborn is getting a lot of publicity this offseason. The next Suh, a Heisman Hopeful, a first round draft pick, best player in the Big Ten, etc, etc... Often these kinds of things become hyperbolic and end up with the player not meeting the impossibly high expectations. With Clayborn, however, I think it'll be different and I think he may even exceed some of these wild expectations.

Clayborn's stat line last year was: 70 tackles, 20 TFL, 11.5 sacks. Those numbers are really good. By comparison, Tyson Alualu, the first DE and 10th overall taken in this year's draft, had 65 tackles, 11.5 TFL, and 7.5 sacks. So, Clayborn is good, but can be even better.
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Hawkeye Chess

The game of football is often compared to a chess match by TV announcers, sports writers, and the likes. A tactical battle between two armies, a fight going back and forth with every play, a war of positions and precision fought on the battlefield and in the mind... Well, now you have the chance to truly mime the football experience on a chess board with Hawkeye Chess. Command your squad of Iowa Hawkeyes to victory over the evil. (Hey. I'm bored, you're bored...maybe this will help kill some time until football starts.)

Pieces
White: (you)

• King - Kirk Ferentz
• Queen - Ricky Stanzi
• Rook - Adrian Clayborn
• Bishop - Derrell Johnson-Koulianos
• Knight - Norm Parker
• Pawn - Ken O'Keefe

Black: (the evil computer)

• King - Tim Brewster
• Queen - Terrelle Pryor
• Rook - John Clay
• Bishop - Tate Forcier
• Knight -Greg Jones
• Pawn - Austen Arnaud

About the game
I modified the P4WN javascript chess script by changing the images for the pieces and the background colors. The "AI" engine is pretty basic so you won't find the computer too difficult to beat if you are an experienced chess player. There is nothing else fancy here...the main rules of chess are supported and you can use the dropdown to select what piece you want if you promote a pawn. Other than that, just click on the piece you want to move, then the square you want to move it. And, have fun!
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A Quick Note: The Grass is Dying

A year ago, Iowa replaced its lovely (okay, maybe not exactly lovely) grass field inside Kinnick Stadium with FieldTurf becoming the 7th team in the conference to do so (and it'll be 8 teams next year when Nebraska joins). As a result, the Hawkeyes will only play 2 games this year on grass: at Arizona and at Northwestern.

The lovely (yes, actually lovely) stripes of the new FieldTurf in Kinnick Stadium.

I've always thought football should be played on a grass, but after seeing the FieldTurf in person and walking on it after the Michigan game last year, I can say it's a nice looking and nice feeling surface. So, while I'd prefer grass, there really isn't much to complain about.

Future Hawkeyes in Iowa Shrine Bowl

The 38th Annual Iowa Shrine Bowl is this weekend on Saturday. The game is played in Jack Trice Stadium at 7:00 PM. If you don't want to travel to Ames and sit inside Jack Trice, which is perfectly understandable, then you can watch a replay of the game on the Mediacom Connections Channel (MC22) on Sunday at 12:00. The game always features some of the best graduating high schoolers in the state and a large number of current Hawkeyes have played in the game. Last year Jordan Cotton made a good impression on me in the game and 2 years ago James Vandenberg dominated. This year should be no different as 5 future Hawkeyes will be on the field.
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2011 Commit: Michael Orloff

Over the weekend Iowa picked up its eleventh verbal commitment for the 2011 recruiting class. As usual, Coach Johnson broke the news of a new member of the Hawkeye family on Twitter. Then, in an exciting twist it was Marcus Grant, the first player to commit to Iowa this year, who released the name of the latest commit via Twitter: Michael Orloff. Orloff is not ranked by Scout, who erroneously has him as a class of 2012 recruit, and is 2-stars by Rivals.

Orloff in High School

Orloff is a teammate and friend of Grant at Lawrence Academy in Groton, Massachusetts. Last year, Lawrence Academy went undefeated and won the Independent School League. They finished the season as the Samson/Lorden Bowl champions. Orloff was a big play maker on both sides of the ball. He played quarterback and safety for the Spartans, but has been recruited by Iowa to play linebacker.

Stats:

• Passing - 61/93 for 1032 yards, 12 TDs, 3 INTs
• Rushing - 55 rushes for 529 yards, 8 TDs
• Defense - 72 tackles, 2 INTs

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Links For Iowa: Preseason Recognition

I have just a couple of quick links to share this morning as some Hawkeyes are being recognized this summer.

Ricky Stanzi

Davey O'Brien Award
On Wednesday the Davey O'Brien foundation announced 30 quarterbacks on its watch list. Among those 30 names was Stanzi, who was a semi-finalist last year. The Davey O'Brien award goes to the nation's best quarterback.
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Mark Your Calendars

It has been a surprisingly news filled football off season--conference realignment, a couple arrests, a lot going on in recruiting, other major sporting events, etc...--but I think we can all agree that the college football season needs to hurry up and get here soon. We are currently 51 days out from Iowa vs. Eastern Illinois, but there are a few important dates to look forward to during the wait that will hopefully make the time go by faster.
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Links For Iowa: Season Previews!

There have been a few good preview of the 2010 Iowa Football season published lately. I don't think I ever learn anything about the team from these, but they are still fun to read. Last year I found myself disagreeing with a lot of the previews as I thought Iowa was being underestimated. This year, the previews predict big things for Iowa, so there are far less complaints on my end.
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2011 Commit: Riley McMinn

Iowa picked up another commit Sunday night and it was confirmed the next morning to be Riley McMinn by HawkeyeInsider.com. McMinn is a defensive end out of Illinois, making him just the second defensive player and tenth overall to commit to Iowa. He is rated 3-stars by both Scout and Rivals.

McMinn in High School

McMinn attends Rochester High School in Rochester, Illinois. The Rockets were quite the football team last year that averaged nearly 48 points per game and won their first 12 games before falling in the Illinois Class 4A Semifinals by 1 point (after a failed 2-point conversion with just seconds left in the game) to the eventual state champs. Throughout the season McMinn made big plays that helped his team win, including fumble recoveries, blocking a punt for a safety. McMinn was First Team All Corn Belt conference.

Stats:

• Defense - 67 tackles, 18 TFLs, 11 sacks (I've also seen 13 TFLs and 5.5 sacks)

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Broderick Binns Arrested with OWI

Broderick Binns became the fourth Iowa football player to have some trouble with the law this summer as he was picked up for drunk driving early this morning. Binns was pulled over for going straight while in a turn lane he then tried to deny that he was drinking, finally admitted it, then blew a .101...well above the legal limit of .08. To top that off, he is still 2 weeks away from being 21. Scott Doctherman has the full police report. All in all, it was a very dumb move by Binns.
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2011 Commit: Jake Duzey

The commits keep rolling in as Iowa added another player to the 2011 recruiting class Wednesday. Jake Duzey is a wide receiver/tight end/H-back from Michigan and became the 9th commit for Iowa. He is also the 3rd tight end in the class that now has 8 offensive players and just 1 on defense. He's rated 3-stars by both Scout and Rivals.

Duzey in High School

Duzey plays for Troy Athens High School in Troy Michigan. (Side note: Take a look at the Athens Redhawks logo and you'll see why Duzey was destined to play for the Hawkeyes.) The Redhawks were not very good last year, winning just 2 games. Duzey played all over the field his junior year. He mostly line up as a receiver, either in the slot or out wide, but played tight end/H-back on some downs as well. On defense he played safety. He was definitely the star of the team last year earning offensive player of the week, defensive player of the week, and "Big Stick" of the week multiple times as awarded by the team's coach on the Athens Football blog.

Stats:

• Offense - 37 receptions, 535 yards, 6 TDs; 2 rushing TDs
• Defense - 2 interceptions

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Fight For Iowa on Linebacker U

I did a Q&A session with Tim from Linebacker U, a fine Penn State blog, as part of their Inside The Bloggers' Unwashed, Unshaven, Studio series. I talk some football, a little basketball, and throw in a "love it or leave it" for good measure. The meatiest part of the Q&A deals with managing the high expectations and hype around the team this year.

The team knows that their margin for error is slim, and more importantly knows how to perform in the 4th quarter when the game is on the line. And, unless the offense really takes off this year, or Ricky Stanzi figures out a way to reverse his trend of keeping both teams in the game at the same time, there are going to be plenty of close games this year too.

Read the full Q&A here on Linebacker U.

Updated Roster with Freshmen Numbers

The roster on hawkeyesports.com has been updated to include the incoming freshmen. I have updated the Iowa Football Roster on this site accordingly. There wasn't anything too striking on the roster update, though Austin Vier is listed as a tight end when before there was talks of him having a shot at quarterback. You can also try to read something into the numbers, though most of the freshmen have their own. Shumpert shares 8 with Mossbrucker, Mullings shares 9 with Sash, Vier shares 11 with Nordmann, Johnson shares 30 with Greenwood, and Martin-Manley shares 89 with Audlehelm...though I don't think that means any of these freshmen are necessarily red-shirting this year. I did notice though, that it's mostly offensive players that have a shared number. Ferentz did say back in February on signing day that linebackers, defensive backs, and defensive linemen (basically anyone on defense) has a shot at playing time this year.

Anyway, here are all the freshmen numbers...I think they are fun to see.
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2011 Commit: Jake Rudock

Jake Rudock was the third player to commit to Iowa last Wednesday, after John Raymon and Ray Hamilton, becoming the eighth player overall in Iowa's 2011 recruiting class. Rudock is a pro-style quarterback from Florida and is rated 3-stars by Rivals, but only 2 by Scout.

Rudock in High School

Rudock plays for one of the premier high school football programs in the country: St. Thomas Aquinas. The Raiders were National champs in 2008 and have been Florida state champions 5 times. Last year, the team started the season 13-0 under Rudock's arm and was ranked #1 in the nation before getting upset in the semi-finals of the state playoffs.

Throughout the season, Rudock played consistently well. In 4 different games he completed at least 80% of his passes, including an 11 of 12 outing against Cypress Bay. He was good throwing the ball down field too, and in every game but one completed a pass of 25 yards or greater.

Stats:

• Offense - 128 of 197 passing, 1945 yards, 34 TDs, 5 INTs, 199.79 QB Rating

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Happy Fourth of July

Like anything other than a patriotic Ricky Stanzi photoshop would be appropriate for the 4th of July.

Happy Independence Day!

2011 Commit: John Raymon

John Raymon was the second installment of the 3-part commitathon that took place yesterday. Raymon is the first defensive player of the 2011 Iowa commits and the seventh overall. He is not currently rated by either Scout or Rivals.
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