A Complete and Dominating Win

A week after playing sloppy mistake laden football against Wisconsin, Iowa responded with its sharpest and most complete performance of the season dismantling Michigan State. Balanced and efficient offense: check; smothering and opportunistic defense: check; solid and mostly mistake-free special teams: check. Iowa was ready to execute in all phases of the game and looked like a team with something to prove. Now a week after a heart-breaking loss in which the doom and gloom, season over, 7-5 type of thoughts started coming out, Iowa is back in position to at least share a conference title.

Stanzi and Robinson do it again

Iowa's offense didn't really need to do a lot. They had a short field much of the day thanks to the defense (and somewhat the special teams). As a result, the stats are overly impressive. Stanzi threw for less than 200 yards for the first time this year and Robinson only had 69 rushing yards. But yardage is not the only measure of success.

Stanzi had extremely efficient once again (and closed the gap on BSU's Kellen Moore as the nation leader in passing efficiency) going 11/15 for 190 yards with 3 TDs and no INTs. He once again started the game very well. He went 4/4 on the 12 play, 80 yard drive that started the game, and finished the first half 8/10 for 144 yards and two touchdowns. He was also very good moving in the pocket to avoid blitzing Spartans while keeping his head up and eyes moving to find open receivers down the field.

Robinson had a big first half, and for the first time in weeks got to rest on the bench while Marcus Coker got some reps. Robinson actually accounted for less than half of Iowa total rushing attempts! He still have 69 yards on the ground and his first career receiving touchdown...a 32-yard catch on a wheel route in which he ran right by super-Spartan Greg Jones. Robinson also owned Jones on a couple other plays including a run that he made Jones miss using a spin move, and a monster block that he put on Jones during Ricky Stanzi's 26-yard scramble for a big first down.
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Iowa vs. Michigan State: Game Day

The need to know
What: Iowa vs. Michigan State
Where: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City
When: 2:30 PM
TV: ABC/ESPN (Coverage Map)

Iowa injury report
Out: Jewel Hampton (torn ACL), Bruce Davis (torn ACL), Jason White (sprained knee)
Questionable: Jeff Tarpinian (stinger), Jeremiha Hunter (knee)
Probable: Troy Johnson (minor undisclosed injury)

Key to the game
(I apologize in advance for the terrible Halloween references)

Trick or Treat: Michigan State likes to run fakes and trick plays probably more than any other team in the Big Ten and Coach Dantonio has no problem calling for the high risk trick for the highly rewarding treat. With Iowa's vulnerability on covering fakes, I expect Iowa to be in punt safe, field goal safe, everything safe all day. Don't expect the defense to come off the field until the ball is securely in the offense's hands. However, Northwestern was in punt safe last weekend when Michigan State pulled off a fake punt that was part of a big comeback, so the corner backs are going to need to be on high alert at all times.

Beast mode: Michigan State's offensive line is probably weaker than the others that Iowa has faced in the Big Ten. The defensive line needs to take advantage of that and play like the beasts that they have been touted as. QB Kirk Cousins is a pocket passer and is very efficient when he has time to scan the field. Iowa needs to put pressure on him and get him out of his comfort zone. Unlink many of the other quarterbacks Iowa has faced this year, he is not going to beat you with his feet.

Iowa's defensive line also needs to be disruptive against the run, especially with the likely very inexperienced linebacking corps behind them. Michigan State has struggled to establish the run the past couple of weeks against Illinois and Northwestern. If the d-line doesn't control the line of scrimmage, the Michigan State has a trio of running backs (Baker, Bell, and Caper) that can punish Iowa.

BRAAIINS: Iowa doesn't want to act like zombies at all, but will need to use their brains better than last weekend. Iowa can't afford to make similar mental errors to those made last week. Iowa needs to limit the penalties (especially in key situations), win the turnover battle (which they actually did win last week), not fall for fakes, and if necessary manage the clock effectively.

Prediction

• Iowa will give MSU a dose of its own medicine, using a trick play to provide a big spark.
• The defense registers 3 sacks and pressure on Cousins forces an interception.
• Stanzi continues to be extremely effective and connects with DJK for 2 more TDs bringing their total to 10 for the year.
• Adam Robinson goes for 100 yards for the 3rd straight game and 6th time this season.

Final Score: Iowa 28 - Michigan State 23

Iowa vs. Michigan State: Statistics

Well, it's hard to do a stats post when NCAA.com isn't coming up for me. So I got my stats from some different source than usual. I don't know that they quite match up correctly, but it should be close. Anyway, with the extra effort I had to put in to find the stats, there's no real analysis. But, as you can see, the teams match up very evenly across the board (much like last week). This game will likely come down to the little things, so Iowa better have them corrected this weekend.

Iowa Offense vs. Michigan State Defense

Category	Iowa O: Stat	Iowa O: Rank	Michigan St. D: Stat	Michigan St. D: Rank	Advantage
Rushing Yards	159.14	53	119	28
Passing Yards	253.86	38	6.01	62
Passing Efficiency	172.93	3	108.28	18	-
Sacks	1.71	51	2.25	48	-
Total Yards	413	43	332.5	32	-
Scoring	33.71	31	17	18	-
Turnovers	5	2	20	8	-
3rd Down Conversion	50.00	13	37.86	51
Red Zone %	92%	12	78%	37

Overall Advantage: Very even. Ricky Stanzi could give Iowa a slight edge though
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Blackout: Iowa vs. Michigan State

Just a quick PSA here. The Athletic Department is calling for fans to Blackout Kinnick Stadium for the game this weekend against Michigan State. The forecast for Saturday looks perfect (high of 64, partly cloudy) for a football game...no need for a winter coat, so there should be no excuse not to wear black. If we can pull off black and gold stripes, then an all black stadium should be no problem, right?

Oh, and just because...

Reachable Records

After DJK broke the Iowa record for career receiving yards two weeks ago I decided to take a look at what other records current Hawkeyes have a chance at breaking this year or in the future.

Derrell Johnson-Koulianos

Career Receiving Yards: 2,368 (1st)
Career Receptions: 157 (Tied for 1st)
Career Touchdowns: 15 (Record is 21 by Tim Dwight)
Season Touchdowns: 8 (Record is 11 by Maurice Brown)

DJK is on pace for 15 TDs this season. If that happens he will break both the career and season receiving touchdown records. He also just need 1 more reception to stand alone as the career leader in number of receptions and receiving yards.

Adam Robinson

Career Rushing Yards: 1,571 (Record is 4,156 by Sedrick Shaw)
Career Touchdowns: 14 (Record is 33 by Tavian Banks)
Season Touchdowns: 9 (Record is 17 by Tavian Banks)

Robinson is on pace to finish this year with 1,368 yards (which would be the 4th highest) bringing his careers total just over 2,000 yards. Keep in mind he has two full seasons ahead of him to challenge the career records. If Robinson stays healthy and continues to be Iowa's featured back, he has a shot at putting up huge career numbers.

Ricky Stanzi

Season Touchdowns: 16 (Record is 27 by Chuck Long)
Season Completion Percent: 68.1% (Record is 67.1% by Chuck Long)

Stanzi is putting together a remarkable season. There are still a couple of good defense left on the schedule, but if Stanzi keeps playing at this high level (which I think he will...he's working too hard to have a complete drop off at least) he could have one of, if not the best seasons statistically of any Iowa quarterback.

Tyler Sash

Career Interceptions: 12 (Record is 18 by Nile Kinnick and Devon Mitchell)
Career Interception Return Yards: 386 (1st)

Sash only has 1 interception this year, but still has half of this season remaining and all of his senior year. As a freshman he had 6 INTs and as a sophomore 5, so 6 more is not out of the question.

Hawkeye Recruit Roundup: Week 9

Ray Hamilton
3Strongsville 51 - Nordonia 41 | (6-3)
Strongsville stormed out to an early lead and held a 38-7 advantage at halftime. Nordonia put together a good second half making the game a shoot out. The Mustangs were able to hold on and won 55-41. Hamilton had a huge game for Strongsville. He had 3 first half touchdown receptions and finished the game with 6 receptions for 115 yards. And, as always, here's his latest blog post.

Next Game: vs. Solon - 10/29

Austin Blythe
W Williamsburg 28 - Maquoketa 18 | (8-1)
Williamsburg finished off its regular season with a win. The Raiders trailed after 2 quarters, but scored 20 unanswered to start the second half. The Raiders now enter the Iowa Class 3A playoffs [pdf]. No mentions of Blythe were found.

Next Game: vs. Maquoketa - 10/27 (Playoffs, 1st Round)

Jake Duzey
L Athens 21 - Troy 38 | (3-6)
Athens gave up over 400 rushing yards in a loss to Troy on Friday. The loss ends the Redhawks' season at 3-6 as they fail to make the playoffs. Duzey had 175 all purpose yards in the loss, a lot coming from 5 receptions for 74 yards. He also had 33 rushing yards and 68 return yards. Here are the stats for his senior season:

• Rushing: 34 carries, 147 yards
• Receiving: 38 receptions, 629 yards, 4 TDs
• Defense: 21 tackles, 6 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries
• Returns: 4 punt returns for 30 yards, 12 kickoff returns for 223 yards

Season Over
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BlogPoll: Week 8

There was quite a bit more movement in the poll this week. There were a number of top 25 teams that went head-to-head that resulted in the biggest changes. Also, for the first time this year I really sat down and took a good long look at strength of schedule and put significant weight to it in my rankings. Before I was looking mostly at big wins, but this week I looked at the whole body of work. I still included overall record, head-to-head results, and performance/statistics in my rankings.

Fight For Iowa Ballot - Week 9

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Auburn Tigers	1
2	Michigan St. Spartans	3
3	Oregon Ducks	-2
4	TCU Horned Frogs	--
5	Boise St. Broncos	-2
6	Missouri Tigers	10
7	Utah Utes	-1
8	Wisconsin Badgers	3
9	Alabama Crimson Tide	--
10	Ohio St. Buckeyes	2
11	Arizona Wildcats	2
12	Nebraska Cornhuskers	3
13	LSU Tigers	-5
14	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	-4
15	Oklahoma Sooners	-8
16	Florida St. Seminoles	1
17	Iowa Hawkeyes	-3
18	South Carolina Gamecocks	4
19	Stanford Cardinal	-1
20	Nevada Wolf Pack	5
21	Miami Hurricanes	--
22	Mississippi St. Bulldogs	--
23	USC Trojans	--
24	Arkansas Razorbacks	-1
25	Hawaii Warriors	--
Dropouts: West Virginia Mountaineers, Kansas St. Wildcats, Northwestern Wildcats, Texas Longhorns

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Mistakes of All Sizes

Well, that was brutal. A full 2 days later and I'm still playing the what-ifs game in my head. The loss was really just completely baffling and that was apparent as 70,000 fans stood quietly staring blankly ahead as the final seconds ticked off of Kinnick's scoreboard. It's easy enough to point to where the problems were and why Iowa lost, but how the hell did it happen?

How did every single person in the stands and watching the game on TV know that you HAVE to spike the ball with 12 seconds left and just 1 time out remaining, and yet Ricky Stanzi and the coaches did not?

How have the special teams, which have been a very apparent problem all season and talked about extensively by not only the media but by Coach Ferentz, not improved?

How was Iowa not in punt-safe when they use it probably more than any team in the country and it was the absolute perfect time for Wisconsin to try a fake punt?

I don't know.
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Iowa vs. Wisconsin: Animated Drive Chart

Ugh. Actual thoughts on the game will be posted later. For now, here's the drive chart.

FULL SCREEN VERSION

Iowa vs. Wisconsin: Statistics

Iowa Offense vs. Wisconsin Defense

Category	Iowa O: Stat	Iowa O: Rank	Wisconsin D: Stat	Wisconsin D: Rank	Advantage
Rushing Yards	166.00	46	114.86	26
Passing Yards	253.17	30	193.86	38	-
Passing Efficiency	177.76	3	128.40	70	+
Sacks	1.83	56	2.14	55	-
Total Yards	419.17	39	308.71	23	-
Scoring	34.33	26	18.86	27	-
Turnovers	5	2	7	101	++
3rd Down Conversion	47.95	23	33.68	25	-
Red Zone %	88.46	27	88.89	100	+

Wisconsin has a pretty decent defense all the way around. The one real standout is J.J. Watt who absolutely terrorized Ohio State last week. He leads a solid defensive line that will make it difficult but not impossible for Iowa to run the ball. J.J. Watt is probably a bigger threat though as a pass rusher. Iowa may need to roll Stanzi out away from Watt or keep in extra blocker to avoid sacks. If the offensive line does give Stanzi time, he should be able to find some openings in Wisconsin's secondary.

Wisconsin has been okay defending the pass. Michigan State's Kirk Cousins had a lot of success finding open receivers a couple of weeks ago, but last week Terrelle Pryor looked completely lost. Iowa's best bet will be off of play action. Safety Jay Valai likes to play close to the line of scrimmage and is better in run support.

Overall Advantage: Very slim advantage to Iowa.
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NOOOORRMMM!!

I am not really sure where this started, but there has been a grassroots movement (by grassroots I really mean on Facebook) to get the fans inside Kinnick to chant "NORM" every time Wisconsin is facing a third first down on Saturday. The idea is to honor defensive coordinator Norm Parker who has been dealing with some health issues related to his diabetes. Coach Parker has missed Iowa's last 5 games and will miss the game this weekend as well. Signs are pointing to a return next week.

Well, this idea has gone from Facebook event to officially endorsed by the University. Here's the info:

A movement has started to try to get everyone in the stadium this Saturday to scream and chant “Norm” on every Wisconsin third down [updated-first down now]. Bring signs and do whatever is necessary to get the entire stadium rocking.

The idea is to do this in honor of Norm Parker who as you probably know, has been hospitalized more then once and is in a serious battle with his diabetes. My understanding is he already lost his foot. If you watched the post game last week it looked like Ferentz had tears in his eyes after the game when Parker was mentioned. These two are huge friends. Norm has not been coaching.

Can you imagine how pumped up the defense will get if the entire stadium is rocking with a Norm chant. A ton of signs would also be great. Those of us watching on TV want to see the signs, hear the crowd and listen to the announcers explain what is going on.

Go to work guys and let's make this happen. Let's watch the power of viral marketing. Tell others to keep passing this message on. I posted this on Facebook linking to an event request and suggest you do the same.

NORM, NORM, NORMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was probably not a super "official" person sending this out. You shouldn't actually bring signs. There is a policy against taking signs into Kinnick Stadium and it will be in effect on Saturday. But you get the general idea, right? UPDATE: Also, now it is on first down instead of third down. This is because there are already things that are "traditionally" done on third down in Kinnick. I'm thinking specific music or something. I don't know. But yeah, first down now. Here is the latest "official" word: "Hawkeye fans are encouraged to shout 'Norm' every time the Badger offense approaches the line of scrimmage for a first down play."

Anyway, count me in. I'll be screaming "NORM" every chance I get. My only question is, is it "NOOOORRMMMM!!!!!" or "NORM, NORM, NORM, NORM..."?

BlogPoll: Week 7

I didn't get too crazy this week with my ballot. Auburn shoots up after beating Arkansas. Auburn's defense has been pretty horrid, but Cam Newton looks like a near lock for Heisman at this point, and the Tigers have two big wins over South Carolina and Arkansas. Wisconsin also take a big jump for beating Ohio State. That obviously leads to Ohio State falling...Nebraska is the other big loser this week getting beat by Texas. Oh, and last week I cast the first ever BlogPoll vote for Syracuse at #25 and then the go a promptly lose to Pitt. So that was short lived.

Fight For Iowa Ballot - Week 8

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Oregon Ducks	1
2	Auburn Tigers	5
3	Boise St. Broncos	1
4	TCU Horned Frogs	1
5	Michigan St. Spartans	1
6	Utah Utes	2
7	Oklahoma Sooners	2
8	LSU Tigers	2
9	Alabama Crimson Tide	3
10	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	3
11	Wisconsin Badgers	8
12	Ohio St. Buckeyes	-11
13	Arizona Wildcats	1
14	Iowa Hawkeyes	1
15	Nebraska Cornhuskers	-12
16	Missouri Tigers	1
17	Florida St. Seminoles	1
18	Stanford Cardinal	4
19	West Virginia Mountaineers	5
20	Kansas St. Wildcats	--
21	Northwestern Wildcats	--
22	South Carolina Gamecocks	-11
23	Arkansas Razorbacks	-2
24	Texas Longhorns	--
25	Nevada Wolf Pack	-9
Dropouts: Air Force Falcons, Michigan Wolverines, Syracuse Orange

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