Bumped from the comments section due to Incredible-ness

Much love to "Anonymous" for the picture.  Pretty sterotypical username though.

Bulaga is Back!

To Health! And a regulated thyroid!  Cheers!

It's official.

The Hawkeye's All-American Candidate will be back in the starting line-up this weekend against Arkansas State.  Arkansas State is the Arkansas equivilant of Iowa State.  Except it's in Arkansas, so it's, you know, considerably worse.  If you had told any Hawkeye fan that Bulaga would be out during the stretch of @ ISU, vs. Arizona, @ Penn State, they likely would have responded OMG WERE SCRWED FIRE KOK CAN NE1 BLOCK?  

Per Kirk's press conference today, Bulaga had a thyroid condition.  Like Kirk said, if it happened on some garbage day in February (paraphrasing, of course) this would almost be a non-issue (aside from Bryan getting healthy in the Winter, rather than now).  However, as it stands, the great left tackle is back and will hopefully be paving defensive ends in the near future.  It'll be very interesting to see how he plays the first week back.

Implications

The odd man out is the Philly Steak Pita Riley Reiff.  For the last three weeks, Reiff has erased all thoughts about the Pita Pit streaking (though I'll never forget.  EPIC) and manhandled players much older than him in seriously difficult environments.  Although I expected there to be a gigantic drop-off after Bulaga went down, Reiff performed admirably considering the circumstances.  The only way a gigantic drop-off doesn't happen when an All-American candidate goes down is when another one is awaiting in the wings.  Although Reiff is the odd man out now, he's a damn good backup for a line that goes like this:  Bulaga, Richardson, Eubanks, Vandervelde, Calloway.  Iowa will win a lot of games this year based on the play of both lines.

Now that Bulaga has missed three games this season, it's entirely possible that he returns for his senior season.  His draft stock probably hasn't taken that big of a hit, but perhaps a bit of one.

The offensive line now has even more depth with game experience:  Reiff, Andy Kuempel, Josh Koeppel, Adam Gettis, and Dan Doering.  It's like the free CinnaPie Papa John's throws in with their 2-topping large.  Never, ever a bad thing.  And always useful. 

Other Notes:

Adrian Clayborn is now a captain after his insane performances against Penn State and Arizona.  He also got some beard time on the Big 10 Network.

Clayborn had the best quote on DT Karl Klug, "Karl Klug is an animal.  Next game we're going to bring him in a cage."  Let me just interject, while this is my own opinion, THAT WOULD BE SO FREAKING SWEET.  Put caged Klug on the platform the cheerleading bro's carry Herky out on, then set him in the middle of the field and watch him bend steel.

America Needs Farmers

Not a lightning bolt.

Have you been noticing that decal the Hawks have been wearing this season?  The decal isn't new, but I'm glad it's back.  As you can see from the picture, it says "ANF" which stands for "America Needs Farmers."  The NCAA has some crazy stupid rules (go figure) about decals on helmets that deal with advertising or promotion.  Iowa officials must have found a loophole in the system.  Either way, I hope it's here to stay.

Some History

From the immaculately reliable Wikipedia:

The Michigan Wolverines came into Iowa City with a perfect 5-0 record and the #2 ranking in the AP poll. It was just the 12th time in college football history that the #1 and #2 ranked teams in the AP poll would meet for a regular season game. It was the first such meeting where the victor scored the winning points on the game's final play. With two seconds remaining in the game and Iowa trailing 10-9, kicker Rob Houghtlin booted his fourth field goal of the day, this one from 29 yards out, as time expired to give Iowa a dramatic 12-10 victory over Michigan at Kinnick Stadium. Fry used the pregame attention to highlight the farm crisis in the state of Iowa at the time by putting ANF decals on Iowa's helmets, which stood for "America Needs Farmers."

Knowlege is power.

The Turnover: Pennsylvania State

What really happened in Hawkeyeland this weekend?

THIS. HAPPENED.

Sweet Baby Jesus

I'm still a bit shocked at the outcome of Iowa's 21-10 victory over then #5 Penn State. Not shocked that they won, I knew it was certainly a possibility. Just surprised that they actually pulled it off. Just think everything that was working against the Hawks on Saturday: the revenge factor (if you saw the way Daryl Clark celebrated after the first TD, that revenge factor was real), the seven hours of rain on real grass, the White-Out, playing a top 5 ranked team in the country. Everything. And yet they did it.

This game, especially the fourth quarter, was so much fun to watch. It started with Clayborn's punt-safe-block-scoop-run-TD and it ended with Daniel Murray kicking a 31-yard ball of irony down Penn State's collective mouth. I had accidentally run into a variety of objects and spilled so much beverage on my roommates, apartment floor, and myself that I had to watch the game from the comforts of my own bathroom. Things can go from excited to annoying really fast when people are soaked. I have a feeling this was the case all across the dustland fairytale that is Iowa.

Rumble on, big man. Rumble on.

Comprehending the Awesomeness that is Six Seconds of Hell

This is easily the story of the game. Try and name someone on the defense that didn't play well. We'll just go left to right, back to front. ESPN.com's Big 10 Defensive POW Broderick Binns: 8 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and a forced fumble that led to a safety. Karl Klug: 6 tackles, 2 TFL, .5 a sack, a tip that led to an INT, and a fumble recovery in the 4th quarter that essentially sealed the game. Christian Ballard: not gaudy stats (only 2 tackles), but probably the most consistent pressure on Clark the entire game. ESPN.com's Big 10 Special Teams POW Adrian Clayborn: Only two tackles...plus the aforementioned game changing/winning play.

Let's talk about this play for a bit. I can usually rate big plays in Hawkeye history by how I reacted to them. Ed Hinkel's one-handed catch at the Big House; quiet astonishment. Shonn Greene's run against Wisconsin; "He's too good. Too good." The Catch? I ran around a basement screaming and hugging and swearing and screaming for a good 20 minutes or more. In the process, I managed to pop an air mattress and instantly changed the way a few of my family's friends thought of me. On Clayborn's block, I jumped up from the couch (blocking the projector, which blocked the actual screen) and began to simultaneously celebrate in disbelief and endure significant wrath from friends.

If this block doesn't happen, it could be a completely and totally different game. Iowa gained both momentum and confidence after the block. Ferentz's best teams have always made big plays in special teams. ALWAYS. This is the aspect that has been missing the past few years. This season is different, which is why it could be very special. Iowa blocked two consecutive field goals in its opener. The Hawks silenced Happy Valley with a block on a punt safe. Just sayin'.

A.J Edds: 6 tackles, one INT. Big 10 Defensive Player of the Week Pat Angerer: 14 tackles, 1 forced fumble, one interception that he got knocked out on, and one amazing quote. Angerer called Edds a "bleep" for sliding after his pick. I can only assume and hope "bleep" means "bitch", but who knows, curse words have a variety of uses and meanings. Pretty funny considering Angerer got his bell rung during his return.

Jeremiha Hunter: 12 tackles, 1.5 TFL. Hunter seemed to be in on every play.

Amari Spievey: After getting burnt team for the touchdown on Penn State's first play, Spievey did what Spievey does. Mainly, locking down an entire side of the field. I'd bet at least three of my toes that Spievey doesn't get burnt like that again all season.

Sash/Greenwood: Pretty quiet game from the tandem. Probably due to the fact that the ball didn't get more than 4 yards down the field at a time. Though, it's entirely possible Iowa was playing a cover-2 deep on the first play and Sash bit on the play fake. Otherwise, spectacularly solid.

Shaun Prater: Making only his second start, he baited Clark like a veteran for a INT and then proceeded to run 78 yards sideways for a gain of 0.

That defense was something special on Saturday. Although we knew coming in that Penn State's offensive line was not a strength, Iowa's D-Line abused them all night. Can we expect this type of production game-in, game-out. Absolutely not. However, Iowa's defensive line is the reason this defense is suffocating its opponents.

JoePa has seen better days, when he could see.  Dude is a LEGEND.

So what's next?

First and foremost, Arkansas State.  Anyone know anything at all about them?  No?  Sweet.  They lost to Nebraska by 30ish.  Last year, they "upset" a bad Texas A&M team.  This is a "trap" game.  Iowa just beat a top 5 opponent on the road for the first time since 1990.  Iowa hosts #23 Michigan, at home, at night, on Homecoming.  Arkansas State is sandwiched.  Plus, the two stereotypes of trap games do sorta exist.  Teams usually play worse after a huge win or before a big game.  Arkansas State is both.  Remember how well Iowa played against a bad Purdue game last year after Penn State?  If it weren't for Shonn Greene destroying the manhood(s) of Purdue's secondary, Iowa might have lost that game. 

Iowa's run schedule doesn't look so tough anymore.  At Wisconsin, tough, but not Penn State tough.  Plus, I'll be there, which means at least +4 points for the Hawks.  At Michigan State not as bad, since they've been pooping the bed so far this season.  Plus, I hope they lose to Michigan this weekend to set up the battle of the undefeateds in two weeks, with a possibility of GameDay coming to Iowa Cit-ay.  With a good amount of luck, at Ohio State will hopefully be the battle for the Big 10 Title.

That's looking pretty far ahead, but it is certainly more plausible after this weekend.

(All photos owned by Matthew Holst)

The Turnover

What really happened in Hawkeyeland this past weekend?

Look at the dude bottom right of the pic: Sweet pose, bro!

Scary Good

The Hawkeye defense is finally dominating the way we thought they would from the start. Adrian Clayborn was the best player on the field Saturday, and it wasn't even close. He played so well that the only thing to slow him down all day was a whistle he thought he heard while chasing down Arizona running back Nic Grigsby for the 42nd time. This is the kind of game Hawkeye fans have been waiting and expecting from him for awhile now. Not to say he hasn't been impressive, but he took over the game single-handedly. ESPN blogger Adam Rittenberg named him the Big 10 Defensive Player of the Week. He also has a sweet beard. Here's to hoping that Clayborn's dominating performance wasn't just an anomaly.

The other dominating component of Iowa's D is safety Tyler Sash. I said in my season preview podcast with Gazette sportswriter Marc Morehouse that Sash could be comparable to former Hawkeye safety Sean Considine. In fact, I felt that might have been a touch of exaggeration. I was wrong. He's well on his way to be the second best safety of the Kirk Ferentz era, behind the incomparable Demond Sanders. Sash has 7 picks in his last 5 games, the most return yards on interceptions in Hawkeye HISTORY, and he's just a true sophomore. Sure, it's true Austen Arnaud was throwing the football to Sash like he was his own kin. However, if you saw Sash's INT on the tele against 'Zona, you said something to the effect of "Man, that Scott kid from Arizona sucks. He just lobbed it up there." But if you were lucky enough to be in Kinnick, you were saying, like me, "OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG." Because trust me, Sash was on his horse (not literally, that's a bit illegal) and came across the entire field.

Quick question:  Has anyone thrown at Amari Spievey yet this year?  I know the Hawks play a ton of zone, but seriously.  He's shutting down one person/area for the ENTIRE game.

Do something crazy, Marvin.

Gameday in Happy Valley

The crew is going to be at the Big 10 opener at Penn State. Unfortunately, that means Desmond Howard will still be there, on television, and think himself to be funny. This is good and bad for a couple reasons. The good news is that Iowa will receive plenty of coverage throughout the day, will be nationally televised, and every Hawkeye fan in any podunk town can watch it on ABC. Even I got the three most basic channels (ABC, CBS, PBS) when I was in elementary and lived on a farm in the middle of nowhere. Though PBS was in black and white for me, so the whole purple dinosaur got sorta lost on me. The point of the story is this: public universities and their football teams, like Iowa, are absolutely, 100% a brand. If you don't believe this, you're a complete moron. The more frequently we're on national television, the better. Better for recruiting, better for a local and national fan base, better for everything (The key exception being Oregon's LeGarette Blount. Whoopsie). I'm convinced that it's much less how we play and much more that we're on the nation's televisions.

The bad news: Happy Valley was already gonna be completely and utterly APESHIT. This makes it worse; much worse. It was already a WhiteOut (which is undeniably both impressive and cool). Penn State is still fuming after 24-23 and Murray's ensuing seizure. Stanzi won't be able to audible, we have two freshmen running backs, and again, 110,000 caucasionly-clad people screaming. Good luck.

Throw it away, please

Enigma Manzi

Dick Stanzi comes to play in the first half.  He chucks it around like he's Brett freakin' Favre only with Jake Christensen-style accuracy.  Dick Stanzi is only completely 49 percent of his throws and there is an feeling of discomfort everytime he throws into triple coverage.  Dick Stanzi is a bottom-tier Big 10 QB.

Rick Stanzi is the QB of the second half.  He works drives, completes passes, converts third downs, and does everything anyone wants from their quarterback.  Rick is completing 73 percent of his passes and playing above even Hawkeye fans expectations.  Rick might be the best quarterback in the Big 10.

The key is to put it all together.  Now I'm not one of those crazy types of Hawkeye fans who cut out their father's pacemaker and always want the back-up quarterback to get a chance.  But I'm not an apologist either.  Stanzi needs to play better in first halves, otherwise the Hawks will be looking at a 17-0 hole.  The Hawkeyes are not climbing out of a 17 point hole in Happy Valley against Penn State's defense.  Not happening.

Let's not forget that Stanzi's top players have been out for at least some time at every major offensive position.  Offensive Line:  Bryan Bulaga, Kyle Calloway, Julian Vandervelde.  Running Back:  Jewel Hampton.  Wide Receiver:  DJK.  Tight End:  Tony Moeaki.  These aren't just starters out with injuries, these are all-Big 10 quality players that are out.  It's not possible to take all the major parts away from a unit and not feel it.  Perhaps this lack of cohesiveness is all falling on Stanzi's numbers.  Perhaps he just needs to play better in the first half.  I have a feeling both the first half and second half numbers will improve/regress to the mean eventually.

Either way, the Big 10 season will be very interesting.  I have a feeling that the Hawkeyes are going to be right in the thick of things come November

Totally non-football, non-Hawkeye related. But hey, it was in Iowa...

Another mental evaluation set for man accused of cutting out father’s pacemaker.

See those big, bold words above this sentence.  Those.  No, the ones below the picture.  Got it?

This was an actually headline on the Gazette's website.  There's a story that accompanies it, but for no reason really.  It really could be a 25 word article.  This man is so screwed in court because he tried to cut out his father's pacemaker, which is essentially like cutting out his heart anyway. 

And he's going through another mental evaluation?  My diagnosis:  F'n insane.  Not the clinical kind where you get off withour repercussions, but the kind where people in prison find out about it and make you their mistress for the rest of your stay.  Enjoy.

http://gazetteonline.com/breaking-news/2009/09/17/another-mental-evaluation-set-for-man-accused-of-cutting-out-fathers-pacemaker

Iowa vs. Iowa State Video

Back like Big Dace

Did you miss me?  No!?  Doesn't matter.  I'm back from the far east.  Finally.  I spent my summer in the sandy deserts of Connecticut, not actually on maternity leave (I can't actually get pregnant, cause it would creepishly weird) but working as a basketball coach at a summer camp.  Essentially my job entailed teaching young boys and girls how to shoot a jump shot as wet as Ray Allens, how to trap in a 1-3-1 defense, and the concepts of a fast break.  In reality, most of the time it was "Today we're going to learn how to dribble" and "The rectangular shaped white lines that enclose the court are out of bounds and if you step on them you lose the ball" type of coaching.  

It was a great, great summer.  I met tons of people from all over the world I never EVER would have before.  I can literally go to almost anywhere in the world and have people to stay with.  It's an amazing concept really.  Of course, I told them all about Hawkeye Football.  The only recreational clothing I have has a Tigerhawk stamped somewhere on it.  Naturally, they were extremely curious why I was branded like a heffer.  (Speaking of heffers, I went to Ames this weekend.  The girls there could use some serious work.  Juuuust kidding.  Sorta.  That statement was a sarcastic/serious statement. Figure it out Ames.)  So curious that a few of the internationals traveled all the way to Chicago, with intentions to get to Iowa City, just to see us open our season against UNI. 

Yet, as good as it was, there was tons of things I missed while I was away.  I felt like I lived in a little sheltered, make believe world since I was without Internet, TV, Radio, and basically any other type of news medium for the majority of the two months.  I could get random bits of information from my roommates, like "Bernstine is out for the season."  F.  "Jewel is out for the season."  FFFFFFFFF.  In fact, I just found out that Steve McNair was murdered by his misstress and that he had a seperate home two miles from his family's house for his mistresses.  This world is crazy.

But more than news, I missed the other things much more.  My friends, roommates, and family, some of whom I didn't get to/haven't talked to in a long time while I was away.  I missed Iowa City, late night Taco Bell, Mountain Dew, Mug Night at Brothers, fieldhouse basketball, my own bed, etc.  And of course, I missed my beloved Hawkeyes.

Last year, I started this blog as a part of my Sports Journalism class.  It's been the best assignment I've had so far.  However, that class is over.  So these blog posts no longer count as grades and I'm doing this because I freakin' love it.  It's in my greatest intentions to keep up.  Even if no one reads this anymore.  The biggest difficulty I'll have is that I'm currently enrolled in 17 semester hours.  17 hours is no joke, unless you're at Kirkwood, and even then it probably sucks a little bit.  The other thing is that I'm a Senior.  I'm not sure how that happened and I'm really unsure of where the last three years went, but senioritis is a very real and very dangerous thing.

So let's dive in.

What We Know, What We Don't Know, and What I Made Up

• Whatever was wrong with Bryan Bulaga, and I'm not sure we'll ever know the exact details, seems to have been figured out.  Bulaga spent a couple of nights in the hospital last week and didn't play against Iowa State.  However, Kirk said he is probable for the Arizona game.  Bulaga's replacement, Freshman Riley Reiff (most famous for running naked through Pita Pit in one of his first weeks on campus.  AWESOME!), more than held his own against Iowa State.  But then again, Iowa State's defensive line was not good at all.  They were poopy.  Really poopy.
• Speaking of the offensive line, the were horrific against UNI.  Terrible.  Against, Iowa State, much better.  This is probably due to the fact that Gigantosaurus Kyle Calloway was back after serving his suspension for drunkenly driving a moped and that Julian Vandervelde is back after having surgery.  Two key cogs from last year's O-Line never hurt.  Once Bulaga is back and full strength, the Offensive Line should be the force we thought it would be before the season.
• Let's be honest, UNI is much, much better than Iowa State at this point.  In fact, Fat Grace threw for like 847 yards last Saturday.  Austen Arnaud isn't as bad as he was on Saturday.  (He was seriously atrocious.  Hello 15.9 QB rating).  Also, UNI is better on both the offensive and defensive lines, which is where most games are won or lost.  However, I think the claims that UNI would be a middle of the pack Big 10 team are a little too much wishful thinking.
• The Heismanzi is not playing well, especially not in the first half.  One of these times, a first half STANZIBALL is going to cost us a game.  I'm not sure what the problem is, but he seems to have a halftime fix for it. 
• Iowa State linebacker Jesse Smith said earlier in the week, "They (Iowa) aren't as good as we thought."  Actually Jesse, your team is just much worse.
• DJK is out of Ferentz's mythical dog house.  If a player is hurt, not practicing, or affecting the team negatively, they aren't gonna play.  Period.  Ferentz is an adult.  He's not holding grudges on 20 year old kids.

Run through that hole.  Run into my heart.

• Brandon Wegher probably thrust himself into a starting role after rushing for 100 yards, a TD, and the sickest one-handed grab on a screen.  Ken O'Keefe even accidentally did something intelligent by lining Wegher up in the slot.  Should be interesting to see how the RB situation plays out.
• CB Willie Lowe is better than CB Greg Castillo.  Hopefully, CB S.Prater is better than both.  He returns after a two game suspension caused by an evil bartender duping him into boozing too hard and then driving.
• A.J. Edds and Pat Angerer have been relatively quiet the first two.  Not sure if it's the spread offenses not allowing them to do what they do (kill people with shoulder pads), but the linebackers with the Captain title and S's on their respect chests need to be impact players for this team to win the Big 10.
• Amari Spievey is ridiculously, ridiculously good.
• Sash and Greenwood combined for 5 picks.  Ho hum.
• The Hawks blocked two consecutive field goals against a very FCS team to escape with a win at home in the season opener.  They layed a serious beatdown on a team we always struggle with.  The Hawks are 2-0 and that's all that matters at this point.  WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO DADDY HOT DAMN!!!!!

• Ames sucks so hard. Owned.

Photos courtesy of the Des Moines Register