I know this may not happen and I could be jinxing it right now as I type this up. I believe something special is happening in Iowa City. I went over to the Iowa Hawkeye game this past Saturday to see the Iowa Indiana football game. I know the Hawkeyes are not the media darlings like USC or Florida. I know the Big 10 isn't the most competitive conference. Although when teams are put in front of you, the job is to beat them and that is what Iowa keeps doing.
The first thought I had after this game was Stanzi sucks. He played horrible and nearly gave Indiana the ball game. Every quarterback has bad games, look at Kurt Warner and Jake Delhomme. Ricky had 5 interceptions and I fault him for all of them. I sat in the front row in the north end zone for the contest. I saw two of the picks right in front of me. Both of those throws were well under thrown and the wide receiver had no shot to make a play. In fact on one ball the WR gave up. Stanzi's throwing motion doesn't seem to me that he steps up and launches the ball. Instead, he lofts it and gives the defense time to get under it and make a play. However, in the 2nd half Stanzi got the ball out quickly and let his play makers do the work. I was begging to my two friends next to me, Iowa should try more screens and quick hits on the sidelines. I say that because Iowa's wide outs and running backs can make plays. They need the ball to do that. Stanzi rallied the team and delivered 28 points in the 4th quarter. For everything bad Stanzi did, he still got the win. On a small side note, you know the QB is having a bad day when my friend Todd said maybe someone should get a Iowa Hawkeye license plate that said StnzSux.
I have to mention the Hawkeye defense because they are the ones who saved the game in the first half. The defense was on the field quite a bit since the offense wasn't doing anything except give it back to Indiana. The d-line did struggle for the most part at putting pressure on the quarterback. The only time they got pressure was when the defensive tackle blew up the middle. He may have done that 5 times the whole game. The biggest play of the game came on a play when he busted through. The Hoosiers were driving towards a 28-7 lead and the stadium was on mute. Chappell dropped back and was blitzed by the outside linebacker. The ball bounced off three people and wound up in the hands of Tyler Sash. He took it back to the house for a game changing play. The pick 6 happened on the other side of the field and from our vantage point, we never saw the play. I had no clue how Sash ended up with the ball but he scored right in front of us. The crowd went from being at a funeral to we have a chance to win this game again. Once Sash got in the end zone, I turned to Brady and told him this is what good teams do. He replied by saying Iowa has been doing it all season.
Speaking of the atmosphere, this was my first time at Kinnick Stadium. I had a blast and would be happy to go back anytime. The atmosphere was fantastic, people were friendly and the stadium is really loud. The only bad thing was Indiana's band was in our end zone and never shut up. I am not saying Kinnick is a state of the art stadium or anything. I am saying it is a great place to go watch a game and walk around tailgating.
The media may not love the Hawkeyes. I saw the polls have them behind several other undefeated teams and even an Oregon team that has one loss. However you must give credit where it is due. You start searching the "mainstream" media sites and you will find several blogs on why Iowa is not that good. I look at it as Iowa is doing what they are suppose to do. Iowa has beat everyone in front of them. If you go back and watch the highlights of the Iowa season, you will notice a pattern. The pick 6 against Indiana saved the season. Iowa had to block two field goals to beat University of Northern Iowa in the very first game of the season. Good teams step up when it counts and Iowa has been doing that. I hear the Hawks aren't better than Florida, Alabama or even Texas. How do you know? If Iowa runs the table, they will go to the Rose Bowl. I can not see a scenario where if Iowa goes undefeated, they end up in the BCS title game. The same could be said for Boise State, TCU and Cincinnati. I hope we have 5 or 6 undefeated teams at the end of the season. I believe that is the only way the BCS will change. For now, this is the crap college football fans have to deal with. As a fellow Iowan, I will be rooting for the Hawkeyes and enjoy their special season.
J Call
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