Since being synonymous with comeback last minute victories last season, the Iowa Hawkeyes have separated early and often from their first two opponents, Eastern Illinois and Iowa State. The key to their success has been a stout defense led by Adrian Clayborn up front, and also great play from Tyler Sash and Shaun Prater in the defensive secondary.
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| Shaun Prater's interception. Courtesy Peter Johnson |
Iowa State could not get a consistent drive, much less any big plays from their offense. Eastern Illinois' offense was stagnant and ineffective the whole game. The offense had its way in both games, showing few flaws. I personally don't like the situation at runningback. They lost Brandon Wegher due to "personal issues" which is rumored to be 2 or 3 simultaneous pregnant girls, one of them being his girlfriend. But rumors are rumors and the Hawkeyes have lost a homerun threat. Both of Iowa's halfbacks lack the explosion to make a defense pay for miscues. According to NCAA football '10 on Xbox, Adam Robinson is the slowest halfback in the Big Ten and I believe it. Ricky Stanzi has shown major improvement, but against poor secondary defenses.
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| Adam Robinson lined up behind Ricky Stanzi. Courtesy Peter Johnson |
He has not yet thrown an interception in 2010 which was a huge problem for him last season. In my opinion it is too early to judge the Hawkeyes performance, but the first test of the season is coming up this weekend at Arizona. Iowa showed a major lack of concentration in kickoff coverage, almost allowing 2 kickoff returns against the Cyclones.
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| Carrying off the Cy Hawk Trophy. Courtesy Peter Johnson |
Hopefully they will use that as a wake-up call for the Wildcats. This is not a game to take lightly. Every year it seems that Arizona does much better than expected, and I wouldn't put it past them to pull off this upset. Look for Herbstreit to say the same.
On another note, I gave out about 10 parking tickets today to all very nice cars outside the football offices.
Also, I can't help but feel withdrawals from Michigan after watching Denard torch the fightin' irish for 502 yards. After 2 games, he is Sports Illustrated's pick for Heisman. As I said last year before the dismal Wolverine season... Denard Robinson is good. Looking ahead to the Michigan vs. Iowa game, I still can't predict how Iowa will do against an elusive dual-threat quarterback like Terrelle Pryor, much less Denard Robinson.
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| Adrian Clayborn with his idol. |
