View from the Watertower, an aerial view of the Hawkeyes

The Big Ten coaches meetings are underway this week in Chicago and surprisingly there have been several news stories about the Iowa Hawkeyes.


Adam Robinson is no longer a Hawkeye. Now this isn’t really news since he hasn’t been with the team since his December suspension. However this week head coach Kirk Ferentz confirmed that Adam will not be a member of the football team again and will be transferring. With the lack of proven running back depth, many fans were hoping that Adam would right the ship and be welcomed back on the team. Look for Adam to surface at the D2 level, most likely UNI, where he would still have two years to play. More information can be found here:
http://hawkcentral.com/2011/05/17/mother_says_ex_rb_adam_robinson_will_transfer/

Brad Rodgers still isn’t working out. In preparation for the bowl game last year it was discovered that RB Brad Rodgers has a heart condition and he has not worked out since that time. This week Ferentz confirmed that they are optimistic that Brad will be able to resume football activities sometime this summer and be ready for the season to start. This could be a big deal for Iowa as Brad is the only fullback on the roster to have any experience and the fact that he could carry the ball as well as block would give Iowa something they haven’t had since Jason Allen.

Hawks under the knife. Jim Poggi, who was one of the 13 that suffered from rhabdomyolysis, has had two off-season shoulder surgeries and could be looking at a medical red shirt this season. Poggi red shirted last season in his first season with the Hawks. Receiver Marvin McNutt and Tanner Miller are both on track to resume football activities this summer after having shoulder surgeries in the off season.

Night game. Kirk Ferentz hinted that he believes that Iowa will only have one night game this fall. Speculation has been rampant that it will be October 15, when Northwestern visits Kinnick Stadium. With the Wildcats recent domination of Iowa, it could be a very big game for Iowa. You can read about this stories here:
http://thegazette.com/2011/05/18/rogers-still-waiting-and-a-boatload-of-other-notes/

Making the grade. Ferentz confirmed today that prize 2011 recruit, RB Rodney Coe, has not qualified for admission yet. Apparently he needs to raise his ACT/SAT score and Ferentz seemed optimistic that this would happen. If he doesn’t get the score needed, hopefully Iowa will help get him into a prep school or JUCO and keep tabs on him.

Iowa vs Michigan Predictions

When Michigan has the ball-
Michigan wants to run the ball, there is no secret about it, they averaging almost 300 yards per game on the ground.  They want to establish the run and then safeties start to creep up to support the run, they love to go play-action for a big play, they have six receivers who have made catches of more than 43 yards this season.  Denard Robinson is the signal caller for the Wolverines and he is a very dangerous runner and his passing abilities have come a long way since he last played Iowa.  He does a great job of the read option and quarterback follow.  He seldomly takes a big hit and rarely goes down on initial contact.  His passing is helped out a lot by his rushing, Michigan runs an option pass that is tough to stop.  The running game is almost exclusively Robinson, Vincent Smith and Michael Shaw have combined to carry the ball 108 times to Robinson's 119.  The two main running backs have amassed 560 yards to Robinson's 991, and 106 yards of those yards are on two carries, so 454 yards on 106 carries.  The passing attack of the Wolverines is more of an extension of the run, a lot of screens and bubble routes, with short passes and the opportunity for getting the receivers into the open.  When they do pass, Roy Roundtree is the primary target, catching 31 passes on the season, the second leading receiver is Darryl Stonum with 15.  The offensive line is a smaller more athletic line than what we are accustomed to seeing out of Michigan.  They move well and can get the edge on most defenses, however, they haven't played a defense of Iowa's caliber yet.  Iowa's front four should be able to handle the Michigan offensive line, what Michigan will try to do is spread out the Iowa linebackers to create running lanes.

When Iowa has the ball-
Michigan has for the lack of a better word, a terrible defense.  Since Rich Rodriguez got there they have had arguably the worst three defenses ever at Michigan.  They run a 3-3-5 defense and really aren't able to stop either the run or the pass.  Their defensive lineman are good, but with a three man front, you want them to eat up blockers, not make plays.  Iowa should be able to move the ball both on the ground and through the air.  Like most games, Iowa will come out running the ball and short passes, setting the defense up for the play-action pass.

What will happen-
Iowa will start the game of offense and move the ball well, but ultimately punt on their first drive.  Look for Michigan to sputter on offense and go three and out on their first drive.  At the end of the first quarter Iowa will lead 7-0.  The second quarter is where a lot of the scoring will take place and going into halftime it will be Iowa 17-14.  The second half has been owned by Iowa the last season and a half, outscoring their opponents 249-95 in the last 18 games, that is an average of just over five points a game given up in the second half.  Iowa will continue that trend and pull away in the second half.

Score prediction:
Iowa - 38
Michigan - 21

Other predictions:
Stanzi throws for 300+ yards and 3 touchdowns
Robinson rushes for 100+ yards and a TD
McNutt has 100+ yards receiving and a TD
DJK sets the receiving record with 75+ yards and a TD
Reisner is a main target with 6 catches and a TD
Iowa turns the ball over twice
Michigan turns the ball over five times
Denard Robinson runs the ball for 100+ yards with a TD, but fumbles once and throws 3 INT's
Michigan's kicker misses 2 field goals
Iowa records 8 tackles for loss

Running Backs 2010

Will there be a three-headed monster?  Will the Paki-Bomb make an appearance?  Is Brandon Wegher going to be a part of the backfield?  These questions and more will be answered below:

Jewel Hampton - SO -  Jewel returns to the backfield after missing last season due to a knee injury.  The question is, will he return to his pre-injury form or more like Jermelle Lewis and never have that same burst.  In 2008 Jewel rushed for 463 yards and 7 touchdowns in a backup role of Shonn Greene.  It will be interesting to see if he can perform as well against fresh defenses and not ones that have been pounded by Greene and the offensive line.  Hampton sure didn't help himself this off-season when he was cited for being in a bar under the age of 21 in Iowa City.  The repercussions of this transgression will be watching the first game of the season, which in most cases wouldn't be a big deal, but I will expand on this later.

Adam Robinson - SO - Adam enjoyed a breakout year last year for the Hawks and looks to build on his solid red shirt freshman season.  Last year he split time and carries with Brandon Wegher and still put up very respectable numbers with 834 yards and 5 touchdowns.  One thing that Adam does that goes unnoticed to the normal fan is his pass protection, last year as a first time contributor in the Big 10, I can't remember a time that he was beat on a blitz.  Much like Jewel he does seem to get bitten by the injury bug nursing both ankle and shoulder injuries most of last season.  This fall in camp Adam has been injured, which coupled with Brandon Wegher's absence and Jewel Hampton's suspension creates a gaping hole at running back for the opener.

Brandon Wegher -SO-  Brandon burst on to the scene last year as a true freshman playing in one of the most physical football conferences in the nation.  While splitting time with Adam Robinson Wegher amassed a total of 967 all purpose yards and 641 rushing with 8 rushes finding the end zone, which is an Iowa freshman record.  Wegher has been curiously absent from camp since media day with a bevy of rumors surrounding his situation.  I am no expert, nor do I know anyone related to Brandon, however what I have heard from a reliable source, warrants an absence for personal reasons.  Optimism is high from Kirk Ferentz that it is only a matter of time until Wegher is back with the team.  The good thing is that if it comes to it, Brandon still has his red-shirt available to use.

Paki O'Meara - SR -  Paki is a great special teams player and I think that we saw what his capabilities are as a running back in the UNI game last year.  He is fundamentally sound, knows the scheme, but just lacks the play making ability to be a Big Ten running back.  If Paki sees significant carries for the Hawks this season, it will be a long one for the Iowa team.

De'Andre Johnson - FR -  Iowa seems to be being rewarded for being loyal to Johnson.  De'Andre rushed for 1,848 yards and averaged 6.7 yards per carry as a sophomore and junior at Monsinger Pace in Miami, Florida.  He tore his ACL and missed his entire senior season, but Iowa honored their scholarship offer.  This is the kind of player that excels at Iowa because he will have a chip on his shoulder about not being recruited by in-state schools like Miami, Florida, and Florida State.  Under normal circumstances, Iowa would love for De'Andre to red shirt, but with the turmoil going on at the top of the depth chart for running backs, he could burn his red shirt and play this season.

Marcus Coker - FR -  Marcus was the more heralded running back recruit last season coming out of the football factory of DeMatha Catholic in Baltimore, Maryland.  In his three years of playing he rushed for 3533 yards at an average of over 10 yards a carry and 43 touchdowns, including one game last year when he rushed for 392 yards.  Coker looks to be a running back of the future for the Hawks and could use his red shirt since he broke his collar bone early in fall camp.




Year projections:
With Wegher playing:
Hampton - 175 carries 925 yards 8 TD's
Robinson - 130 carries 475 yards 3 TD's
Wegher - 95 carries 355 yards 5 TD's
O'Meara - 25 carries 45 yards
Johnson - RS
Coker - RS

Without Wegher playing:
Hampton - 190 carries 980 yards 10 TD's
Robinson - 160 carries 650 yards 6 TD's
Wegher - RS
O'Meara - 20 carries 35 yards
Johnson - 25 carries 55 yards 1 TD
Coker - RS

ISU game analysis- Offense

QB- What would the score had been if Rick Stanzi had a good game? It would have been ridiculous. Stanzi missed a lot of open receivers almost all of them high. There have only been a couple of times this season that Stanzi has hit a receiver in stride and allowed the receiver make a play with the ball in his hands. Stanzi did throw 4 TD's, but he missed at least two other TD's. He threw two INT's that were poorly thrown. He needs to play better as Iowa gets into the meat of their schedule. James Vandenberg came in at the end of the game and showed his arm strength as he tried to drive the ball between the 1's on Nordeman's jersey. Overall grade: C

RB- Coming off of the performance last week against UNI the RB unit needed a big performance. Adam Robinson started the game and Brandon Wegher got his first significant carries as a Hawkeye. Both backs ran the ball well and more importantly blocked well. Wegher showed that he might be the featured back sooner rather than later. Both backs run the ball hard and never seem to be taken down by the defender that makes first contact. Wegher showed great field vision making cuts and moves that made him look like a seasoned veteran. Brett Morse had a great game blocking and showed that he can also be a receiving threat. Overall grade: A-

TE/WR- Another stellar game for the receivers of Iowa, you have to see the correlation between Erik Campbell coming on as a coach and the emergence of Iowa's receivers. They all run good routes. block well, and make the plays when they are called on. It was good to see DJK get some early reps and Keenan Davis pop his touchdown cherry. Moeaki is a stud, his blocking was awesome on Saturday, I saw several times that he made the key block on running plays. Overall grade: A

OL- With Bulaga out the Hawks were figured to have trouble with blocking, but they played light years better than they did the previous week. Riley Reiff filled in for Bulaga and will be a stud when he gets a chance to play. Look for him to be on an NFL roster in four years. Vandevelde and Calloway were both back in the starting lineup and it showed. There was a great pocket all day long around Stanzi, they only gave up one sack and that was on a well called blitz on a naked boot leg. The run blocking left some to be desired, but Iowa State had 8 players in the box all day long and were daring Iowa to throw it. Overall grade: B

Overall offensive observations:
Iowa wore down the ISU defense.
They score should have been a lot worse, Stanzi missed wide open targets
The running game looked a lot better in the second half.
The run blocking will get better with all the projected starters playing
This is the deepest passing game in the Ferentz era, hopefully they don't lose any players for not getting the ball very much.

UNI Game Recap Offense

So since we had our second child last Thursday, I wasn't able to do a pre-game look at the Panthers. On top of that, the hospital didn't have the Iowa game on, so I had to wait until Sunday night to actually see the game. Now had the Hawks come through with one of the most improbable wins I have ever seen, I probably wouldn't have even watched the film, but here is my position by position breakdown.

QB- Stanzi came out with guns a blazing in the first half, he looked very sharp on the opening drive, but even on that drive his passes were in front or behind most of their targets. After that first drive Stanzi looked awful the rest of the first half, missing many open targets and making bad reads. In the second half he put a couple of drives together and started making better reads. Some of the positives that I saw were that he spread the ball around, hitting 7 different receivers with at least one pass, when it was crunch time he put the team on his shoulders and led them on a couple of scoring drives. Couple negatives, he tried to force the ball too much, showed a lack of maturity by not throwing the ball away when he was pressured outside the pocket. Overall grade C+

RB- Going into the game we knew that it would be a struggle going with what most fans considered the #3 and #4 options at the position. Paki O'Meara started the game and got the bulk of carries in the first half. He seemed to lack the burst that is needed to get through the hole on the zone play, a staple in the Iowa offense. He also fumbled on the first drive of the second half and wasn't heard from again in the game. O'Meara channeled his inner Marcus Schnoor getting tackled by the initial tackler several times, often the shoestring variety. Adam Robinson was second string and saw his first collegiate action for Iowa. He looked good at times, but other times looked like a freshman. He showed the burst that is needed by an Iowa running back (4.2 ypc) and also showed some strength, rarely going down on first contact. For only being a freshman Robinson showed that he could also take on defenders as a blocker. Overall grade: O'Meara D+ Robinson B

WR/TE- The one bright spot on the offensive side of the ball was the pass catchers. The wide receivers that started the game were McNutt and Stross with McNutt being Stanzi's favorite target early. Changing positions in the spring from QB to WR, McNutt looked like a seasoned veteran. Paul Chaney looked light years better than he has at any time at Iowa, his speed could be a weapon for the Hawks this season. Tony Moeaki looked like the player that Iowa thought they were getting four years ago. The leading receiver of the last two season barely even played, at some point we will find out what DJK has done to find his way into the doghouse. Overall grade A-

OL- Going into the season, all fans thought that the strength of the offense was going to be the line. The starting line for the UNI game was from L to R: Bulaga, Gettis, Eubanks, Doering, and Richardson. Normally, I would just break the line down as a whole, but in watching the game, the tackles played phenomenally. I don't even know if you heard the names of the two UNI defensive ends all game. The interior of the line on the other hand was the exact opposite. For being a 5th year senior, Doering looked like he was a freshman out there. The interior defensive line and linebackers owned the interior of the Iowa line and it was a problem the whole game. Gettis showed flashes of promise, but he is still young. Overall grade: T's- B+; G's and C- D

Coaching- There were times where you thought that Iowa was going to be different, opening with a pass and not a zone play. Even busting out a reverse early in the game. I liked how they brought in several different packages, however if they weren't able to get holes, I thought that they should have gone to a more spread out offense to keep the 8th defender out of the box. In the 4th quarter when Iowa was trying to run out the clock they went to a pass on second down and having an incomplete pass instead of running the ball and either taking up more time or forcing UNI to use a timeout. Overall grade: C+