GAMEDAY: Iowa State at Iowa RECAP | What Happened?

ESPN Official Box Score | Recap

The 9th ranked Hawkeyes elected to receive the kickoff and didn't look back. Iowa began with a balanced offense rushing Adam Robinson eight times on the opening drive for 33 yards. Ricky Stanzi completed 4/5 passes for 38 yards including an important completion to DJK to keep the drive moving on third and long. Stanzi's forth completion of the drive found Marvin McNutt at the five and he took it in for the touchdown.

Iowa State's opening drive resulted in a three-and-out after Iowa stuffed two runs by Alexander Robinson and forced an Arnuad pass high on third down. The end of the first quarter ended with Iowa controlling the ball accumulating 129 yards of offense to Iowa State's 3.

The second series the Hawkeyes saw the return of running back Jewel Hampton in the backfield. Hampton accumulated a little over 40 yards on the drive and recorded his first touchdown of the season.

Iowa continued to disrupt Iowa State's quick tempo offense as Karl Klug recorded his first sack of the season. Ricky Stanzi found McNutt on a deep route that went for 66 yards and put Iowa in position for it's third score. Stanzi found Reisner for the touchdown on the play-action fake to Adam Robinson making it 21-0 following the Mossbruker extra point.

After forcing another ISU punt Iowa's Adam Robinson broke off a 75 yard run on second and 20 being ruled down on the one yard line. After a handful of attempts and an ISU personal foul Stanzi crossed the goal line on a sneak pushing the score to 28-0 Iowa.

Half Time Stats:
Total Yards: Iowa 299 ISU 90
Ricky Stanzi 8/12 128 yds 2 TD
Adam Robinson 12 carries 114 yds
Jewel Hampton 12 carries 51 yds
Marvin McNutt 2 catch 75 yds 1 TD

The opening series of the second half went quickly for Iowa State. Shaun Prater made his first interception of 2010 stepping in front of an Arnaud pass. Iowa quickly went three-and-out punting out of of the endzone for a touchback.

Iowa State began their most successful drive of the game moving from their 20 to Iowa's redzone. On third and four Adrian Clayborn rushed Austen Arnaud forcing and overthrow and a Greenwood interception.

Iowa quickly responded after taking over at their own three yard line. Ricky Stanzi found Alan Reisner across the middle for a 55 yard gain. The next play Adam Robinson scampered off the left behind Reilly Reiff to score on a 39 yard touchdown run. The touchdown was his first of the game and put AROB at 156 yards on only 14 carries.

Iowa State again put together a drive advancing the ball into Iowa's redzone. Iowa State's Paul Rhoades passed on the field goal and went for the first down on 4th and 12 ending in an interception by Tyler Nielsen. It was Arnaud's third interception on the game.

By the fourth quarter many around the state of Iowa were either passed out drunk or sound asleep on the couch. The game was a real snoozer as Iowa sent in the back-ups at the 10 minute mark. Iowa State stayed with their starters throughout the end of the game and got the no-touchdown monkey off their back. Arnaud found Darks on the swing to make the score 35-7, Hawkeyes.

Stanzi's final numbers 11/18 204 yds 2 TD
Adam Robinson 14 rush 156 1 TD
Hampton 20 rush 83 yrds 1 TD
DJK, Resiner, McNutt each over 60 yards receiving
Sacks Alvis, Klug

So there I was, minding my own business…(V9/11)

By: THE NoLookPass (Special contributor to PSD.com)



cause that's how I roll. It's September, 1978 and I have no idea what I am going to do with my life. I graduated in June and the good news is I got a 25 on my ACT, which surprised my counselor, as the bad news was I sloughed thru as a C student. She asked me what I had done thru HS and I said, "work, boxed, baseball and booze." In my neighborhood, a lot of kids didn't graduate HS, much less plan for college, so I just assumed I would head out to John Deere or work at the packing house for a couple years until I got on a police department somewhere, hopefully in Chicago. My hair looked like this....

So anyways, I'm walking past Marshall School and a car rolls by and I hear someone say, "hey pussy." In our neighborhood that generally meant you were going to fight. Fighting was big back then, it was before they started charging kids with felonies for school yard fights and before kids started shooting each other fairly regularly. This time though I see it's the USMC recruiter, Staff Sergeant Stone talking smack to me. I had visited with him a couple times, but you had to be 19 to be an MP and I wasn't interested in waiting a year to join.

Stone is smooth so 45 minutes later I decide I don't have a plan and I'm headed to MCRD most rickety tick for a three year stretch. I say my goodbyes to all my friends, we drink too many beers, my HS sweetie wraps yarn around my class ring and I head off to become one of Uncle Sam's Misguided Children.

I talk my future brother in law into going with me. It wasn't hard, as his Dad had served in the USMC and other than working at a Chinese restaurant and sneaking cold cartons of bad smelling food home to his Mom, he also lacked direction. Stone gave me credit for recruiting another kid and I got an automatic promotion to PFC (E2 for you non Americans).

We spend the night at the AFEES station in Des Moines, eat at the worlds worst IHOP and fly off to San Diego for boot camp. we get off the plane and onto an olive drab bus and everyone is asking each other what their MOS (that's job code) will be. Some dude tells me he is going to be a photographer and I'm like, "what? I didn't know the USMC had gigs like that?" And he wrinkles his nose like people do when they smell dog crap and informs us we are on the wrong bus, we are on the Navy bus.

So we get off, see this psycho DI screaming in front of another bus and I discover that DIs have a creative way of cussing at you. I never knew "motherfocker" was a noun, verb. pronoun and adjective. They shave our heads, old black dudes sucking on toothpicks and making jokes about us needle dick white guys and issue us our uniforms. The next morning they wake us up at zero dark thirty with the music of steel garbage cans hitting the walls and we are off and running.

We have 3 DIs in our platoon. Staff Sgt Hillary is the Senior DI, which doesn't make sense as Gunnery Sgt Roberts is a junior DI. Hillary is a tall black dude with a pencil thin moustache and a couple rows of ribbons on his dress uniform. He's tall and kind of a pretty boy. Gunny Roberts, on the other hand, is a stone lunatic. hes killed quite a few people in Nam and he reminds us of that point on several occasions. Gunny enunciates the last syllable of each multi syllable word, saying motherfockER and stuff like that. I see Gunny standing in front of the kid next to me in formation once and Gunny just reaches his foot up and kicks the kids hat right off his head. I understand right then that Gunny is one of the five percent of the world who's ass I cant kick. Ive always been good at that, knowing the percentages and its stopped me from getting beaten like a red haired step child .

This may be Gunny Roberts right here.

They run us to death in boot. Having ran quite a bit for boxing it's no big deal. We chant while we run, and it takes your mind off what you are doing and conditions you to get past fatigue and pain.

I'm running thru the jungle with my M16,

I'm a mean motherfocker,

I'm a US Marine.

I know a girl who lives on a hill,

she wont do me,

but her sister will.

We learn to take our M16s apart blindfolded and march and they condition our minds. At night after taps, we lay in bed and the DI has us whisper, "Sir, to be a Marine is to live forever, aye, aye , Sir."

A lot of it was hokey though training like that allows pictures like this..

I don't believe all the shit they spoon feed us but I'm becoming more disciplined and I'm feeling proud of belonging to a cause much bigger than any of us. It was peacetime, so my service wasn't a big deal, but I remember the oath I took and how I pledged to die if I had to for my country. I also find out that there's a lot of stupid people who join, we generally called them cooks. It was a big deal never to walk in between a DI and his platoon. Once this buck toothed dude from Cleveland started walking between us and the DI and the DI screamed, "go around!"

Instead of going around us, the guy retreated and went around...the entire barracks and came out the other side. we were all laughing so the DI was enraged and the next thing we know we are doing push-ups in the sand. They have us pause in the down position and blow into the dirt and I'm thinking, "oh well, it's only three years..how bad can this be?'

My future brother in law works in the DIs hooch, making them coffee and stuff like that. They call me into the office one night and there's Hillary, holding a picture my GF mailed me in his hand. he's grinning like a Chesire cat and my bro is red. Hillary asks me who the girl in the bikini is and I say, "Sir its Private Smith's sister, sir."

Hillary frowns and says, "No you stupid needle dicked MFER WHO is this?" I say, "it's my girlfriend, sir!!"

Hillary asks me if I'm "Focking" her and my bro is redder than Teddy Kennedys nose. Hillary says "you must have a curved dick, theres no way you can get a woman like that!"

I don't have one, but he's right, I overachieved and have a few good looking kids as a result.

I gotta go, but it's 9-11 and I'm getting old and soft so I was just reflecting on all those heroes out there, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, male, female.....living in far away places away from the people they love so dorks like me can head over to Iowa City and watch a football game today.
Semper Fi!

GAMEDAY: Iowa State at Iowa

Gameday links,

FightforIowa blog has Game Day: Iowa vs. Iowa State

From HawkeyeSports.com, Game Day: Television, Radio and More

Hawk Central wants to know Who has the edge? Hawkeyes or Cyclones?

Also at Hawk Central, Keeler: Find out what I think the final score might be

ESPN's Adam Rittenberg has Big Ten game day weather: Week 2

The Clinton Herald's Heinemann previews Iowa vs. Iowa State

Also from the Herald, Cyclones have Iowa's attention

The National Football Post is looking at Top 25 matchups

The Cedar Rapids Gazette says Friends turn to foes for Sash, Arnaud when Iowa, ISU meet

Go Cyclones believes ISU-Iowa rivalry truly matters this year

And finally,

Marc Morehouse, of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, has The Pylons — Norm down, not out

As always, this will be an updating thread on HawkeyeLounge.com, follow the thread for Hawkeye news up until kickoff.

Rivalry Week (ISU) | Friday Evening Hawkeye links

For starters, Marc Morehouse had this tweet: RT @marcmorehouse: Iowa D-coordinator Norm Parker in hospital. Wheel chair, right foot bandaged. Doesn't plan to miss game.

Black Heart Gold Pants has Adrian Clayborn Meets His Evil Arch-Nemesis

At BHGP you can also read Iowa State Preview: Trench Warfare. Adam Jacobi is taking the Hawks and he likes them to cover too.

Hawk Central's Andy Hamilton is asking Should the Iowa-Iowa State series continue?

Also from Hawk Central's Pat Harty, What’s on paper doesn’t matter.

Hawkeye Drive has Iowa vs. Iowa State (What to expect)

Off Tackle Empire is tell us Week 2 in the Non-Con: What I Want , it includes four more quarters of the Hawkeyes shutting Iowa State out of the endzone.

ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg has the weekends top story lines in Video: Friday Four Downs.

If you have a relative that enjoys a little action with you on the game Maddux Sports says Fade the Public Football Pick: Look For Iowa-Iowa State to Go Under the Total

Andrew Logue, of the Des Moines Register, says Cyclones vs. Hawkeyes anticipation continues to grow

Also from the Des Moines Register, Randy Peterson has a Breakdown on where Hawkeyes or Cyclones have the edge

Mike Hlas, of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, says  For Iowa State, 14 quarters = small change the last few years vs. Hawkeyes
 
From the Muscatine Journal, Family gets together for Hawkeye football
 
Kevin White, of Western Iowa Sports, says Lo-Ma grad Alvis ready to play for state pride
 

Rivalry Week (ISU) | Best of CycloneFanatic 7 Plus Hawkeye Links

I tried to save the best for last. It's hard to call this the best because so much good stuff exists at the CyFan. Before we get to the thread I'll give you a little context. It appears that someone at ESPN made a snafu. That error had the Natic all worked up and riding sky high. The thread is titled: ESPN power rankings

 gocubs2118 has a keen eye and reports:

We are tied for 31st with 20 votes. Surprised to see us ranked higher than teams like Michigan, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State.

hiwhatis says:

wow that is much much higher than i would imagine we'd be ranked, especially since we were picked dead last in the conference about a week ago.

cyrocks notes:

Small steps, baby, small steps.

eastman adds:

we gonna take a big step this weekend;)

clonefanpaul is pretty happy:

Daaaaamn. That was completely unexpected. Honestly I wouldn't have thought they'd have us with any votes. Hell, not even close to votes. This has got to be the first time in a looong time that we got some respect.

d4nim4l thinks:

That win over NIU really gained us a lot of respect. It will be awhile before we know if it is deserved but based on what people thought NIU was like we did well for ourselves.

With the exception of a stretch in the 3rd quarter we completely dominated that game.

jodysoma is jacked!

Do I smell top 25 next week after a win on Saturday???? I love this time of year!!!

benjay believes:

We might be the 3rd best team in the Big 12 North.

But wait! JHutch notes:

sorry to wreck everyones fun, but it appears this is a typo...if you look at the individual ballots, no voters put us in the top 25

lennon3 cries:

Was it a misprint that got fixed?... I'm seeing no Iowa State under other votes?

 TexasTwister writes:

For a brief moment in time, I felt like an Angel floating on a cloud, and all was right in the world. Then an axe pierced me in the chest and knocked me off of the cloud and back down to earth.

There you have it, a whole lotta fail.



Now, on to Hawkye Links,

Stormin' Spank's blog musta stole a picture from Jamie Pollard's facebook page. It's rather unflattering.

Hawk Central pumped out the following stories this morning:

• Hawkeye history: George “Red” Frye
• Keeler: Arbitrator’s ruling set the stage for Iowa’s most revered football game
• Iowa football: The number they remember

Black Heart Gold Pants has these blog posts for us:

• Maize Pants Podcast #4
• Brent Metcalf Goes To Russia
• Gamble like Kevin - Week 2

From Hawkeye Drive.com:

• I-Club breakfast video (Kirk Ferentz)
• I-Club breakfast video (Fran McCaffery)

From ESPN.com Big Ten blogger Adam Rittenberg:

• Weather likely a factor in Week 2
• Week 2: Did you know?

FightforIowa blog gives us the The 3 Biggest Advantages

Hawkeye Insider has published  ISU Pregame: Iowa vs. Iowa State Preview

Bleacher Report's Bret Feddern has  Nine Things Hawkeye Fans Need to Know About Iowa State

The Cedar Rapids Gazette's Second-String Sportwriters Football Selections

The Daily Iowan is writing about Preserving the Cy-Hawk

And finally, the Daily Iowan tells us about This week in Hawkeye history

Rivalry Week (ISU) | Cyclone Separated at Birth

Okay, so a "separated at birth" post isn't exactly something new. Hawkeye Report has been doing this for years. I know, I participated in those threads.

Any-who, let's take a look at the ISU roster and see exactly who Iowa is going up against this Saturday

No brainer

It's Butters!

Wrong team dude

Didn't this dude just win a bunch of Best Actress Awards?

This guy is in charge

He's got game tickets

Oh Sunshine

Taxi Driver

Square head

This guy and yeah-yeah

This guy and a dude from the 1600's

And finally, I don't have anything but there are these guys

Rivalry Week (ISU) | Thursday Evening Hawkeye Links

For starters, and this is pretty cool, Tom Brands and the Hawkeye wrestling team is heading to Washington D.C. According to Hawk Central, Obama to honor wrestlers.

Hawkeye Drive is Talking Hawks on this weeks podcast. Brendan Stiles discusses Iowa State vs. Iowa.

Luke Meredith, of the AP, says that the Coaches bring different styles to Iowa, Iowa St

Black Heart Gold Pants exclaims The Magic Bus Tailgate Rides Again! The Bus is back, if you can find it.

It's not secret that Iowa's basketball facilities need an upgrade. Hawk Central reports that the UI seeks $19.8M for Carver-Hawkeye Arena project

Mike Hlas, of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, writes that Barry Alvarez fought to keep the Iowa-Wisconsin football series intact, but “it never looked like it was going to be a fit.”

There are 34 former Hawkeys currently on NFL rosters, here is a complete list from CBSSports.com. (via @HawkeyeFootball)

Scott Dochterman, of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, says that Iowa’s Tillison says he’s ‘unbreakable right now’

Also from the Gazette, Morehouse says that MacMillan makes a push at guard

Morehouse also writes that there is Civility in the Saturday storm

And Finally,

Mark Hasty, of Fanhouse.com, is Pickin' on the Big Ten, Week 2. The score of the Iowa State at Iowa game indicates he reads a lot of HaLo.

Rivalry Week (ISU) | Thursday Afternoon Hawkeye Links

First, the big news is that a Cyclone starting cornerback to miss Saturday’s game

Off Tackle Empire gives us The Obligatory Predictions Competition - Week 2

Did you see the Hawkeye flag on display at the end of the Boise State v. Virginia Tech game? Black Heart Gold Pants hunted down the flag owners and gives us this:  A Few Words With The Iowa Fans At The Boise State-VT Game

Also from BHGP:  Iowa-ISU Two-Deeps And More

ESPN Big Ten blogger Adam Rittenberg went a perfect 11-0 with his week one picks. He has offered up his look at Week 2.

 Rittgenberg also tells us What to watch in the Big Ten: Week 2

According to Hawkeye Sports, the people have spoke and the U is listening. UI to Further Refine Efforts to Improve Game Day Experience

From the John Bohnenkamp blog, Business as usual for Mitch King

The Globe Gazette says that ISU’s A-Rob will be a key

From Hawkeyes.net, Hawkeye Nerd Conventional Wisdom: Week One Aftermath

Over in Marshalltown, The T-R tells you why IOWA will win

And finally,

Marc Morehouse, of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, has The Big Analysis — Iowa State

Rivalry Week (ISU) | Ferentz Call-in Show Notes Plus Hawkeye Links

Coach Ferentz just finished up his weekly call-in show on WHO 1040. Here are a quick rundown of the notes via Twitter:

RT @HawkeyeInsider: Coach Ferentz said Tarpinian, Gettis and Koeppel should be available on Saturday. No mention of Murray.

RT @Andy_Hamilton: Ferentz: Prater will be available Saturday.

RT @bvak: KFz asked what role Paki will play this year. KFz dodged the question and simply stroked his punt-block and TD last Saturday.

RT @bvak: KFz: ISU does not have a multitude of running plays, but lots of formations.

Not a whole lot there but the injury news is good news. Ferentz was asked about Nebraska and gave the standard worried about Saturday/this year answer. Likes the idea of a final game with them though. Nothing earth shattering, but information none the less.

Hawkeye Links,

From Hawk Central: Football recruit: French prepares to narrow his list

Also from HC: Iowa football: Audio files (Clayborn and Greenwood)

From Marc Morehouse, of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, Legit round 2: Iowa D-line vs. ISU O-line

From the Des Moines Register, Big Game: ISU looks to end The Streak

Also from the Gazette, Kirk Ferentz ranks 3rd in a sportswriters’ poll of best current college football coach never to have won a national title

The Clone Chronicals has the The Five Most Annoying Things About Iowa Hawkeye Fans

David Ubben, ESPN's Big 12 blogger, says that there is  No extra motivation needed for Cyclones

Rivalry Week (ISU) | Hawkeye Links, Plus ISU at Iowa Prediction Time

Here we go.

We'll know more about the injury report for Iowa Saturday but for now Ferentz remains hopeful that everyone is ready for Iowa State. Of the seven that missed the Eastern Illinois game I think Gettis and Prater are questionable to start against ISU. It will be interesting to see if Gettis can't go if MacMillan keeps the right guard spot or Josh Koeppel moves into it. Based on the praise Ferentz gave MacMillan I would think he retains that spot.

The Hawkeyes will need everyone back as Iowa State will surely be amped to avenge a 35-3 demolition that took place last season in Ames. The Cylcones displayed an aggressive defense against week one opponent Northern Illinois and it will welcome the return of David Sims in the defensive backfield. Sims was suspended for game one because of his involvement in a fraudulent use of a credit card case this past summer.

After watching the Big Ten Network's replay of the Hawkeyes a few times I really liked how the Hawkeyes got to the ball carrier. Since Iowa State runs a similar spread offense, Iowa's defensive ends will have to work hard to press the play to the sideline giving time for Iowa's speedy linebackers and safeties to make a play.

Iowa State will be similar to Eastern Illinois as they will try to utilize space. Quick slants and swing passes will force the Hawkeyes to be sure tacklers and keep the ball carrier in front of them so that ISU doesn't break the big play. This quick tempo offense is a great equalizer for a dominant defensive line. The Hawkeye front will play a lot of read and react. If Iowa State can get the run game going expect to see a lot of play action from the shotgun forcing Iowa's DLine to stay at home, at least for an extra second or two.

This is where Iowa's secondary can make the difference Saturday. Even in the zone, the back seven can recognize routes out of formations and shut down the quick passing game. If this happens, Arnuad will be forced to check down to second and third option giving the Iowa DLine that extra second to wreak havoc.

Eastern Illinois was able to gain a few yards up the middle and with the QB running the ball. They caught Iowa in a stunt and broke off runs of more than five yards. Iowa was susceptible to the inside run at times in 2009 and hopefully we will see an improvement there this Saturday.

Offensively, the Hawkeyes took one shot at the long ball against Eastern Illinois. Stanzi overthrew McNutt on a slugo route that would have been an easy six points. I expect Iowa to look deep a few more times against the Iowa State defense. Especially if Iowa State plays closer to the line than Eastern Illinois did. It looked as if EIU was going to give Iowa the five yard out all day, just as long as they don't give up the deep ball. I expect ISU to be more aggressive.

Adam Robinson is listed as the first team running back on the latest two-deep for the Hawks. If Iowa elects to receive the opening kick, Robinson and the offense need to set the tone with the ground game. I have a feeling that the coaching staff will rotate per series both Robinson and Hampton, just as Wegher and Robinson rotated in 2009. The left side of Iowa's Oline opened up the biggest holes last week so expect Iowa to run behind Reiff and Vandervelde, also look for Iowa State to attack there with linebacker blitzes.

The Hawks had a difficult time with the Eastern Illinois blitz on a couple occasions last week so I believe ISU will bring something similar, possibly often. Blitzing will open up the middle for Reisner and Herman and could leave DJK and McNutt with man coverage. McNutt and DJK are dangerous receivers if the opponent tries to man them up, McNutt is a big target and DJK is physical enough to create space.


Time for the prediction: Iowa 34 ISU 15

My MVP will be America's quarterback Ricky Stanzi. Previously, I made a bold prediction that Jewel Hampton would rush for 150 yards. Since I now believe the coaches will evenly split the carries I think Jewel may get close but not exceed 100. Between the backs I predict they will hit 150. As for Stanzi's MVP, I think he starts hot and hits on one or two long passes for TD's.

As for the score, I have ISU with three FG's and a third quarter touchdown. The 15 stems from a failed two-point conversion attempt when ISU tries to make it a 24-17 game. Iowa gets 10 points in the fourth to win it 34-15.

To view more, or make your own, visit Hawkeye Lounge and enter the prediction contest.

Hawkeye Links,

FightforIowa blog has done the research and put together Hawkeye Recruit Roundup: Week 2. You can catch up with the latest scores and stats from last week for the current list of Hawkeye verbal commits.

From the Kansas City Star, Instate rivals clash as ninth-ranked Hawkeyes take on Cyclones

From the Cedar Rapids Gazette,  Hawkeyes likely to get six back for showdown with Cyclones

Also, from the Gazette, Jewel Hampton more than hungry to get back on field

From Kwwl.com, Hawks look to slow down Cyclones' ground game

From GoCylones.com, Iowa DL poses problems

BHGP has this weeks podcast at: BLACK HEART GOLD PODCAST 35: STOP OR YOUR CY'S WILL STAY THAT WAY

Also at BHGP: Top Ten Reasons Why Iowa Will Lose to Iowa State

Hawk Central gives us: Video: Logue looking ahead to ISU

Also, from HC: Iowa football: Ferentz has earned new contract

And finally,

Hawkeye Drive.com gives us: 9/7/2010: Iowa football notebook

So there I was, minding my own business…(V10)

By: THE NoLookPass (Special contributor to PSD.com)


cause that's how I roll. I'm 7 and my Dad is a diehard Dodger fan. I know I told you that previously, but one of the nice things about getting old is you can repeat yourself and nobody can make a huge deal of it. I'm a Cubs fan, as they are on WGN all the time so my Dad and I can't share that. He's also a Hawkeye fan, and as I'm already a loser for life as a Cub fan, I decide to join him on this Hawkeye journey.

It's tough, the Hawks are really poor in football, so bad that I usually turn the radio off at some point in the first half and turn it on during the 4th quarter, cause that's the only time we score. Mike Reilly is from my hometown and we see him one in a while and Dad tells me he's a former Hawk and that he plays behind Dick Butkus for the Bears. Which for you kids, is kinda like Derek Pagel told me, he felt sitting behind Bob Sanders prior to getting switched to free safety.


When I'm 12 I have a paper route. I have 83 papers on Rhomberg and Garfield Avenues. On Sundays my little brother Scott helps me as that's the only morning paper of the week. He's about 5 but hes tougher than nails. The paperbag almost drags on the ground when he has it full with the Sunday edition. We have one block of Rhomberg, the 900 block and I run up one side of the street and he does the other. I always look out for him as it's dark. Funny, some 38 years later I can still recall most the names of the people who lived there.I can recall who tipped and who didn't and who hid inside and acted like they were gone when I came by to collect.

We do our one block of Rhomberg then skate over to Garfield. A lot of the houses have waist high brick retaining walls and we scamper across them and the yards and we can do our route in around 20 minutes. Scott is built more like my Dad with wide shoulders even as a little guy and I teach him how to play hoops and baseball and how to tease the other three kids. My Dad takes us down to the minor league park and hits me flyballs way out by the fence, around 300 feet away. Scott stands on the infield and I throw it to him and he runs it into Dad. One day Dad tops one and hits a vicious liner and it hits Scott in the eye and we hafta take him to the emergency room.

We had lived in a second floor apartment but we moved after my sister died. She ran into the street after seeing a dog across the street and got killed by a city truck. I slept in the top bed of a bunk bed and the ceiling was only a foot or so above me as I laid there at night, often listening to my Mom cry herself to sleep. Sometimes I'd look out the window and wonder where this God was the nuns told us about cause I wanted to ask Him why he let that happen. I have to believe that it's part of some plan He has but when you are a kid it seems like some bullshit. I don't know what good came out of all that.

Scott was a better athlete than me, all I really had going was good hands and a great arm. I was slow but I was a decent catcher. Some nights when things got tense in the house wed go across the street to the gas station. It was surrounded by walls on two sides and it closed at 9PM. I'd give him my catchers mitt and Id throw the ball as hard as I could to him and it would make a cool sound when it thudded into the mitt. Once in a while the cops would come along and send us home but more often than not we'd play catch in silence, throwing the ball as hard as we could until we got tired and our anger and fear melted away like dirty snow in a soft rain.

The next year I won a contest to get new customers for the paper and won a bus trip to see the Hawks up at Camp Randall. The bus was late and we got there in the 2nd quarter and the Hawks were down by 28 when we got in. Commings was the coach and a few dudes I knew went on to Iowa to play football. A kid a few years ahead of me was Tom Rusk, one of the more rugged dudes I ever met. He was a state wrestling champ and played both ways in HS. You could tell when he made a hit-it the stands it sounded different. I watched him knock out some dudes with 16 ounce gloves in Toughman contests, hitting them with left jabs. Joe Paterno once said watch a tape of him to see how you play linebacker.

I went to Hawk games for years, a couple games every year. Hansen and Ronnie Lester were good and the Hawks were fun to watch when Lute was in town. Same with Doctor Tom. I've chatted with quite a few of the Hawks different times, other than one exception they were always good guys, the kind you'd have a beer with. I sat thru some bad Hawkeye football seasons and appreciate what Hayden brought to Iowa City. I can understand why some Penn State fans give Joe Pa a lifetime pass, knowing what Hayden means to us older Hawks.

I passed my love of the Hawks down to my kids. My son had some NAIA basketball scholly offers but just went to Iowa, cause he said he always wanted to be a Hawk, and if he wasn't good enough, he'd just go to school there. Sadly, he's also a Cubs fan.

Other than my time in the Marines, Ive always lived in Iowa and this is a big week for me-playing the Clones brings back 43 years of Hawk memories and memories of my long past youth back into my minds eye. It's funny how I relate events in life to what the Hawks did that year-they went to the final four my last year in the Marines, the Rose bowl the first time the year I got married and so on. I guess it's the same for a lot of us-even a lot of you who move away still share that same passion for the Hawks and every Saturday during the fall it's a magic time and for a while the rest of the world is secondary.

I have to go, the stupid garage door opener is broke again.

Rivalry Week (ISU) | Tues Evening Hawkeye Links Plus Another CyFan Boycott

Since it is Rivalry week, we must make a stop at Cyclone Fanatic to see what's happening today. It looks like they are organizing one of their famous boycotts! Oh joy! Let's see which poor business or industry gets to feel the wrath of the Cyclone Fantatic.

It's the The Blair's Ferry HyVee in CR!

rebecacy is outraged!

I didn't catch her last name but "Barbara" called to assure me that all the BEAT STATE Promotional material had been removed - that it was put up without her knowledge over the week-end and that she was extremely dissapointed in her staff's decisions because it is HyVee's policy to be neutral on this game regardless of where it is located.

CyBobby is taking his money someplace else:

another good reason to....SHOP SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!!!

Veloclone thinks heads should roll!

Hopefully those responsible have been sacked.

Sy4Cy doesn't quite get geography and how it relates to marketing:

I just recently came back from my first and last visit ever to Cedar Rapids. The amount of Squawk homerism there pales only to the Iowa ******. It was sickening. On a happier note the groom was a Cyclone and we outnumbered the Squawks 2 to 1 and they really didn't know what to do with themselves

This is certainly an ongoing issue and needs to be monitored as it develops. Thankfully, our dear friend Hawkize will key an eye on it for us.

Hawkeye links,

Adam Rittenberg, of ESPN.com, writes that Iowa defensive line gets down to business.

Hawk Central says that Koeppel on his newfound media fame: ‘It’s a little different’

Marc Morehouse, of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, has Tuesday Talk — Iowa State

There is a lot more from the Gazette, Mike Hlas has:

Bob Elliott is back home, in the middle of a Cyclones-Hawkeyes game week

Kirk Ferentz’s thoughts on Boise State’s football program

Iowa Hawkeyes football player Josh Koeppel on the aftermath of getting hit by a pickup while on a small motorcycle

More from Morehouse:

Koeppel: ‘I am great’

Iowa State pregame — Ferentz videos

Iowa State pregame — Players video

And from Dochterman:

ISU’s Robinson won’t bite on self-assessment

And from Gazette's Admin:

Mitch King, former Hawkeye, survives final cut with the Colts

Hawkeye Insider has player video's from today:

ISU Pregame: VIDEO - Josh Koeppel

ISU Pregame: VIDEO - Julian Vandervelde

Rivalry Week (ISU) | Ferentz Press Conference Notes Plus Top 25's

First, the USA Today's Coaches Poll has been released. Iowa climbed one spot to #9, passing Virgina Tech and Oklahoma. Oregon passed the Hawkeyes moving from #11 to #8.

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Boise St
4. Texas
5. TCU
6. Florida
7. Nebraska
8. Oregon
9. Iowa
10. Oklahoma

The AP Top 25 was also released. The Hawkeyes stay at #9 there with Nebraska and Oregon moving up and Oklahoma and V Tech moving down.

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Boise State
4. TCU
5. Texas
6. Nebraska
7. Oregon
8. Florida
9. Iowa
10. Oklahoma

The always interesting PollSpeak is also out. You can see which sports writers voted for Iowa and where.


Now, on to Kirk Ferentz's weekly press conference notes:

https://twitter.com/marcmorehouse: Ricky OK. Biked instead of running yesterday.

RT @marcmorehouse: No plan at RB. Hopefully good 1-2 punch.

RT @marcmorehouse: Injuries, hope to all back, per KF.

Hawk Central Chat: Says we'll know more on Thurs and Fri on Murray, Gettis and Prater.

Hawk Central Chat: Said Nolan MacMillan looked good on film. Thought he was aggressive. Not perfect, but new guys on the field was a positive from Saturday.

Hawk Central Chat: Said Meyer did well with the kickoffs.

Hawk Central Chat: Cyclones have had hard time getting in the end zone against Iowa, but KF says they still managed to run the ball a lot against Iowa last season, and that it will be tough to win if Iowa gives up 190 yards rushing.

RT @Andy_Hamilton: Ferentz: If there was a highlight vs EIU it was probably RG Nolan MacMillan.

Hawk Central Chat: Said one of the lowlights from Saturday was not picking up first down on fourth and two.

Hawk Central Chat: Mentions the 190 yards rushing again. He's fixated on that number

Hawk Central Chat: Said the d-line didn't really get tested last week because there was a lot of perimeter stuff going on.

Hawk Central Chat: Kirk says "I keep telling people how much I really, really like it here," but people don't seem to want to hear that.

Hawk Central Chat: James Ferentz said last week he texted his dad last week asking for spending money. KF says he came to the wrong guy. Should have talked to his mother.

Hawk Central Chat: Cautions that Arnaud is a good ball carrier as well.

http://twitter.com/Andy_Hamilton: Paul Rhoads said he sent Kirk a text asking for some spending money after KF's contract extension. KF: "He should've sent it to my wife."

RT @marcmorehouse: KF's allowance is $20 a week.

http://twitter.com/VoiceoftheHawks: Captains same as last week: Stanzi, Julian, Klug & Clayborn

Hawkeye Links,

Video: Josh Koeppel on the Today Show

Big Ten Heisman update

2010 Bowl Projections - Post Week 1

ISU Week - 2010... reload the farks

Download your Iowa-Iowa State pocket roster guide

Iowa 37, Eastern Illinois 7: The Game in Pictures

and finally,

Iowa wrestling: 2010 wrestling schedule released

Rivalry Week (ISU) | Hawkeye Links, Plus Cyclones Are Like McDonalds?

Well, is he right? You be the judge:

Hawkeye Links,

Hawk Central's Sean Keeler says that ISU’s Arnaud learns to stop beating himself up.

From Randy Peterson, ISU’s Knott ‘too small’ for everyone but Rhoads

From Mark Emmery, Iowa-Iowa State: Part two of a glimpse into the rivalry’s past

Sports Illustrated reminds us that ISU hasn't scored a touchdown in years in Iowa State looks to snap TD drought against Iowa

From the Mason City Globe Gazette, Iowa State's Arnaud ready to avenge 2009 nightmare

The Cedar Rapids Gazette team of Marc Morehouse and Scott Dochterman have released their first podcast for this week. Monday's edition of the bi-weekly show discusses EIU and looks ahead to Iowa State.

Also, from Dochterman, Iowa-ISU series has future road blocks

GoCylcones is also worried about the non-TD streak in Cyclones preparing to end TD drought

Both Hawkeye and Cyclone fans can come together this weekend for a worthy cause, per the Marshalltown Times-Republican, Iowa, Iowa State fans can aid Emergency Food Box at Hy-Vee

Also, from the Times-Republican, Iowa’s young O-line makes a stand

In other news, the newest edition of the AP and Coaches poll should be released today (I think). Mike Hlas, of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, let's us see his ballot for week 1. He had Iowa at #6 on his preseason ballot, they are there no more.

FightforIowa blog, which is now participating in BlogPoll, was a little more reluctant to drop the Hawks. He has his week 1 poll in his latest blog post.

Finally, don't forget to turn on NBC to see Josh Koeppel on the Today Show. He's coming on in five minutes.

Rivalry Week (ISU) | Hawkeyes Release Depth Chart

Hawkeye Sports has released this weeks Hawkeye Depth chart and other notes in the Iowa State at Iowa press release. The two-deeps are as follows:

Pos. 1st team 2nd team
Offense
WR 1DJK/Sandeman  2 Nordmann
LT 1 Reiff 2 Haganman
LG 1 Vandervelde 2 Tobin
C 1 Ferentz 2 Koeppel
RG 1 MacMillan 2 Boffeli
RT 1 Zusevics 2 Van Sloten
QB 1 Stanzi 2 Vandenberg
WR 1 McNutt 2 Davis
RB 1 Robinson 2 Hampton/O'Meara
TE 1 Reisner 2 Herman
FB 1Morse 2 Rogers

Defense
DE 1 Clayborn 2 Daniel
DT 1 Klug 2 Bigach
DT 1 Ballard/Daniels 2Nardo
DE 1 Ballard/Binns 2Alvis
LB 1 Nielsen 2Johnson
LB 1 Davis 2Tarpinian
LB 1 Hunter 2Tillison
DB 1 Castillo 2Lowe
SS 1 Sash 2Nielsen
FS 1 Greenwood 2Swanson
DB 1 Hyde 2Bernstine

P 1Donahue 2 Guthrie/Mullins
K Mossbruker/Meyer

I usually try not to read too much into these, but let's take a look at it anyway. This week has Davis listed ahead of Tarpinian at the LB slot. Prater, Gettis, and Murray are missing from the list, and Jewel Hampton makes his debut but is slashed with Paki.

Notes of interest, the second team offense is close to what was on the field late in the forth quarter against Eastern Illinois. That was the offensive line with the expection being Keoppel who was still out with the injuries sustained in the moped crash. Bofelli moved to center, Woody Orne played the guard position, and Iowa had Zach Derby and CJ Fiedorowicz at tight ends. Also not listed is Paul Chaney Jr. who saw playing time late against Eastern Illinois.

The second team defense looked a little different Saturday when Bernstine and Tanner Miller took over the safety positions. BJ Lowery also lost his redshirt when he played corner opposite of William Lowe. If an injury were to occur to one of the safeties I wouldn't be surprised to see Bernstine in the game, Tanner Miller I'm not so sure about.

Not listed in the two-deep is freshmen James Morris who did see action at middle linebacker against EIU. I would assume he is a solid third teamer.

Jewel Hampton listed on the depth chart led Hawk Central to say the Running back situation up in the air

Elsewhere around the web, ESPN's Adam Rittenberg has a Week 1 review/Week 2 preview.

Rivalry Week (ISU) | Hawkeye Links, Plus Cyclone Fan Postion Breakdowns

First, a congratulations to Hawkeye senior Paki O'Meara for being named the Big Ten's Special Teams Player of the Week. When Iowa had the punt return called Paki burst through two blockers to not only block a punt in the first quarter against Eastern Illinois, he returned it for a touchdown.

Paki's big play combined with the nation's best punter and the emergence of Mike Meyer's big leg leads Hawk Central to believe that special teams give UI an edge.

Also, from Hawk Central,

Can the game live up to the hype?

A look at the rivalry’s past

Pride is some fans’ currency in bets

Bret Feddern, of Bleacher Report, says that Christian Ballard Helps Hawkeye Defense Disrupt EIU Offense

It looks like Crackdown in Iowa City is in full effect, Citations for disorderly house in double digits

Steve Yanda, of the Washington Post, believes the Hawkeyes have many options at running back

From the American Chronical, Opening night defense pleases ISU coaches

How good is the Cyclone defense? Let's held over to Cyclonefanatic to find out. Here, there is a thread titled ISU vs Iowa Position Debate. Let's have a look.

mitchforcy starts off with a really long post that I stopped reading after he said this:

QB: I think this one is a push, Arnaud and Stanzi both have their strengths as passers and both have their weaknesses.

RossHallHero says:

I also think that Iowa's db's are completely over-rated.

Sims is probably the best player on either team.

yaman3 states:

Secondary-Push. Sims is the best player in the backfield on either team. At least he was. I think LJ is a better cover corner that either of the two Iowa DBs. Sash is better than any option we have a FS.

matt92x....lmao

QB- Draw. I am counting Arnaud's runing ability. Because of his legs, I almost give us an edge here.
HB- ISU by a little. Alexander outshines both Hampton and Adam R. Together tho, they give him a run for his money.
TE/WR- Iowa by a little. The TE may be a tie if Franklin plays like last week, but DJK and McNutt are better than anybody we got. They seem to drop off a bit after that, tho, so ISU closes the gap with their 3rd-5th wr.
OL- Tie. KO is a monster. Iowa always has a good Oline, but this year they are a little down.
DL- Iowa by a lot. KO may be able to neutralize clayborn a bit, but they still outclass anybody CPR can thro out their on our DL.
LB- Tie. Both are pretty green. I think ours are a little more talented, but Iowa holds a little more experience (backups for 2/3 years instead of just 1).
DB- Tie. Sims is much more of an athlete than Sash, and outside the Arnaud game of catch, he didn't have many picks last year. But I give them a push. FS is even. O'connell and Greenwood are both smart but uninspiring. The corners, LJ is the best of either team but Iowa's corners are both better in coverage than Benton. He is pretty good in run support tho, so I will give that a tie aswell.
ST- Iowa by a little. Mahoney is inaccurate and dangerous on his PAT's. Our punters first punt went 18 yards. until it gets better, I give Iowa the kicking edge. They also get after punts pretty well.
Off- Even (maybe a little edge to ISU)
Def- Iowa by a good margin, unless the defense seasons up and fixes the arm tackle, then just by a little bit.

From deadeyderic:

I don't care what AA teams Sash is on, he is not better than Sims. I was gonna stay out of this till somebody brought that up. I'm just glad Iowa fans aren't narrow minded!

and

Who cares about the schedule? Honestly, David Sims is an absolute beast! Clayborn is the only football player that will be out there better than him.

RustShack keeps giving:

No ****. If Sims was on the Hawkeyes everyone would know who he is and would be regarded as one of the best defenders in the nation.

I'll let you read the rest, it's more of the same, or more of this actually:

Rivalry Week (ISU) | PSD's T's and P's Go to...

This week I am offering a lot of thoughts and prayers. Well, maybe not as many as previous years, maybe about 30% less than last year. This week I'm offering my condolences to all of Cyclone Nation.

Why the entire nation of loyal Clone followers? Well, they are a tad bit over-confident, that's why. You see, they steam rolled Northern Illinois in their 2010 opener and now they (some) may have inflated hopes and dreams of knocking off the #9 rated Iowa Hawkeyes in Kinnick Stadium. Is it possible? Of course it is, they are our in-state rival so we have to make fun of, er, care about them.

Need proof? Let us head over to a favorite place of mine, CycloneFanatic.

Oh look! Here is a thread entitled Iowa State vs. Iowa. 

Herkykiller is the thread starter, he asks:

I'm thinking Iowa State has a decent chance of winning the game next week. I watched both Iowa States and Iowas games and thought that they will be pretty well matched. And after watching Iowa, I dont think they lived up to what I was expecting. EIU seemed like they were a really horrible team, and Iowa should have put up more points. What do you guys think about next weeks game?

The initial post was followed by reasonable responses, at least until CyPride chimed in:

plus they'll have the refs on their side and probably a few more tricks up their sleeve.....at least they can't keep the grass high this year. wonder if they'll have a pump 'problem'....??

michaelrr1 opined, but I honestly have no idea what he said because I couldn't stop laughing at his avatar:

Then things get good when jburke starts typing:

What is everyones hard-don about Iowa, seriously Eastern Illinois was horrible and showed little life in that game at all. I really think we can win that game. I know for sure it will be closer then last year and we will get the monkey off our back of not scoring a TD.... I am really excited.

cstrunk believes:

The similarities leading up to this game is awfully similar to 2005. Only difference is the game is in I.C.

I can only hope the result will be similar as well...

Herkykiller's first post was just a set-up, he really believes:

I seriously dont Iowa looked that good, you guys all seem like half empty type people. I mean yeah Iowa is better than us, but still I think we have a very good chance.


EIU was horrible and Iowa still was doing mediocre.

Sawyer steps in:

Iowa weakness- QB and O-line
ISU weakness- D-line and Special teams
Pretty equal.

From Rustsack:

Stanzi is so over rated.

Herkykiller, again!

Stanzi didnt seem to be very good today.

AustinCyclone has insight:

RBs: push
WRs: +ISU
TE: push
Oline: push
Dline: +UofI
LBs: +UofI
DBs: +ISU
FGs: push
Kick Ret: +ISU
Punt: +UofI

In my opinion all of the above will equal each other out and the game will come down to QB play. I actually think AA has a bigger 'potential' than Stanzi, but he continues to make careless turnovers which will cost us in this one. That plus the home field will give UofI about a 10-13 pt win. Man I hope I am wrong though...

In response to a Hawkeye fan bostremOO wants to know:

Do you find it disconcerting that you were having trouble executing against FCS opponent, Eastern Illinois?

Cyclonejoe secretly wants to switch teams:

We are going to be iowa by out scoring them

ISU 21 Iowa17

From Doc, which I pray is not short for Doctor

I'm really surprised at the glass half empty approach of Cyclone fans. We've been competitive with UI two of the last three years even without getting in the end zonweevEr even beat them once without scoring a TD! UI is good at Red Zone defense but it doesn't mean that we are going to continue this incredibly poor rate of scoring TDs in the red zone against them. Odds are, if we get to the red zone 4 times, we're going to score a couple TDs.


A-Rob ran for 100 yds against them last year. For as long as Ferentz has been there they've struggled some in the preseason. And on top of it all Stanzi is no Heisman candidate like Drew Tate was. There are lots of reasons to be confident.

I'd set the line at -10 and that's with me drinking the Kool-laid. I think IA is a tough matchup for us -- I doubt our D is even top 90 in the country, BUT there are reasons to be confident against them. We will score TDs. Regression to the mean can be a b!tch, Hawks!

Covenant Clone offers this up:

That vaunted Iowa D-line better play better against ISU's O-line this year than they did last year. ISU's o-line *****-slapped them around last year. I know the score was lopsided but it wasn't because your D-line dominated the game.

Whoa, CyPride is back and making predictions:

2nd best? Please. Stop patronizing us. We'll be in a championship game at the end of our season.

Clones21 says:

Sims is back and he will be out for blood. Watch out Iowa.

And there is more, I'll let you read the rest if you choose.
A couple of news items regarding the Iowa State at Iowa game this Saturday:

Vegas likes the Hawkeyes, the opening spread is -14.5 Iowa. I hope that money moves to -13.5 so I can take it.

Also, Mike Hlas, of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, writes That 35-3 win over Cyclones last year means zero to Hawkeyes now.

It's going to be a fun week and I'll be putting my computer at risk (per Norton antivirus) and searching Cyclone Fanatic looking for the humorous, I mean, insight from the otherside daily.

Special thanks to @bucketochicken for tweeting me this thread.