Out of Towner: Big Ten Title Up For Grabs
So Ricky Stanzi is out. Redshirt freshman James Vandenberg is in. That must mean that the Hawkeyes stand no chance of winning against the mighty Ohio State Buckeyes, right? Well don't be too quick to write them off for dead. This could still be a football game. Okay, so the Hawks will be travelling to the dreaded Shoe. So this will be Vandenbergs first collegiate start. So most of our backfield is beat up. Jeez, I better stop before I convince myself there is no chance.
A few things to think about. Keep in mind that Terrell Pryor and the Buckeye offense is ranked 62nd in the nation. What do you think our defense is planning to do against that? They are planning on shutting it down. They are also probably thinking about taking one or more of Pryor's errant passes the other way to the endzone. I know that's what I'm thinking about. Ohio State is a young team. Young teams make mistakes. The Iowa Hawkeye defense has made a living preying off of mistakes. There is no reason to believe that Iowa's defense cannot hold Ohio State to 17 points or less and quite possibly score 6 points of their own.
Now with Vegas oddsmakers predicting OSU to win by 16, that must mean they don't think the Hawkeye offense will score a point. I think Vandenberg and the Iowa offense can put some points on the board. Wegher, Johnson-Koulianos and Marvin McNutt aren't hurt. They still know their jobs. And they are good at their jobs, damnit. What this game boils down to is James Vandenberg.
Go ahead and throw out last week's 9 of 27 performance. Everyone in Iowa was a little shellshocked after Stanzi went down. Vandenberg came into that game under the harshest of circumstances. And if you look closely, his performance wasn't really all that bad. The kid has a firm grasp of the Hawkeye's offensive scheme. He ran over 30 different plays out of 10 different formations. He knows what needs to be done. All that's left to do is execute.
How can this be accopmlished against a defense ranked 6th in the nation? Coaching. And who has the best head coach in the country? The Hawkeyes do! In Kirk we trust, right? Ferentz and the rest of the coaching staff have most assuredly spent the entire week formulating a game plan that will give Vandenberg the best chance of success possible. The Iowa Hawkeyes have made a season out of out-coaching the other teams. This is going to have to happen this weekend. This is the gameplan. If Iowa pulls off a win, it will be because they play as a team, stick to their gameplan, and execute that plan.
So at 2:30 tommorrow afternoon, get ready. This season is not over yet. Trust and believe Hawkeye faithfuls. Trust and believe. This team has not won 9 games this year because of the flawless play from any one player, and Ricky Stanzi has been anything but flawless. The Iowa Hawkeys epitomize the meaning of the word "TEAM." You can rest assured that the entire team will show up for this one.
Every week I throw out a prediction for the game. Every week I predict a Hawkeye victory. While this game has the potential to be a hard-to-watch blowout, this week will be no different for yours truly. Iowa in a stunner, 13-10. Go Hawkeyes!
Questions and comments can be sent to pixleyjackson@yahoo.com.
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