Penn State Aftermath

Oh baby! That is all one can say after what arguably is one of the best wins of the Kirk Ferentz era. Iowa battled the elements and a rabid Penn State fanbase to top the then 5th ranked team in the country. As one of the 2,000 or so Iowa fans in attendance, I can say that it was well worth standing in the rain for 12 hours to watch the fourth quarter of that game. The thing that leaves me even more optimistic about the season is that this team has not even played its best football yet. Here are some of my thoughts following the game.

Defensive Line. The “six seconds of hell” mantra held true last Saturday as the Iowa defense shut down the Penn State offense following the 79 yard score in the first half. The pressure that Adrian Clayborn, Karl Klug, Christian Ballard, and Broderick Binns were able to put on Darryl Clark forced enough disruption to cause Clark to make poor choices leading him to, at least in part, throw three interceptions. While some Iowa fans continue to harp on Norm Parker for not blitzing enough, the performance put on by the defensive line is nothing but proof that blitzing is not essential to Iowa’s defensive scheme.

Bomber. I mentioned in my last installment that Ryan Donahue is a weapon that can change the field position battle. His punt that landed inside the five, which led to the safety, was the beginning of the dominance of the Iowa defense. Donahue’s ability to change field position with the swing of his leg will be an incredible advantage this season and will more likely than not win Iowa another game this year due to his ability to win the field position battle.

Game Management. Ricky Stanzi did not play one of his better games but he also did not play poorly. Stanzi was able to manage the game and calmly lead the offense in the second half after Iowa gained the lead following Adrian Clayborn’s blocked punt return for a touchdown. Yes, Stanzi’s numbers are pretty unimpressive (11 of 26 for 135 yards), but I do not think many quarterbacks would have done well in that type of weather. Stanzi should be able to get back on track this week against an Arkansas State defense that has given up a significant number of yards through the air in its first three games of the season.

Areas of Improvement. Despite the 4-0 start, there are still several areas in which Iowa can improve. Kickoff coverage on this team has been just ok this year. Currently, Iowa is giving up 19.5 games per return, which puts them at 35th nationally. Well, I guess I am being too picky. We still have not seen Ricky Stanzi play an above average game. As mentioned earlier, the upcoming game appears to be the week in which Stanzi could have a breakout performance. These are just a few of the obvious things that stand out right now. Clearly, the entire team has areas in which they can improve as evident by several comments made by Iowa players following the game. To think that this team can improve, by their own admission nonetheless, gives me great hope about things to come.

The challenge this week against Arkansas State will be to avoid the classic trap game and to see how the team plays having tasted success in an important game. As Kirk Ferentz said, it is more difficult to deal with success than adversity. I think that this Arkansas State game is a great game leading up to the Michigan game for several reasons. First, Arkansas State is a decent football team that returns several skill position players from last year’s team. Second, they run a spread offense, which is similar to the offense that Iowa will see against the Wolverines in two weeks. Although my prediction will come later in the week, I think we will see the Iowa offense finally click for the entire game as well as see the Iowa defense continue to dominate.

Go Hawks!