James Vanden Who?
If we go out and half-ass it ’cause we’re scared, then we’ll always wonder if we were really good enough. But if we go out there and give it all we’ve got… that’s heroic. You guys wanna be heroes?Depending on whether or not you believe in that sort of thing, the SI cover jinx conspired with Northwestern’s brilliant “injure Ricky Stanzi” scheme to kill whatever MNC hopes the Hawkeyes had. At any rate, it was one brutal way to end what had been a magical unbeaten season.
The good news, if you’re Iowa, is that you waited to lose your first game until the 10th week of the season, leaving a coveted Rose Bowl invitation well within reach. However, in order to lock up a trip to Pasadena for the first time since 1991, college football’s feel-good story of the year will have to win a tough game, on the road against a stellar defense, and starting a redshirt freshman with all of 30 career attempts.
Despite the occasional Stanziballs, no Big Ten quarterback was more clutch than the Manzi, and despite lesser expectations for his replacement, James Vandenberg, especially in light of his 9 for 27 performance against the Wildcats, the truth is, it’s hard to get a read on a guy based on three quarters of work. Especially when that those snaps were probably played under somewhat of a state of shock — best indicated by the interception Vandenberg threw on his first pass of the game.
Watching the highlights of the game, it doesn’t look like the trainwreck of an appearance the 9/27 would indicate and Iowa observers seem to agree, highlighting the fact that he’s been a quick study and seems to have the playbook down:
I guess what I am trying to explain here is that Vandenberg ran at least 34 plays from 10 formations before the last drive. Most of those were passes, and several were runs that I hadn’t seen very often if ever from this Iowa staff. To put that into perspective- Stanzi ran 15 formations, 45 different play calls in an entire game last week. There was only one formation that Stanzi ran in this game that Vandenberg didn’t and it was a 2 tight end I formation that Iowa has shown one pass out of all season. He seemed to understand what he was doing running the offense. I didn’t see any fumbled snaps or poor timing on hand offs. He has some coachable flaws. His grasp of the offense doesn’t seem to be that much of an issue. It looks like he prepares very well.
That same assessment goes on to point out some of his shortcomings, especially those that relate to decision-making and the expected troubles young quarterbacks have with that. He won’t exactly be getting the best defensive front to learn and grow against this week and after a play or two, there will be no doubt in his mind about the difference in speed between the Ohio State and Northwestern defenses.
Corn Gangsta BelievesFor the de facto Big Ten championship game, Vegas doesn’t even think this one will be close. Ohio State is coming off an impressive win in State College and beyond quarterback, Iowa is banged up across the board. The Buckeyes have suffered their own spate of injuries this season — more so than in recent years — but nothing compared to the carnage the Iowa training staff has had to sort through. Multiple running backs, the offensive line and the receiving corps have all been hit.
Still, I’m having a hard time thinking the Buckeyes will win this one going away. Iowa still has quite a few things going for them:
- Vandenberg is still relatively unknown. He has a good head on his shoulders, decent size and a cannon of an arm and Ohio State has about 18 minutes of film on him to study. Part of what makes sports so insanely fun is the unexpected. The guy starting in place of an injured star that goes into a hostile environment and picks apart the favored team by completing short, underneath passes all day. That happens, and more than most think.
- If Purdue Harbor taught us anything, it’s that if you make enough mistakes, you can get beat by any team in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes are young and incredibly talented, but young teams often lack focus or the tenacity to finish an opponent. An Iowa team still in the game in the 4th quarter is a dangerous Iowa team.
- The Iowa defense is still solid. They play a very, very physical game and Pat Angerer, the team’s star linebacker, likes to relax by choking his backup quarterback. They will take it to the Buckeye offensive line early and often and if the line decides Saturday might be a fine time for a down week, we could be in for a long, nerve-wracking afternoon.
- Finally, this is the best Ferentz team since 2004. Most of you will remember that team thanks to the 33-7 beat-down the Hawkeyes handed out to Ohio State at Kinnick. Sure, we got the emergence of Troy Smith out of the soul-cleansing, but that loss still sticks out as Tressel’s most lopsided in Big Ten play.
Lest I get too Lou Holtz on you, I still think the Buckeyes prevail. I just don’t know if it will be the walk a lot of fans on both sides are envisioning.
Corn Gangsta, classic!
He straight up “shucks” emcee’s
I. DON’T. WANT. YOUR. LIFE.
For the win.
lol I was going to say why the hell does Iowa’s coach look like Jon Voigt
hahaha!
I call Shenanigans on the Vanderbeek photo
Yeah, it’s a popular meme this week:
http://www.elevenwarriors.com/2009/11/depth-chartin-attention-deficit-week.html#comment-126301
Well, sonofabitch, I didnt see that.
I actually saw the opportunity last night and thought “I’d better publish this before 11W does”. You guys always have your funny on before I do.
BTW, I think I made BHGP implode.
That was done when Stanziballs was outed as a “Twilighter”
You just buried the remains
i just read the response from BHGP to your blog post…
i don’t think think there is any question you made his head explode. any time you end a blog post with a reference penises of african attachment and He Who Shall Not Be Named’s poop cutter, you don’t look like a person with a good head on your shoulders.
Thanks. It looked to me like he just got reallllly angry, started copying everything I wrote, but did it in an “oh yeah, I’ll show HIM” mode.
It’s actually funny watching him flail. I’ve been waiting a good three months to do this to BHBU, and they did exactly what I figured they would do in response.
its sad how sophomoric and absurd that post was too. i enjoyed some of the other things that i saw. (namely, kafka does college gameday)
Ha, not sure about all of that, but the Van Der Beek comparison seemed like such a natural this week.
yikes. that back and forth between BBC and BHGP got ugly in a hurry.
Purdue wasnt that long ago, so every game makes me nervous
I have no patience for so called, “OSU fans” who seem to want to apologize for real OSU fans for giving the shit talk right back to assholes from other sites, teams, etc.
Don’t fucking police what I have to say because your fake ass is trying to live down the piece of shit racist reputation YOU earned when you posted under a different name. Just because you have your own site on the Walt Disney World family of sportsblogs, doesn’t make anymore credible than when you were parading around as an “informed fan”.
You know who you are, and if you had any balls you would have backed up any previous comments made under your first name, rather than trying to create a new you.
Calling out fellow fans on rival sites, go hang out with Herbstreit, fucking Benedict Arnold.
11W, I apologize for the tone of this post, and this will be the last time I address the issue. Fuck Michigan.
Boy, the guy the above post is directed at must be a real jackass.
HAH!
There’s nothing “real” about the guy.
Well, fine, he must be a mystical jackass then.
Just man up, Pogue.
I don’t have to man up to crap. I’ve never tried to hide who I am. And I don’t want to drag this stupid little vendetta of yours onto someone else’s site.
Good enough, consider it squashed. But for the record, you fired the first round. Feel free to type anything you want, and I’ll do the same.
link?
mom dad stop fighting
you’re breaking this family apart :(
Bup shoots….AND SCORES!
I think I’ve seen the varsity blues thing on at least 4 OSU blogs now.
Also I don’t get the hate on BHGP here, they’re a hilarious blog and Iowa fans are generally pretty great, and they also just lost their starting QB. don’t see any reason to mess with em (it’s not like it’s THAT crazy to suggest Iowa could win Saturday, if Bad Terrelle shows up and throws some picks, who knows? their defense hasn’t gotten any less legit)
i for one enjoyed the blog. that one post, however, was psycho. it was weird, bitter, and ended with the taunts of a 9th grader.
its kind of off kilter, but nothing worse than some of the stuff i’ve seen on tBBC (sorry jeff, i think your website is pretty funny sometimes but man you go overboard a ton).
ive got no problem with vitriol and HATE HATE HATE when it’s called for (PSU fans, michigan, the SEC, specifically Ole Miss fans), but seriously, IOWA?!? why don’t you hate toast while we’re at it? that’s about as legit a target, and about as offensive
oops, that last one was me
sex organs and prison rape are pretty non-bland. maybe the jeff guy goes overboard, but there was nothing as patently absurd in his post as in the iowa response.
Vandensacked’s backup is John Weinke, who was going to Michigan until Lloyd Carr was fired.
“Purdue Harbor” Classic!
I concur
I hope after we win on Saturday that the team doesn’t break out the roses, and waits until next Saturday to do it. EVERYBODY loves seeing buckeyes chewing on roses at the Big (out)House
Ahhh, but if we win on Saturday, we can ENTER the big house chewing on roses…
Vanderdick can’t do us any harm after he leaves the field on a stretcher.
eh, I think that Iowa will definitely be out Saturday attempting to pick us apart on short passes, and it just might be effective. From what I can gather, it seems that the zone look from our DB’s results in a lot of those short completions.
If we can keep their offense from maintaining any sort of consistency (like we did last week) then our O will score enough to make us all happy. Please oh please oh please put in Hall for more than 5 carries.
I know really, kid hits the hole like a monster
I will not hide my mancrush for Hall, but what’s scary is to think about our running back situation for next year – we will have Boom, Saine, Hall, Martin, Carlos Hyde (we can assume we will transfer from that junior college, right?), Jamaal Berry, and the new freshman Roderick Smith. Talk about depth..
It will be excellent to see who will win the starting position.
Hyde is not going to JC, he’s going to prep school.
Anyword on how he’s doing?
I know the guy got thrown into the game last week, but Iowa’s offense has been anything but consistent all year. They will have to depend on the short passes, but who’s to say the QB will be accurate with them. I don’t see Iowa’s offense score much on this D.
If anyone is interested, just heard from the BTN that Saine will be on the network’s Sites & Sounds show tonight at 10pm ET.
Mohawk/Overbite optional
Fuck Kilmer!
This just in: we’re totally screwed for Iowa. New playbook.
http://www.blackheartgoldpants.com/2009/11/11/1123825/new-playbook
Why don’t we just have Clayborn and Heyward wrasssle for it?
That would probably end up being way more entertaining than this game will be
Excellent write-up. I’m feeling the same way. Too many people have written off the Hawkeyes too soon. Just like last week when no one on Gameday picked Ohio State to beat the Nitts, it’s going to be a similar story this week but for Iowa. It’s a team that plays with a short memory, a defense that plays like a wall, and they’re going up against a QB in Pryor, who’s still not exactly a sure thing yet.
I’m giddy with delight that the “Bowl of Rose” is within grasp. I just hope I’m not jinxing things.
My prediction was more based on Stanzi being hurt and out, and a defensive battle/ field postion battle we win and get points out of. Of course, a bounce or two in Iowa’s favor…
What?
If I was the Defensive Coordinator: Other than stopping the run, which is a must, I would try to confuse the freshman quarterback with a lot of fake blitzes, zone blitzes, regular blitzes with an occasional CB blitz. The pre-snap setup needs to look different than post-snap responsibilities. In order to game plan for the freshman, Iowa coaches have to have simple reads and any confusion or delay time buys the D-line that much more time. The defense has to get pressure and like last week, early (first series pressure/hit/sack) would be great in setting the QB’s mental clock on a premature schedule. The defense has to be cognizant of where the TE’s are because they will use them to gash our zone and their offense is dependent upon them. Other than that, I expect screens, draws, counters, anything to try and slow our rush down or take advantage of its aggressiveness. Also, Iowa will use the Wildcat formation with McNutt at QB. He will have one pass play and the rest will be runs.
If I was the Offensive coordinator: I would get the O-line fired up again, the team needs another controlled yet angry performance from them. As far as overall design, the game plan will be similar to last weeks since Penn State & Iowa have similar defenses. Screens, draws, counters from the Dave play, RB flares, etc. With two wrinkles: the first is motion. If Pryor is not allowed to audible, then use motion to confuse the defense and get Iowa to check into some vanilla coverages. A good example would have the Bucks in a two back-two Rcver set with a tight end, then motion RB out to the slot, this will create match up issues. Like last week, God forbid we use the TE again. We have talent at the TE that is just as good as the Hawkeyes. Moreover, like Hawkeyes we can use the TE to slip into the open areas of the zone, preferably down the middle. The second wrinkle, the offense must stretch this defense out both horizontally with formations and vertically with one or two deep balls creating both running lanes and passing lanes. I would tell Pryor to be patient with the underneath stuff. There was 3rd and 7ish play in the first half last week where Pryor tried to force a ball into Posey, when he had the Ballard underneath wide open to get the first down. The coaching staff must have saw this as well because Pryor starting going underneath. This is still simple, diverse, with one or two minor wrinkles.
OSU – 27
Iowa – 3
Terelle Pryor: 7/9, 120 yards, 15 rushes, 170 yards
zach boren: 4 receptions, 55 yards, 10 carries 75 yards
Jake Stoneburner: 3 receptions, 65 yards
jermil Martin: 30 carries, 175 yards
every other skill position player spends the game looking confused and sad. this is my ideal stat line.
Chaos, great post…Bup all my life, I!ve known maybe three Iowa fans, all pretty cool dudes, so they are cool in my book, unlike the other fans you mentioned.
yeah, i mean, they come down and tailgate in droves every single time, and i always had fun shooting the shit with em. never met an obnoxious iowa fan in my life
TP 15/26 207 yds 2 Td’s 1 int
14 att 97yds 1 td
tOSU 31
iowa 7
Iowa doesn’t dink and dunk, and particularly this year as everyone has 8 guys crashing, Iowa’s going vertical more than ever. We are starting an all-Iowa backfield, including one 18 year-old and one 19 year-old. They will look like the Hardy Boys back there; very charming. We have started 20 people already on offense because of injuries and the expected beer penalty-box suspension.
Vandenberg has a stronger arm than Stanzi, is the all-time leading Iowa high school passer, and there are rumors that once he actually started a game with more than 500 people in the stands, though this remains a rumor and is unconfirmed. He seems to be pretty low-key. He looks like he’s about 12 years old, so I’m sure the refs will feel sorry for him and throw a few calls our way.
I think your D-line is going to go monstrous on us, but we might return the favor. We do have a good punter. We did beat PSU 6-4 once. Ferentz does amazing things in the toughest games, from time to time. Who knows?
i can’t wait til i go to heightsschool