FanHouse

Happy Trails No More for Hawkeyes

Mark Hasty — 2009-11-07T17:17:00 00:00

We finally figured out what sort of misfortune Iowa's Cardiac Kids couldn't survive. They couldn't survive losing Ricky Stanzi. As a result, No. 8 Iowa fell to unranked Northwestern on Saturday, 17-10.

The junior quarterback left just before halftime after Northwestern's Corey Wootton tackled him in the end zone. Stanzi sprained his right ankle and fumbled the ball. As Northwestern's Marshall Thomas recovered the fumble for a touchdown, Stanzi remained on the Kinnick Stadium turf. He would walk off the field on his own power, but Stanzi would not return to the game. Neither would Iowa's offense.

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Iowa's Ricky Stanzi Out With Injury as Hawkeyes Lose

Mark Hasty — 2009-11-07T14:01:00 00:00

by Mark Hasty

Filed under: Iowa, Injuries

Breathe easier, America: the Iowa Hawkeyes' luck finally ran out. Quarterback Ricky Stanzi was injured just before halftime of today's 17-10 loss to Northwestern in Iowa City. Stanzi was tackled in his own end zone by Northwestern's Corey Wootton. He sprained his right ankle and fumbled the ball. Northwestern recovered the fumble for a touchdown.

Stanzi did not return to the game. Redshirt freshman James Vandenberg, who holds most of the state of Iowa's high school passing records, replaced him. Vandenberg's first pass was intercepted by the Wildcats.

ESPN cameras showed Stanzi on crutches and in a protective boot during the second half.

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Pickin' on the Big Ten: Let's Go Bowling

Mark Hasty — 2009-11-05T11:30:00 00:00

by Mark HastyEvery Thursday, Pickin' on the Big Ten previews the weekend's games so Big Ten haters can get even more nervous.

I don't know if you've noticed, but the rest of the college football universe is sort of obsessed right now. They have a deep, lingering fear of Iowa winding up in the BCS Championship Game. That, to them, could only mean one of two things. The Hawkeyes could get blown out in a total snoozer. That would be bad. They could also win, which would be worse. Now what conference would they have to say is overrated? Their own?

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Big Ten Title Race Tightens Up

Mark Hasty — 2009-11-04T16:45:00 00:00

by Mark Hasty

Filed under: Iowa, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Big 10

With three games left in the conference season, the Big Ten championship is seemingly up for grabs. I say "seemingly" because thus far Iowa has proved to be more resilient than Kevlar, cast iron, and Gary Busey. At this point it almost seems like the Hawkeyes could not even take the field until late in the fourth quarter and still win.

They've looked quite mortal at times, though, so it's worth looking at who still has a shot at the trip to Pasadena. There's even one team you'd think wouldn't be in it based on who they've lost to.

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Pickin' on the Big Ten: Iowa Isn't Concerned About Your Scorn

Mark Hasty — 2009-10-29T12:00:00 00:00

by Mark Hasty

Filed under: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Big 10

Every Thursday, Pickin' on the Big Ten runs down the weekend's games from inside a chicken coop, at least as far as you know.

Cue the inevitable anti-Iowa backlash. A team that barely got by Arkansas State and Northern Iowa is somehow No. 1 in the nation according to the computer polls the BCS uses. Don't like it? Line forms to the left. Kirk Ferentz even agrees with you.

Shouldn't the computers' top ranked team have at least some sort of offense? Yes, of course. But whose fault is that No. 1 ranking?

Yours, you loudmouth.

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NFL Coaches Fight Club, Round 2: Jim Mora Jr. vs. Josh McDaniels

Mark Hasty — 2009-10-27T09:00:00 00:00

by Mark Hasty

NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament. Because we have nothing better to do than predict what might happen if head coaches started punching each other in the face.

More Coverage: Fight Club Introduction | The Bracket | Round 1 Recap

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Clearing Up the Big Ten Picture

Mark Hasty — 2009-10-26T07:30:00 00:00

by Mark Hasty

Filed under: Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Big 10

While most of the world is still trying to figure out how the Iowa Hawkeyes stole the cheese out of the mousetrap -- again -- the conference title race is beginning to take a little more shape. Since neither Iowa nor Ohio State lost this past weekend, there's no shakeup at the top. Both teams remain equally in control of their respective destinies.

But what about the rest of the league? Is anybody new out of the hunt this week? Who's still alive but barely breathing? And where do things go from here in this crazy conference?

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Undefeated Iowa Gets Timeless Victory

Mark Hasty — 2009-10-24T23:40:00 00:00

by Mark Hasty

Filed under: Iowa, Michigan State

Iowa and Michigan State decided to save all the excitement for the last three minutes of their game Saturday.

The Hawkeyes beat the Spartans 15-13 on a seven-yard, last-second touchdown pass from Ricky Stanzi to Marvin McNutt.

Michigan State went up 13-9 on a Kirk Cousins-to-Blair White pass that went right down the middle for 30 yards. The pass came just two plays after an unbelievable hook-and-ladder involving White and tight end Brian Linthicum.

After the kickoff Iowa had just 1:32 to find the end zone.

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Pryor Silences Critics ... Sort Of

Mark Hasty — 2009-10-24T16:15:00 00:00

by Mark Hasty

Filed under: Minnesota, Ohio State

It took more than a half, but eventually Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor proved that he's not all hype. The Buckeyes totally routed Minnesota Saturday 38-7 in Columbus.

Pryor and his coach, Jim Tressel, spent last week under continual assault from all corners. Part of it was just another expression of the college football world's Buckeye Fatigue Syndrome, but most of it was the natural consequence of OSU's dreadful performance last week. The Buckeyes turned the ball over five times in a loss to Purdue.

Saturday was a different story. Eventually.

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Pickin' on the Big Ten: Sorting Saturday

Mark Hasty — 2009-10-22T15:00:00 00:00

by Mark Hasty

Filed under: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue

Every Thursday, Pickin' on the Big Ten answers the questions, questions the answers, and looks ahead to Saturday's games.

It's now indisputably late October. The leaves here in Wisconsin went from being Monet-like things of beauty to being a soggy ground-based nuisance in less time than it takes for a new Jim Tressel criticism to appear on the internet. It feels like the season just started but after this weekend it's two-thirds over.

There are so many questions yet to answer, however. I've already explored the various Big Ten title scenarios, so let's look at some of the other burning issues.

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NFL Coaches Fight Club: Ken Whisenhunt (4) vs. Mike McCarthy (5)

Mark Hasty — 2009-10-22T14:00:00 00:00

by Mark Hasty

Filed under: Sports of an Extreme Nature, NFL

NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament. Because we have nothing better to do than predict what might happen if head coaches started punching each other in the face.

More Coverage: Fight Club Introduction, 1st Round Seeds

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NFL Coaches Fight Club: Jack Del Rio (1) vs. Dick Jauron (8)

Mark Hasty — 2009-10-21T11:30:00 00:00

by Mark Hasty

Filed under: NFL

NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament. Because we have nothing better to do than predict what might happen if head coaches started punching each other in the face.

More Coverage: Fight Club Introduction, 1st Round Seeds

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Big Ten Title Race Far From Over

Mark Hasty — 2009-10-20T15:30:00 00:00

by Mark Hasty

Filed under: Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Big 10

The Iowa Hawkeyes are the Big Ten's only undefeated team, both in conference play and overall. Right behind the No. 7 Hawkeyes stand a 5-2 team (Ohio State), a 4-3 team (Michigan State), and a 6-1 team Iowa has already beaten (Penn State).

The Hawks look to be in complete control of the conference race, with those 6-1 Nittany Lions nipping at their heels. But Iowa the only Big Ten team in control of its BCS destiny? No, no they are not. You might be surprised how little help some of the other teams need, too.

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Purdue Exercises Pryor Restraint

Mark Hasty — 2009-10-17T15:22:00 00:00

by Mark Hasty

Filed under: Ohio State, Purdue

The Purdue Boilermakers were long overdue for a victory. They got one today, and it was huge. Purdue defeated No. 7 Ohio State 26-18 in West Lafayette in a game that wasn't as close as the score indicated.

Boilermaker quarterback Joey Elliott sharpened his claws on Ohio State's secondary, going 31-of-50 for 281 yards and two touchdowns. Purdue's defense kept Ohio State's sputtering offense in check, with Terrelle Pryor looking particularly ineffective until a fourth quarter drive which pulled the Buckeyes within eight.

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Pickin' on the Big Ten: Teams for Sale

Mark Hasty — 2009-10-15T10:30:00 00:00

by Mark Hasty

Filed under: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Big 10

Every Thursday, Pickin' on the Big Ten gives you the bottom line on the upcoming weekend's games.

Every team now has six games on the books. Well, Illinois doesn't, which is good news/bad news. Illinois fans have only had to watch five games so far; that's good news. They have seven games left to watch, which is not such good news.

This would be a perfect time for mid-term report cards, but letter grades are so one-dimensional, don't you think? There are more meaningful comparisons to be made. Make the jump and see every Big Ten team compared to ... well, just go and look.

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Iowa Edges Michigan, Stays Perfect

Mark Hasty — 2009-10-10T23:47:00 00:00

by Mark Hasty

Filed under: Iowa, Michigan

The Iowa Hawkeyes rode five Michigan turnovers to a 30-28 victory in Iowa City tonight. The victory was their tenth in a row, which is the second-longest winning streak in the nation after Florida.

Iowa's passing game took control after quarterback Ricky Stanzi's first pass was intercepted by Michigan's Brandon Moore and returned for a touchdown. Stanzi threw two touchdown passes, both to tight end Tony Moeaki.

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Illinois Finds Another Way to Lose, This Time to Michigan State

Mark Hasty — 2009-10-10T15:15:00 00:00

by Mark Hasty

Filed under: Illinois, Michigan State

Back to the old drawing board. Ron Zook's plan to spark the Illinois offense by benching quarterback Juice Williams in favor of backup Eddie McGee didn't exactly yield the desired results Saturday as the Illini fell to Michigan State, 24-14.

McGee was ineffective, going 2-for-11 for just 32 yards and an interception before being pulled in the third quarter. Williams came in to relieve McGee. He wasn't a world-beater, but Williams was just enough better to get the Illini on the board.

As for Michigan State, for the first time all season, it played just one quarterback until garbage time.

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Iowa Student Arrested for Harassing Hawkeye Player During Game

Mark Hasty — 2009-10-09T22:30:00 00:00

by Mark Hasty

Filed under: Police Blotter

A University of Iowa student was arrested during last Saturday's Iowa-Arkansas State game for repeatedly harassing a Hawkeye football player from her seat in the first row behind the Iowa bench.

Brittney Mears, 22, was charged with third degree harassment for repeatedly yelling a player's name. The player was not identified in the criminal complaint, but a court order issued on Wednesday forbids Mears to have any contact with starting defensive end Adrian Clayborn.

Players get things yelled at them all the time during games. Virtually all of it gets ignored, and the ones who do the yelling rarely if ever get arrested. So what happened here?

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Pickin' On the Big Ten: Is the Peter Principle Making Illinois Ill?

Mark Hasty — 2009-10-08T11:30:00 00:00

by Mark Hasty

Filed under: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin

Every Thursday, Pickin' On the Big Ten stays late to run the TPS reports on the coming weekend's games.

In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his or her level of incompetence.

The above statement is better known as the Peter Principle, and if it doesn't make sense to you, join the club. I didn't get it the first 1,378 times I read it. Now I recognize it for what it is. It's an overly intellectual way of saying "People who do a good job keep getting promoted until they wind up in a job they can't do."

So what does this have to do with Illinois, you ask?

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Iowa Escapes Arkansas State

Mark Hasty — 2009-10-03T15:50:00 00:00

by Mark Hasty

Filed under: Arkansas State, Iowa

After shutting down nearly every passing attack it faced, the Iowa pass defense struggled Saturday against Arkansas State. The Hawkeyes barely got by the Red Wolves, 24-21.

Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi finally had the fast start which had eluded him thus far. Stanzi hit on his first five passes, and two of them went for touchdowns. However, two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown by ASU's Demario Davis, kept the Hawkeyes from pulling away.

Arkansas State's running game was all but absent today, and a glance at the box score would give you the wrong impression of ASU quarterback Corey Leonard's performance.

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