September 2009 Archives

I am hearing it everywhere ... on the streets, around the water-cooler and at the student union [that's right, I have my finger on the pulse of the younger generation]. 

It is shaping up to be a BIG weekend in Happy Valley.

• The Game Day crew is going to be here.  I hope that Corso will have the guts to pull on the Herky head in front of the Nittany Lion faithful.

• I will of course be sporting my IOWA gear to the office tomorrow.  Not sure how that is gonna go over with the new boss ... so it goes.

• In case you were unaware, the Hawkeyes ruined Penn State's chance at a perfect season last year ... by one point.  While the great minds of State College certainly recognize the favor that IOWA did them [saving them from a national championship game that would certainly have been even more embarrassing than their Rose Bowl flop] the remainder of the community is less forgiving and out for revenge.

• There are some big name players from both squads that are questionable for Saturday's prime time showdown.  Penn State linebackers Bowman and Lee will likely be game day decisions.  IOWA could be without the services of such impact players as offensive lineman Bulaga, receiver DJK [Derrell Johnson-Koulianos] and tight end Moeaki.

• I strongly believe that IOWA has a great chance to once again slay Goliath.  During pre-conference play, the Hawks have displayed a tendency to start out slowly and build momentum as the game progresses.  Penn State shows opposite signs, coming out of the gate strong and tailing off in the second half.  It will be interesting to see if these trends continue and if so, how IOWA will fare.

Oh yeah ... Wisconsin hosts Michigan State, Indiana will try for win number four at Michigan and Purdue entertains the Fighting Irish [ESPN - 8pm EST].

More on that title later, but for now ...

It is another gorgeous Friday in Happy Valley.  The tents are up in Paternoville and we are less than 24 hours away from Big Ten Football.  If you can't wait that long [and I understand if you can't] the Broncos of Boise State will be spanking Fresno State this evening [9:00 EST on ESPN].  I realize it is a poor substitute for an IOWA game ... which is why I always keep one or two on my DVR.

I am saddened to report the fact [of which I am sure you are already aware] that the Big10 was unable to find success during the evening hours last Saturday.  Purdue suffered a two-point loss to the Oregon ducks and USC pulled their infamous "looks like they might lose ... oh no ... they won" act on the Buckeyes.

Speaking of Oregon ... I am normally a supporter of their avant-garde uniforms.  But the feathers on the shoulder pad thing ... IOWA did that a decade ago.  Yes, that IS Tim Dwight.  It feels god to get that off my chest.  Now we can look ahead to this week's matchups.

Northern Illinois @ Purdue

Purdue will have a chance to rebound from their loss when they face the Huskies.  Wisconsin opened their season with a 28-20 win over Northern Illinois.  Let's see how the Boilermakers do.  Hopefully with a win they can lay down some tracks and pick up some steam [see what I did there?] before they welcome the Fighting Irish to West Lafayette.

 

Indiana @ Akron

Keeping with the trend of common opponents ... the Hoosiers hit the road for a game against Akron.  The Zips were zapped by PSU [31-7] in their season opener.  I projected three wins for Indiana this year.  They could meet that expectation this weekend.

 

Arizona @ IOWA

When the Wildcats of the Pac-10 conference venture to Iowa City tomorrow it will mark the final tune-up game for IOWA.  I don't know much about the Arizona squad but let's hope that the boys are not looking past them [focusing on the much-anticipated showdown against Penn State].  Here's hoping that Stanzi displays a little more control on his long balls and that star-to-be Wegher proves that last week's 100+ yard performance was not a fluke.

 

Wofford @ Wisconsin

The Wofford Terriers ... I don't know what to say here.  The Big10 Network pre-game guys should have fun crafting a headline for this one.

 

Temple & Penn State

The Owls will be taking a pounding and collecting a check.  Reports suggest that LB Bowman will be on the sidelines, getting healthy for the Hawkeyes.  It is unlikely that this game will be worth watching after half-time.  This could be the last chance of the season to get tickets below face value.  I passed up two pairs today ... could not risk missing the kickoff of the IOWA game.

The Hawkeyes got off to another slow start but were able to pour it on in the second half to yield a convincing victory in Ames.  Perhaps if we played that well last week we would not have slipped out of the national rankings ... so it goes.  Ricky Stanzi put on a good show, distributing the ball to many receivers, though he had difficulty with the trajectories of his long attempts.  The offensive star of the game was unquestionably true freshman running back Brandon Wegher.  On the other side of the ball Tyler Sash racked up three interceptions, caused one fumble and made ten tackles.  Things are looking up for the Hawks.

Wisconsin got more of a challenge than they might have expected from Fresno State.  The back-and-forth battle went to a second overtime before the Badgers secured their second victory of the season.  So does that mean they played seven quarters in Madison today?

Indiana maintained its undefeated status by holding on for a victory against Western Michigan.  After putting up 14 points in the second quarter the Hoosiers survived 106 penalty yards, a blocked field goal and the Broncos final drive.

Penn state also recorded another home win ... though their victory was less impressive and dramatic than those described above.  The most exciting part of the game in this scribe's eyes was most certainly the commercial for the World Campus.

Good luck to Purdue and Ohio State this evening ... Go BIG10

It has been a busy week in my world ... darn work encroaching on my social networking time.  Another reason that I have been absent from these pages lately is the fact that I have just unclenched from game one ...

The Hawkeyes have not lost to the Panthers of Northern Iowa since their first clash in 1898.  This Saturday they came uncomfortably close to breaking that streak.  Fortunately the IOWA special teams came through with TWO last second field goal blocks to preserve that precious lead.  As expected, the Jewel Hampton-less running game got off to a sputtering start.  On the plus side ... it was nice to see the new guys can take some hits and hold on to the ball.  Paul Chaney Jr. had some Kinnick crowd pleasing big plays. 

With the exception of Illinois, the rest of the Big10 conference managed to win their first games as well.  Indiana went first, opening the season on Thursday night with a win over Eastern Kentucky.  Not sure if the Big10 network picked up this game.  We were at a sports bar that was broadcasting the South Carolina snoozefest.  Along these lines ... I fell asleep before the Boise State/Oregon game got exciting.  Truthfully I did not watch as much college football as I should have.  I hope to remedy that this weekend.

Speaking of losing interest in games ... after the Wisconsin Badgers scored on their first play from scrimmage I quickly gave up hope that the contest would provide much drama.  Likewise, the Nittany Lions quickly pounced on the Akron Zips in a one-sided affair in Happy Valley.  The victory [and the losses of the Oklahoma, etc.] propelled Penn State to #5 in the USA Today poll.  That being said ... Purdue gets the gold star for the week.  The boilermakers put up 52 points in their whipping of Toledo.

Tomorrow the Hawkeyes play their first road game in Ames ... here's hoping that this week the win is less of a nail-biter and we can keep the Cy-Hawk trophy in Iowa City.  Sticking with the theme of potentially disastrous road trips ... Purdue heads to Oregon to battle the agitated ducks.

The undefeated Indiana Hoosiers take on Western Michigan in a game that will be broadcast on the Big10 network.  PSU hosts the Orangemen of Syracuse and Wisconsin welcomes Fresno State to Camp Randall

On the fringes of the G-CC [hi Amy] ... the Ohio State Buckeyes face off against USC in Columbus.  Let's hope that this game lives up to the hype.  Go Big Ten !

Welcome back dear reader.

The weather has yet to cool* ... the leaves have not begun their chromatic shifts ... but other signs of fall are here.  I am not talking about the hot mess that is pre-season pro football but rather the glorious ceremony that is occurring on college campuses nationwide.  Young adults are fleeing the confines of parental guidance and beginning their post-secondary academic careers.

As these future leaders of America prime their livers in anticipation of 'pong marathons, noble university employees toil tirelessly in preparation of the season's first kick.

I hope that you have [or will soon] catch college football fever.  It is an affliction, much like certain others that I am too classy to name, that is very fun to contract and never goes away.

I invite you to please read on and stay tuned for the details of the Graham-Cooper Cup ... Year FOUR !

- blake

Let's take a quick look at the contenders ... in no particular order ... except that we will start with THE BEST !


The scheduling gods have not been kind to the Hawks.  This year the team will be packing bags for games against Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Ohio State.  Even the Cy-Hawk series contest is a road game.

I anticipate ...

A great battle in Happy Valley.  The Hawkeyes will begin conference play @ Beaver Stadium.  Even considering his advanced age it is unlikely that coach Paterno has forgotten last year's soul-crushing, dream-season killing defeat by Kirk and the boys.

A great crowd for the Indiana game.  It is unlikely that the Hoosiers will provide much competition but it is a Halloween game.



They have a nicely renovated stadium ... and nobody can take that away from them.  I hope they do well this year.  But not so well that the demand for tickets begins to exceed the supply.  I plan on making the trip to Bloomington next year for the IOWA game.

I anticipate ...

A 3-9 season.  Sorry Jan ... take a look at the schedule.  It is not going to be pretty.





The G-CC defending champion Nittany Lions are poised to repeat.  Darryl Clark will return at the helm and a rehabilitated BMOC/LB Sean Lee is back to anchor the defense.  In contrast to IOWA, PSU has a favorable schedule ... both OSU and the Hawkeyes travel to Happy Valley, the Badgers are not on the schedule and talk about your cream-puff pre-conference ... Akron, Temple AND Eastern Illinois.  We will have to wait and see how the SI cover curse plays out.








I anticipate ...

A great rotation of receivers getting some PT.  Paterno is coping with the loss of some very productive wide-outs.  Perhaps he will work in TE Andrew Szczerba, who impressed me at the spring scrimmage.

Payback the likes of which you have never seen.  If PSU beats IOWA ... I may have to find a new job.






A wise man once said, "College would be great if it were not for all the classes."  I am sure that Justin Siller agrees.  The QB-turned RB-turned back to-QB proved he was a bad mamma-jamma during the Boilermakers' contest with Michigan last year.  Though it appears he was not powerful or elusive enough to avoid being sacked by Purdue's academic policies.

I anticipate ...

A good year for first-year coach Danny Hope ... or at least an improvement relative to the stinker that Tiler went out on.  Games against Oregon and Notre Dame could provide pre-conference challenges but the lack of Penn State or IOWA on the schedule should help.



Will the 2009-10 season be just another, or perhaps the final nail in Bielema's coffin?

I anticipate ...

The Badgers could post a winning season.  And if they don't ... it is not likely that many people will notice.  Though they try to deny it, the eyes of most Wisconsinites will be focused on the graying golden boy dressed in purple and gold.

A black and gold slap in the face.  Who schedules IOWA for homecoming?!