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| Iowa defense shuts down the Gophers
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| Staff CollegeFootballNews.com | Nov 21, 2009 | ||
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Iowa Hawkeyes 2009 Season ... Head Coach: Kirk Ferentz
Iowa Hawkeyes Nov. 21 at Iowa 12 … Minnesota 0 In an ugly defensive battle, Iowa came up with Daniel Murray field goals from 30 and 45 yards out and a one-yard Brandon Wegher run, and the defense did the rest to win the Floyd of Rosedale trophy. Minnesota held Iowa to 171 yards, but it only came up with 201 of its own and got stuffed on its one great scoring chance with the ball at the two. Player of the Game: Iowa LB Pat Angerer made 16 tackles Minnesota: Passing: Adam Weber, 14-40, 153 yds Rushing: Kevin Whaley, 11-38, Receiving: Da’Jon McKnight, 4-63 Iowa: Passing: James Vandenberg, 11-24, 117 yds, 1 INT Rushing: Adam Robinson, 12-72, Receiving: Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, 7-63 What It All Means: It wasn’t pretty, and that’s being nice about it. The defense was terrific, stuffing the Minnesota offense time and again, and the special teams were solid, with the punting game doing its part, but the offense was a big bowl of yuck. On the plus side, Adam Robinson ran extremely well early, coming off an ankle injury, but he ended up sitting out the second half after taking a big shot. James Vandenberg didn’t move the chains and struggled on third downs, but Pat Angerer and the defense took care of the game. Was this enough to make the BCS want the Hawkeyes? No, but they should get in anyway. Nov. 14 at Ohio State 27 … Iowa 24 OT Devin Barclay hit a 39-yard field goal in overtime to send Ohio State to its first Rose Bowl in the Jim Tressel era. Iowa was able to force overtime on a ten-yard Marvin McNutt touchdown catch with just under three minutes to play, and each team played it safe in the final moments to force the extra time. Iowa got the ball first, but sacks forced a 4th and 26, well out of field goal range, with the attempt falling incomplete. James Vandenberg threw two touchdown passes to McNutt and Derrell Johnson-Koulianos returned a kickoff 99 yards for an Iowa score, while the Buckeyes got two touchdown runs from Brandon Saine, from 22 and 49 yards, and an 11-yard Dan Herron score on the way to a 24-10 fourth quarter lead before the Hawkeyes came back. OSU outrushed Iowa 229 yards to 67. Player of the Game: Ohio State RB Brandon Saine ran 11 times for 103 yards and two scores. Iowa: Passing: Terrelle Pryor, 14-17, 93 yds Rushing: Brandon Saine, 11-103, 2 TD, Receiving: Jake Ballard, 3-24 Ohio State: Passing: James Vandenberg, 20-33, 233 yds, 2 TD, 3 INT Rushing: Adam Robinson, 20-74, Receiving: Marvin McNutt, 6-78, 2 TD What It All Means: Iowa stepped up and played like the Iowa that was supposedly in the national title hunt a few years ago. Pat Angerer made 13 tackles, and DE Adrian Clayborn made 12 tackles, a sack, and three tackles for loss, but the defense couldn’t slow down the OSU running game early. Offensively, James Vandenberg played better than anyone could’ve hoped for, and now there has to be some excitement about what he can bring to the attack over the next few years. This might have been a disappointment, but if the Hawkeyes can blow away Minnesota, they should get an at-large BCS slot. Oct. 7 Northwestern 17 … at Iowa 10 Marshall Thomas came up with two fumble recoveries including one in the end zone, and Drake Dunsmore caught a four-yard touchdown pass as Northwestern scored 17 unanswered points to ruin Iowa’s dream season. The Hawkeyes started out how with Marvin McNutt taking a Ricky Stanzi pass 74 yards for a score and Daniel Murray hit a 39-yard field goal, but Stanzi suffered an injured ankle and was knocked out of the game. That was it for the Hawkeye offense as backup James Vandenberg completed a mere 9-of-27 passes for 82 yards. Player of the Game: Northwestern S Brad Phillips made ten tackles with a forced fumble. Iowa: Passing: Ricky Stanzi, 4-9, 134 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT Rushing: Brandon Wegher, 19-63, Receiving: Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, 6-63 Northwestern: Passing: Mike Kafka, 10-18, 72 yds Rushing: Scott Concannon, 15-59, Receiving: Sidney Stewart, 4-24 What It All Means: James Vandenberg gave it a shot, but he wasn’t able to come up with the one big throw needed to loosen up the Wildcat defense. The four turnovers turned out to be a killer, but while the offense will get most of the blame for the loss, and many will assume the loss of Ricky Stanzi was the difference, the defense didn’t do its part to step up when the offense was struggling. Iowa has to quickly rebound or the dream season could quickly go into the tank. Beating Ohio State next week keeps the Rose Bowl hopes alive, which is where Iowa would’ve gone if it was unbeaten. Oct. 31 at Iowa 42 … Indiana 24 Indiana was in complete control of the game, outplaying Iowa in every way with Ben Chappell throwing two first half touchdown passes on the way to a 21-7 lead. After recovering a fumbled punt, Indiana was going in for a dagger of a score midway through the third, but a Chappell pass bounced off of several players and into the hands of Tyler Sash, who took it 86 yards for a touchdown. IU rebounded with a field goal, and saw a touchdown catch get overturned by replay, and then it was all Iowa. Ricky Stanzi threw five interceptions in a miserable day, and then he went ballistic in the fourth with a 92-yard pass play to Marvin McNutt igniting a 28-point fourth quarter with Brandon Wegher running for two scores and Derrell Johnson–Koulianos scoring on a 66-yard touchdown catch. The two teams combined for nine turnovers, with the wind playing a big role in the passing game. Player of the Game: Iowa QB Ricky Stanzi, for his fourth quarter. He completed 13-of-26 passes for 337 yards and two touchdowns and five interceptions on the game. Indiana : Passing: Ben Chappell, 23-41, 227 yds, 2 TD, 3 INT Rushing: Darius Willis, 21-54, 1 TD, Receiving: Damarlo Belcher, 6-89, 1 TD Iowa: Passing: Ricky Stanzi, 13-26, 337 yds, 2 TD, 5 INT Rushing: Brandon Wegher, 25-119, 3 TD, Receiving: Marvin McNutt, 4-155, 1 TD What It All Means: The mark of a good team is being able to overcome adversity to get a big win. The other mark is not falling behind to a bad team like Indiana in the first place. Give Ricky Stanzi credit for bouncing back after a miserable first three quarters, and credit RB Brandon Wegher for stepping in for an injured Adam Robinson to run for 119 yards and three scores, but this was ugly. 89-0 is 9-0, and but the Hawkeyes can’t play like this against Northwestern next week or it’ll get tagged. Oct. 24 Iowa 15 … at Michigan State 13 Ricky Stanzi connected with Marvin McNutt on a seven-yard touchdown pass with no time left on the clock to cap off a furious final few minutes. Michigan State, helped by a hook-and-lateral to get in position, took a late lead on a 30-yard strike from Kirk Cousins to Blair White with 1:37 to play. But Iowa, helped by a penalty, got deep into MSU territory only to misfire on a few chances into the end zone. Before the final few two touchdowns, the two teams traded field goals with Daniel Murray connected from 37, 20, and 20 for Iowa, and Michigan State getting 34 and 23 yarders from Brett Swenson. Iowa only gained 276 yards of offense. Player of the Game: Iowa QB Ricky Stanzi completed 11-of-27 passes for 138 yards and a score Michigan State: Passing: Kirk Cousins, 16-32, 225 yds, 1 TD Rushing: Edwin Baker, 11-68, Receiving: Blair White, 3-95, 1 TD Iowa: Passing: Ricky Stanzi, 11-27, 138 yds, 1 TD Rushing: Adam Robinson, 27-109, Receiving: Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, 3-59 What It All Means: Everything was there for Iowa to finally lose, but Ricky Stanzi turned into a Hawkeye legend with his tremendous game-winning drive. Michigan State shut down the passing game all night long, the running game couldn’t lead the way to touchdowns, and the defense struggled a bit with the Kirk Cousins and the Spartan passing attack. It doesn’t matter; Iowa won another great road game, and now everything is set up for a bit finishing kick with three of the final four games at home. However, to truly get into the national title debate, blowout wins over Indiana and Northwestern are a must. That might be tough with RB Adam Robinson out until the bowl game. Oct. 17 Iowa 20 … at Wisconsin 10 Iowa scored 20 unanswered points while the defense put the clamps down on the Badger offense to get a key road win. Wisconsin got up to a 10-0 lead on a ten-yard Montee Ball run and a 34-yard Philip Welch kick, but the Hawkeyes controlled the rest of the game with Ricky Stanzi hitting Tony Moeaki for a 24-yard touchdown and Adam Robinson put them ahead for good on a ten-yard Adam Robinson run. A 48-yard Daniel Murry kick put the game away. UW QB Scott Tolzien got picked off to snuff a final desperation drive. Player of the Game: Iowa QB Ricky Stanzi completed 17-of-23 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown. Wisconsin: Passing: Scott Tolzien, 15-25, 143 yds, 3 INT Rushing: John Clay, 21-75 , Receiving: Isaac Anderson, 4-39 Iowa: Passing: Ricky Stanzi, 17-23, 218 yds, 1 TD Rushing: Adam Robinson, 20-91, 1 TD, Receiving: Derrell Johnsoin-Koulianos, 8-113 What It All Means: Now it’s Iowa’s Big Ten to lose. There’s still a lot of work to be done, a loss at Ohio State would still be costly, even with OSU losing to Purdue, but with the way the offense is playing air-tight, with just one turnover against the Badgers, and with the way the defense is doing a fantastic job of making big stops, the formula is working. As long as Iowa is +2 in turnover margin, like it was against UW, and as long as the offense doesn’t have to take too many chances, everything will work. Going to Michigan State will be another big test, but the Spartans aren’t great at hanging on to the ball. Oct. 10 at Iowa 30 … Michigan 28 Iowa QB Ricky Stanzi threw an interception to Donovan Warren for a touchdown in the first minute of the game, but he settled down to connect with TE Tony Moeaki for touchdown passes from 34 and 42 yards out. The second one gave the Hawkeyes a 30-21 lead early in the fourth quarter, and then the defense did the rest … but it was a fight. Denard Robinson, who stepped in for an ineffective Tate Forcier, scored on a three-yard touchdown run with just over three minutes to play to pull Michigan within two, but he threw a bad interception to Brett Greenwood to seal the Iowa win. Brandon Minor ran for 95 yards and two short touchdowns for the Wolverines. Player of the Game: Iowa TE Tony Moeaki caught six passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Michigan: Passing: Tate Forcier, 8-19, 94 yds, 1 INT Rushing: Brandon Minor, 22-95, 2 TD, Receiving: Martavious Odoms, 4-76 Iowa: Passing: Ricky Stanzi, 20-38, 284 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT Rushing: Adam Robinson, 10-70, Receiving: Tony Moeaki, 6-105, 2 TD What It All Means: Iowa actually showed off a little bit of an offense. The running game will never be explosive or impressive, but it can be effective enough to get but if it can provide a bit more than the 2.4 yards per carry it cranked out against the Wolverines. Ricky Stanzi did a nice job of overcoming an early pick-six to have a strong performance, arguably his best of the season, but it was the defense that came through when absolutely needed … again. Jeremiha Hunter and Pat Angerer combined for 24 tackles as they did their best to keep Michigan under wraps. But to beat Wisconsin, the defense will need to come up with an even stronger performance and has to be far better against the run. Oct. 3 at Iowa 24 … Arkansas State 21 Iowa appeared to be cruising to a nice easy win as Ricky Stanzi hit Trey Stross for a 33-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and followed it up with a 41-yarder to Marvin McNutt, but Arkansas State kept chipping back. A 43-yard score to McNutt made it 21-7, and the Hawkeyes were driving for another score when Demario Davis returned an interception 75 yards for a touchdown. But Davis was hit with an unsportsmanlike penalty for doing a backflip into the end zone, and Iowa took advantage of the short field with Daniel Murray hitting a 20-yard field goal. ASU cut the lead to three in the final minutes on a Trevor Gillott scoring grab, but wouldn’t threaten again. Player of the Game: Iowa QB Ricky Stanzi completed 18-of26 passes for 296 yards and three touchdown with two interceptions, and he ran for 19 yards on six carries. Arkansas State: Passing: Corey Leonard, 22-40, 216 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT Rushing: Reggie Arnold, 10-42, Receiving: Brandon Thompkins, 8-76, 1 TD Iowa: Passing: Ricky Stanzi, 18-26, 296 yds, 3 TD, 2 INT Rushing: Brandon Wegher, 11-49, Receiving: Marvin McNutt, 4-121, 2 TD What It All Means: Fine, so this is what Iowa is going to be. The offense finally started to wake up a bit with a strong first quarter against Arkansas State, but the attack bogged down, there wasn’t enough production from the ground game, and the game got way too close. The Iowa D struggled with the mobility and moxie of ASU QB Corey Leonard, and now comes another baller of a quarterback with Tate Forcier and Michigan up next. The focus should be there this week, but it would be nice if the offense could come up with a more complete performance. Sept. 26 Iowa 21 … at Penn State 10 Iowa’s defense gave up a 79-yard touchdown catch from Chaz Powell in the first two minutes, and then held on the rest of the way allowing just a first quarter field goal and forcing four second half turnovers. The Hawkeye offense only managed 298 yards, but the special teams came through with two Daniel Murray field goals and a 53-yard Adrian Clayborn blocked punt for a touchdowns. The offense converted one of the turnovers to go 24 yards in three plays with Adam Robinson all but putting the game away on a 13-yard scoring run. Navorro Bowman and Josh Hull combined for 26 tackles and five tackles for loss for the Nittany Lions. Player of the Game: Iowa LB Pat Angerer made 14 tackles with an interception and a forced fumble. Penn State: Passing: Daryll Clark, 12-32, 198 yds, 1 TD, 3 INT Rushing: Evan Royster, 17-69, Receiving: Chaz Powell, 3-96, 1 TD Iowa: Passing: Ricky Stanzi, 11-26, 135 yds, 2 INT Rushing: Adam Robinson, 19-88, 1 TD, Receiving: Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, 3-50 What It All Means: Iowa’s offense didn’t do much of anything but capitalize on the chances it got from the defense. There were two interceptions thrown by Ricky Stanzi, who couldn’t get the passing game on track, but there weren’t the major mistakes that the Penn State offense made. The defense is great at finding ways to get into the backfield and Pat Angerer is having a huge season at linebacker, but there might be a ceiling on how high the team can go if the offense doesn’t start to produce more consistently. Sept. 19 at Iowa 27 … Arizona 17 Adam Robinson came up with two short scores and the defense held Arizona to just 253 yards with eight first downs as Iowa came up with an easier win than the final score would indicate. Arizona get its first touchdown on a 38-yard interception return by Trevin Wade, but couldn’t get back into the end zone until late in the fourth when the outcome had been settled. Daniel Murray nailed two second half field goals for the Hawkeyes and Brandon Wegher scored from two yards out. Player of the Game: Iowa RB Adam Robinson ran 18 times for 101 yards and two touchdowns Iowa: Passing: Richard Stanzi, 20-32, 205 yds, 1 INT Rushing: Adam Robinson, 18-101, 2 TD, Receiving: Colin Sandeman, 5-47 Arizona: Passing: Nick Foles, 6-11, 55 yds, 1 TD Rushing: Nic Grigsby, 11-75, Receiving: Nic Grigsby, 3-14 What It All Means: Iowa is hitting its stride at just the right time. The defense shut down the Arizona offense allowing just 105 passing yards while coming up with stop after stop on third downs. The Wildcats only converted on 2-of-12 third down chances, while the Iowa offense got a steady performance from RB Adam Robinson to overcome the lack of explosion from Ricky Stanzi and the offense. The defense should be able to keep Penn State’s ground game in check next week, but Stanzi will have to do more to have a chance at the upset. Sept. 12 at Iowa 35 ... Iowa State 3 Tyler Sash came up with three interceptions and Ricky Stanzi threw four touchdown passes as Iowa overcame last week's clunker against Northern Iowa to win a laugher. The Cyclones scored first on a 46-yard Grant Mahoney field goal, and then it was all Iowa with Stanzi connecting with four different receivers for scores, highlighted by an 18-yarder to Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, while Brandon Wegher got the ground game going with 101 yards and a one-yard score. Player of the Game: Iowa SS Tyler Sash made ten tackles, two tackles for loss, and three interceptions. Iowa State: Passing: Austen Arnaud, 10-22, 79 yds, 4 INT Rushing: Alexander Robinson, 19-100, Receiving: Darius Reynolds, 7-19 Iowa: Passing: Ricky Stanzi, 18-34, 197 yds, 4 TD, 2 INT Rushing: Brandon Wegher, 15-101, 1 TD, Receiving: Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, 3-39, 1 TD What It All Means: After the problems against Northern Iowa, the Hawkeyes needed a laugher in a game that's usually a battle. They got enough of a ground game to help out Ricky Stanzi, but Brandon Wegher isn't Shonn Greene and the offense will fall on the passing game. The defense struggled a bit against the run, but made up for it with the six turnovers needed to end the game well before the fourth quarter. Now it's statement time. Beating Iowa State was nice, but beating Arizona would be a huge step before dealing with Penn State. Sept. 5 at Iowa 17 … Northern Iowa 16 Iowa survived the upset bid when Broderick Binns blocked a 40-yard game-winning field goal attempt with seven seconds to play, but in a bizarre twist, Northern Iowa got a second chance since the ball didn't pass the line of scrimmage and the Hawkeyes didn't recover it. The second chance by Panther kicker Billy Hallgren was also blocked, this time by Jeremiha Hunter, and this time Iowa secured the ball to seal the win. Iowa's offense sputtered managing an 11-yard Adam Robinson touchdown run in the third and a six-yard Tony Moeaki scoring grab in the second half to get just enough points to overcome a 13-poind UNI run highlighted by a 14-yard Ryan Mahaffey scoring grab. Player of the Game: Iowa LB Pat Angerer made 12 tackle with a tackle for loss. Iowa: Passing: Richard Stanzi, 22-34, 242 yds, 1 TD Rushing: Richard Stanzi, 5-38, Receiving: Tony Moeaki, 10-83, 1 TD Northern Iowa: Passing: Pat Grace, 23-36, 270 yds, 1 TD Rushing: Carlos Anderson, 24-75,, Receiving: D.J. Hord, 3-46 What It All Means: How much does Iowa miss Shonn Greene and having a back like Jewel Hampton ready to step in? The ground game that was a lock for 100-yards plus last season gained a mere 87 yards with Adam Robinson leading the way, and while Ricky Stanzi was fine throwing the ball, he didn't do enough to get the offense rolling. The offensive line was inconsistent and didn't give Stanzi enough time, meaning there could be an even bigger role for Tony Moeaki, the star tight end who caught ten passes and finally appears healthy enough to be a major playmaker. With a trip to Iowa State up next, the team has to be far sharper. Copyright © Scout.com and CollegeFootballNews.com | |||