A week ago I had this post written in my head. I was going to reflect on the 1985 game in which Haden Fry brought a #1 ranked 7-0 Iowa to Ohio Stadium only to be sent home packing with a 7-1 record. I was going to flash back to that post game celebration — the one in which I hung from the goal post while band members yelled in anger as the celebration was messing up their post game show. That same goal post that hung in Papa Joes until it burned in the mid 90s. I thought maybe I’d give a run down of that historic game (which I see 11 Warriors already did) — a game which remains one of the biggest upsets in Ohio State history.
And then came Northwestern.
Not only did the wheels come off the Iowa BCS bus last Saturday, the axles broke and the engine caught fire. Game saving quarterback Ricky Stanzi was not only injured, he underwent surgery this week for a season ending ankle sprain. Hawkeye fans, who just a week ago were riding on the wave of a dream season, now find themselves reduced to a blathering frustration and defeatism with a healthy dose of blame tossed in. Posts on Iowa blog Black Heart Gold Pants this week range from “F*uck you jNU” to comments like this:
“…Northwestern successfully executed their gameplan of “knock out Iowa’s best offensive player” for the second consecutive season.” (here)
and this:
“First of all, huge congratulations to Northwestern. We must admit that we didn’t see their ‘injure Ricky Stanzi’ gameplan coming, but they worked it to perfection”
and this:
“Lastly, we must congratulate the Northwestern alumni, each and every one clad in Armani suits and driving Ferraris, for outpaying Iowa’s previous efforts to bribe the referees.”
While some question the play calling which lead to Stanzi’s injury, others attempt to fight through the defeatism with absurd formulas in an attempt to paint Ohio State as beatable.
All that aside though, I do feel for Iowa. It sucked when Beanie was knocked out before the USC game. It sucked when Ginn was hurt in the celebration following his opening touchdown return against Florida. It sucked back in 1985 when Keith Byers injured his foot and couldn’t play in the upset mentioned above. None of those injuries amounted to the loss Iowa suffered last week. After losing Stanzi, they are forced to rely on sophomore quarterback James Vandenberg. Stanzi joins a long list of Iowa players out due to injuries.
And that is why the Buckeyes are currently a 17 point favorite over Iowa. If the defense plays like they did against Penn State…if they play like they did against Minnesota…if they play like they did against anyone other then Purdue, then 17 points is a good call.
Although I can’t get over the nagging feeling that the Penn State defense was way, way overrated, I think this Ohio State offense has turned a corner. At the very least, the offensive line demonstrated that they can hold the line which should at the very least provide a much needed boost of confidence. We also saw that when given the time, Pryor looks much better. He passes better, his ability to read the play looks better, his decision making is better. He starts to look like the quarterback Coach Tressel recruited.
The Iowa defense played havoc with the Penn State offense but so did Ohio State. Daryll Clark didn’t look as flustered last week as he did against Iowa–he just couldn’t get anything done. If it’s worth anything, the Buckeyes held Penn State to about a 100 yards less then Iowa (207/307).
As we all know, this game is going to come down to the Ohio State defense. Not only will they face an untested quarterback, they will line up against an Iowa offensive line plagued with injuries.
If Penn State was a sign of things to come, Pryor and company may be able to beat the spread with just a couple of trips to the end zone and a field goal or two tossed in for good measure.
Update: Apparently I was on to something when I talked about Purdue as a wake up call. Dispatch has the story this morning.
Don’t forget to predict and win!The Buckeye Blog is giving away a sweet iPhone case for guessing the score to the Ohio State/Iowa game. Click here to enter.
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I read the post on the Iowa site you mentioned above. Their logic makes no sense. Bunch of poor sports (most of them). Like every blog they show passion for their team. At some time you have let realism set in. I was one that was worried about the IOWA game. I feel much better with Stanzzzi out. I feel better about covering the 17 points today than I did two weeks ago. We all have to keep in mind this is college football and anything can happen. Let hope the Buckeye’s come out with same intensity the showed against Penn State and Kick Iowa’s Ass. Go Buckeyes’s
It should “when Ginn hurt his foot against Florida”… not wells.
Whoops….that’s what I meant.
Thanks.
I really hope and strongly believe it is Buckeyes’s time to win this year. Let us hope I am right
To look at the Northwestern-Iowa play where Stanzi got hurt, there’s no way it could be called intentionally trying to take him out of the game. What was Stanzi doing throwing from his own end zone anyway? It was just a normal play with an unfortunate ending. As Annapolisbuckeye makes a point of, there have been numerous times that Buckeye players have been injured and missed a big game. That’s football (remember, it’s a contact sport). I look for a win on Saturday, but maybe not by 17. Iowa’s defense is pretty good. I’ll take the win. Go Bucks!!