Friday, July 17, 2009

Hall of Ferentz — Defensive end « On Iowa


Hall of Ferentz — Defensive end « On Iowa:
"Iowa's Matt Roth (31) celebrates after sacking Florida quarterback Chris Leak during the Outback Bowl Thursday January 1, 2004 in Tampa, Florida. Iowa won, 37-17. You could make a pretty good argument for Roth being the recruit the helped pump up Iowa's classes early in the Kirk Ferentz era. (Brian Ray/Gazette)

1) Matt Roth (2001-04)
One of the most singular personalities in the Ferentz era, I was lucky enough to be invited for a home visit to the Roths in OakBrook. They were hilarious. Unfortunately, these might have still been the days when The Gazette was still charging for internet access. If this scheduling thingie works, that story should be under this one."

Matt Roth was one of the best players I have watched from talent and antics. His Gatorchop after sacking Chris Leak in the first Outback was just hilarious! Gators and Ron Zooker thought they were going to roll all over the Hawks. But Roth and the rest of the Hawks put the ass whooping on them instead! Then comes the Cap1 Bowl and LSU. LSU coming off a National Championship playing Iowa was cocky as ever. I heard Tigerbait everywhere I went from Disney World to strolling down the street of Orlando. We go to the Hawkeye Huddle and Matt Roth was given the chance to speak. Matt goes, "I have two words for LSU!!!!" and flips them the bird with both hands stretched in the air. The crowd went nuts!!! Thanks for the memories Matt!!!!

Former Northeast star Jeff Brinson primed for bigger role at Iowa

Former Northeast star Jeff Brinson primed for bigger role at Iowa:

After sitting out last season, former Northeast standout Jeff Brinson has rocketed up the depth chart at Iowa, so much that he could be the Hawkeyes' starting running back for their season opener against Northern Iowa on Sept. 5. Brinson headed into this season as the No. 2 back behind Jules Hampton. But Hampton sustained a knee injury in non-contact drills two weeks ago. Hampton will not surgery, but will most likely miss time recovering before the season opener. “I know I’m definitely going to get a chance to see some playing time,” Brinson said."

Tampbay.com it is Jewel Hampton not Jules! LOL! Anyhow I am really excited to see Jeff in action. I have heard a lot of similarities with him and Shonn from practice. He is a powerful, downhill runner with good burst of speed. A Northeast High player posted the following about Jeff, "man thats good for him i saw him workin out while northeast was workin out he is fast and big he will run over people like nothing." If Jeff's 4.5 in the 40 is legit then he is faster than Shonn. Shonn weighed around the 230lb mark toward the end of last year. By all accounts, Jeff should be close to 225lbs by season start. They are exactly the same height. It will be very interesting to see Jeff on the field and how he compares to Shonn's sophmore year when I knew he would be a special RB.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Ranking my favorite Big Ten stadiums - ESPN


Ranking my favorite Big Ten stadiums - Big Ten - ESPN:

"4. Kinnick Stadium -- I loved my trip to Kinnick last November for the Penn State game, and the stadium is quickly becoming one of my favorites. No Big Ten venue has better sightlines for fans, who are right on top of the field. Unlike the larger venues in the league, there really aren't many lousy seats at Kinnick. Iowa fans always sell out the place, and the recent renovation brought some good upgrades."

I take it Adam didn't sit in the Club Seats where they serve alcohol!!! The seats are freaking awesome!!! I sit up there every time I go to a game! It just rocks! I have been to Camp R and it sucked bad! Only good thing about it is the bars that surround it but it is impossible to get a beer. I would prefer a tailgater over a bar scene before a game!!! I was at the OSU game in the Club Seats and it was just awesome. I was going to go back for the PSU game but after Iowa blew the game against Illinois, the wife said no go...

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Consistency the next step for Iowa's Stanzi - ESPN

Consistency the next step for Iowa's Stanzi - Big Ten - ESPN: "Kirk Ferentz calls them Ricky Stanzi's Kodak moments, and Stanzi had an album full of them last season for Iowa. Stanzi made his share of mistakes in his first year as the Hawkeyes' starting quarterback, but he also showed impressive poise to bounce back virtually every time."

In Ricky's defense, he didn't get a lot of PT in the first four games as Jake got most of the snaps. It had to be difficult coming off the bench in those first four games then going into NW as the starter. He threw the ball well against NW just his TOs killed the Hawks. Inexperience has a lot to do with that. Hawks were up 17-10 at half but didn't score in the 2H. Would the Hawks have won if Ricky started and played all of the first four games. I would have to say very much so, YES! Sure Jake didn't turn the ball over often but he also couldn't throw the ball close to our WRs no longer their DBs.

I heard from a very good source that Ricky was practicing with the 1st string in bowl preparation after the 2007 season (which Jake was just horrid). Ricky was going to be named the starter if Iowa made a bowl game. Unfortunately, the Hawks didn't get a bowl invite because I think Ricky would have lit it up and the experience would have carried well into the 2008 season. Instead, he had to go back to sharing time with Jake.

Now to the present, Ricky is the clear cut starter and working full time during the spring and summer with the 1st string. He played extremely well against Minny last year and then again against SC in the Outback Bowl (except the two INTs but they weren't both his fault). If Ricky can cut down his TOs especially the Fumbles, I look for him to have an outstanding Junior year.

His backups: Ricky isn't sitting really comfortable as the starter. I have heard many good reports about his two redshirt freshmen backups in Vandenberg/Wienke. Wienke was an Elite 11 QB (but so was Jake) and has a very strong, accurate arm. He was initially committed to Michigan until Rod took over the HC job. Vandy by all accounts has taken the #2 role. With how good Wienke is, Vandy is a little bit more accurate and possesses an even stronger arm. Even though both are very inexperienced, I feel confident either one could come in and get the job done. They are the reason the Hawks are only looking to take 1 QB in the 2010 class!!!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Best Shonn Greene Run!!!


Best run of the year!!! And before this, he made #3 wiff for a long TD run. I wonder if he is still hurting from lowering his shoulder against Shonn???