Penn State Film Review

That was an amazing game and possibly even better the second time.  Iowa's D-line is really something special and I thought the linebacking unit played the best game of the year.  I didn't see Iowa use anything other than its standard 4-3 the entire game but I will get into that later.  After PSU's first offensive play Iowa really dominated the game.  Iowa still has alot to clean up offensively, especially in the passing game, but to win a game in that fashion, in that environment is very exciting and could be the harbinger for a very special season.  Now for some downers.

Negatives:

The Dropsies: Iowa dropped 5 passes.  I understand that it was wet conditions but that is too many.  Two of those were drive killers and two of those could have gone for very big gains.  I counted a drop for Paul Chaney, Colin Sandeman (his he also kicked into the air for an interception), Brett Morse, and two for Derrell Johnson- Koulianos.  Chaney's drop was on the very first drive on a third and two with no one near him.  With his ability in the open field he could have deflated that crowd.  DJK was matched up one on one with a back up linebacker and had a lot of space to work with also.  I can understand given the conditions that they were playing under why they dropped the passes but this must end.

Bad Ricky: Stanzi had his usual ups and downs in this game.  He had several physical mistakes that are forgivable.  The throw to Stross to the wrong shoulder I would count as a physical mistake and a good read.  The throw to Allen Reisner on the wheel route just before the end of the half was probably both a bad read and a physical mistake.  He seemed to have two miscommunications with Marvin McNutt which, both of which would have lead to easy first downs and possibly big plays.  He also continues to stare down receivers at times and force balls into coverage.  I counted him doing this at least 4 other times.  The funny thing was he did this mostly on one drive.  He doesn't seem comfortable running a two minute drill this season.

Special Teams:  Iowa's special teams other than Big XI Player of the Year Ryan Donahue have been somewhat inconsistent.  Murray missed a field goal right before half.  The Kickoff coverage unit looks awesome one time and then gives up a 50 yard return the next.  I would like to point out the play of Bruce Davis and Jeff Tarpinian on that unit though.  But if they are blocked look out.  Again I understand the weather was to mangle a phrase "crappy" but Shulze's snaps were shaky at best and it is one more reason that Donahue should be an All-American candidate.

Alright honestly that was a lot of B.S. I just had to fill that column.

Postives:
Clayborn, Binns, Ballard, and Klug: I feel somewhat vindicated by saying that this year's dline is better than last season's.  Both Mitch King and Matt Kroul are on NFL practice squads respectively and they were the heart and soul of last season's Iowa team.  But they didn't get to play with this season's Clayborn or Ballard.  I don't have the superlatives to heap on to Clayborn, except to wish him well the rest of this season and hope he catches the attention of Bill Parcells.  Ballard has taken to his position change very well and is dominating interiors.  Iowa has had a lot of talented Defensive lines but this one may be the best before it is all said and done.  Klug and Binns are still learning on the job and are making huge, huge plays.  I am too busy and lazy to link it here but do yourself a favor and look up Angerer's interception return on youtube and watch Ballard instead of Angerer for a good laugh.  While everyone of these players are special together they are unblockable.  Norm must be giggling in his sleep.

Adam Robinson and Brandon Wegher: Well I think that any questions about the running game have just about been answered.  Robinson is a tough, slippery, determined runner who has shown a suprising set of hands and awareness in the passing game.  Wegher has also shown to be a little more physical than advertised and both of these guys are fearless in pass protection and phenomenal with ball protection which is what keeps you on the field for Iowa.  It is so nice to see the Tailback invovled in the passing game again.  Of course I miss Shonn Greene as much as anyone and I still have him stashed on my fantasy roster.  In case you care.  Yeah I'm fantasy guy. 

The Linebacking Corps: Easily the best game they have played.  They played physical and smart.  While the d-line living in the Penn State backfield certainly made their job easier, all three players- Angerer, Edds, and Hunter played every defensive snap if I took my notes correctly.  Angerer was all over the field and I rarely saw him take a single misstep.  Hunter and Edds really shined in coverage and punished anyone who entered their areas.  They also did an excellent job of playing the run.  It was nice to be able to see Edds lined up over a Tight End for a change.

Good Ricky: Stanzi did lead the Iowa offense to a win.  He actually played very well.  I just think he could play better.  And I think he will.  For all of the things I pointed out above I could point out two things he did right.  Every time he audibled Iowa gained at least ten yards.  He was very accurate with all but four throws on Saturday in "crappy" weather conditions.  He seems to have a short memory and care nothing for personal stats and that is amazing.  And he is obviously popular with his teammates which is helpful, but not exactly necassary in a leader. 

The Offensive Line: Iowa's line was missing its' superstar for the third straight week and continued to get better during the game.  Iowa's last fifteen plays from scrimmage were all runs.  They weren't draw's or counters or anything fancy either.  They were smash mouth here we come at you I formation stop us if you can #68 Andy Keumpal is our second tight end runs.  That is pretty ballsy.  It is obvious that Ferentz and KOK have trust this whole group because they didn't just run behind Vandervelde and Calloway, they ran mostly to the left on the last drive.  Iowa's only 3 and out was on the first drive and that was because of a dropped pass.  Bulaga comes back this week.  The Bullies of the Big Ten are back in a big way.  And after this weekend we may have a three headed monster at tailback.

And Finally the Fans at Happy Valley: Usually I don't listen to the sound when I do these but I like Herbstriet(hate Mushburger though- hey jackass Wegher went to High School in Iowa that is what counts you moron).  At least 5 times I could hear chants of "Lets go Hawks" and I was just rolling.  I watched the game the first time with friends- you know who you are most of you read the site, and never noticed it. The first time I noticed it was with 4:00 left in the second quarter, again with 11:20 in the 3rd quarter, Obiviously after Clayborn's punt block and TD, 9:46  Q4 after Angerer's interception, and finally with 3:48 left in the game when Edd's picked off the wounded duck that Klug caused.  Also I had a friend that attended the game and he said 99% of the PSU people were classy. 

Coaching:
I thought that both KOK and Norm put together solid gameplans.  I thought it was interesting to see Edds on the tight end when PSU had 3 wide formations on the field.  That is not business as usual and I wonder if it made Clark overthink.  I thought Iowa did a great job of disguising their blitzes on the few occasions that they brought them.  They also did a nice job of mixing coverages from basically the same defensive set the entire night.  KOK also had a nice gameplan and this is the fourth week in a row I am not slamming him.  Something is wrong.  Even Mr. Olympia on Hawkeyenation is giving him compliments and that is just crazytalk.  What I think is that Alien abductions are real and they are perfoming exp... oh wait wrong blog.  No actually I think that he is just confident in his players and his oline.  It is tough to screw up when things like 3 and 17 draws almost work.  If the players start catching passes and they clean up some of the pass reads this offense could be good.  If everyone gets healthy and plays together three weeks in a row the offense could be 2005 good (Balanced and score 30+ points a game).  Finally KF seems to be pretty confident in this teams abilities.  It seems like most of the character problems have migrated west (knock on wood) and that this team still has a very nice chemistry.  I thought Coach Ferentz showed a lot of confidence in the team several times from decling the Illegal procedure penalty on 1 and 10, to running the ball 15 straight times to end the game basically telling Penn State they couldn't move the ball on our defense.  Hey "The U" that is swagger.