Iowa Hawkeyes Archives

Currently one the best defenses in all of college football lives in Iowa City right now.  The Iowa Hawkeyes lead the nation in total defense (227.5), rank third in rushing defense (65.5) and fifth in scoring defense (12.0). Much of that has to do with their defensive line, which rivals Alabama as quite possibly the nation's best.

Led by the All-World Adrian Clayborn, and fellow frequent visitor to opponents' offensive backfields Karl Klug, the unit has wreaked havoc through the first four games. Also seeing time at a starting position in Iowa's 4-3 are Broderick Binns, Mike Daniels and Christian Ballard, a senior from Lawrence, Kansas who starred at Free State high school.

Saturday night brings a Homecoming football game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and Penn State Nittany Lions. And since that leaves an entire and some of the evening for Iowa fans to tailgate, wait I should put quotes around "tailgate," the University felt the need to issue a few important reminders for those who will be in attending for the team's 2010 Big Ten Conference opener.

Since there will be a lot of insane drunks in attendance, both inside and outside the stadium, a lot of "think when you drink" style advisories and warnings are going out.

Here's what the University statement included:

To say that I never thought much of Iowa City prior to coming here would be an understatement.

I scoffed at the University of Iowa as being a destination, or a great place to see a football game.

I laughed at the idea that it could possibly be fun to go there.

It didn't take long for the Iowa Hawkeyes to erase the memories of a disastrous road trip west one week ago.

The Hawkeyes outgained the Ball State Cardinals 5-yards-to-1 on Saturday on their way to a blowout 45-0 win, one that probably wasn't as close as the score indicated.

Poor Ball State. They're getting the Iowa Hawkeyes at the exact wrong time. The Hawks were upset in the late night desert air by Arizona, and now they need wins with huge style points to compensate for how far they fell in the national rankings. Critics of Iowa say the team, and the state itself, is boring.

I disagree. Iowa provided the setting for "Field of Dreams" and "The Music Man," two works of American fiction that have influenced and inspired contemporary pop culture in every genre. Regarding the team itself,  they had a backup offensive lineman appear on a national morning talk show, possess one of the best defensive lines in the nation, and possibly the best defensive player overall in Adrian Clayborn. How many programs have star power like this?

Throughout the season, I'll be bringing you these informative yet blunt game previews of every contest I cover (and a second game that week that interests me); with a heavy focus on my three "home teams" Northwestern, Illinois, Notre Dame, and the Big Ten in general.

The list of quarterbacks with true NFL prospects is somewhat low in the Big Ten right now, but Iowa's Ricky Stanzi seems to have a lot of what is needed for those scouts. 

He has size.  He is the best, pure-pocket passer in the league.

And now, this season, the senior is poised to lead the Hawkeyes to another BCS bowl game and, if some predictions are to be believed, the BCS National Title game.

Last season, the Iowa Hawkeyes may have been the least flashiest 9-0 team in BCS era history. A lot of their wins were Chloe Kardashian level ugly, and none of their talented players were truly household names. They had talent everywhere, just not at the highly-publicized skill positions. Their best overall players were linebackers and offensive linemen.

When I asked people to name Hawkeye players, and this was when they were nationally ranked in the top five, most people would say "Ricky Stanzi," their starting quarterback who just wins, despite not actually being that good at what he does. Sure people in the industry like me knew all about Tyler Sash, Adrian Clayborn, Pat Angerer and A.J. Edds, but no other non-Iowa fans seemed to.

This year, things are different, much different. The Hawks won't be able to (trite, shopworn, predictable bromide coming in 3....2...1.....)"fly under the radar."  They were just too good last year, and too much of the talent is returning. You don't know the name of Senior DT Karl Klug yet, but you will.

Iowa's Adrian Clayborn is more than just a top #5-#15 NFL Draft prospect. He's an interesting interview, and a candid young man with stand-up character. He was the highlight of Big Ten Media Day 2; partially because he was so candid about the transitional process from college to professional football.

"The coaches sit down, and we have a talk with a guy from a program called Pathway to the Pros, they talk to us about agents, and the key thing is- don't accept anything. You can talk to them on the phone, you can talk to them face to face. Just don't accept anything and if you do that, you're golden," Clayborn told us at Media Day.

This past year, there's been talk in the pro football world about some supposed "character concerns" over Iowa Defensive End Adrian Clayborn.

NFL teams are more careful than ever in this era of Roger Goodell's attempts to legislate morality. However, there are no doubts about Clayborn's ability on the field. The All-American Honorable Mention had 11.5 sacks last year, and took home the Orange Bowl MVP and National Defensive Performer of the Year Awards.

But a racially-charged incident with an Iowa City cab driver has put his character, and therefore his NFL Draft Stock, into question. After reading this interview/article, all concerns of this sort will be alleviated.