Schoffner

Wistful thinking

If you've seen the New York Jets in the NFL playoffs, you know they're happy to have Shonn Greene in their backfield. And Greene has to be delighted he's there because, heck, he's one victory from playing in the Super Bowl.

But if you're an Iowa fan, no one could blame you for engaging in a little wistful thinking as you watched Greene tear through the defensive lines of the Cincinnati Bengals and San Diego Chargers.

Oh what might have been if he had remained with the Hawkeyes for one more season.

Remember, Greene skipped his senior year at Iowa to enter the NFL draft after a sensational 2008 season.  He rushed for more than 100 yards in every game, was named the Big Ten's offensive player of the year and received the Doak Walker Award as the nation's top running back.

But Greene already was older than most college juniors (23) and his market value was high. Everyone understood when he decided to move up. The opportunity and potential earnings simply were too tempting.

Just for fun, though, imagine if Greene had been around this past season.

First, redshirt freshman Adam Robinson and true freshman Brandon Wegher did an admirable job splitting time at running back. They combined for 1,575 yards and 13 touchdowns and averaged a respectable 4.6 yards a carry.

But they weren't Shonn Greene -- and they didn't occupy an opponent's attention to the extent Greene would have if he had been carrying the ball. Just think of the pressure he would have taken off quarterback Ricky Stanzi. It's not a stretch to think that if Greene had stayed, the Hawkeyes might have been undefeated.

Even after Stanzi rolled his ankle in the Northwestern game, you've got to figure the Hawkeyes would have held on to win that one if Greene had been around. As for the Ohio State game, the Hawkeyes almost won that one -- maybe should have won it -- with what they had. Now, how much better would they have been with Greene thrown into the equation?

Of course, an undefeated season wouldn't have necessarily put Iowa in the BCS championship game (See Boise State, TCU and Cincinnati). But it certainly would have given the Hawkeyes a chance. And think about how much fun the debate would have been with yet another undefeated team in the BCS mess, er mix.

If only ...

But hey, Iowa ended up having a great season and Greene's pro career is off to a promising start, so everyone has something to celebrate. The season played out the way it did and can't be changed. Still, a little wistful thinking sometimes can't be helped.

Bowl memories

The scene outside my window looks nothing like the photos in the paper this morning. You know, the ones of those University of Iowa students frolicking in the ocean as they await the Hawkeyes' game in the Orange Bowl.

I see snow on the trees, snow on the roof, snow on the ground, snow everywhere. Icicles, a couple of them at least four feet long, used to hang from the eaves, but I knocked those down. The snow, I can't do anything about. Maybe we'll see the grass again in April.

Anyway, snapshots and newspaper stories from a bowl game would have made me envious many years ago. And what football fan hasn't felt that way? Think about when the Rose Bowl comes on television. You're sitting at home on a cold New Year's Day and there's the sold-out stadium on your TV screen, the sky a perfect blue, the San Gabriel Mountains rising in the background and the field as green as any pasture in Ireland.

But I went to enough bowl games when I was working that I'm perfectly happy to watch them on television now, though that first view of the Rose Bowl on TV still is, and probably always will be, the most dazzling scene in all of football. Some of those bowl games were memorable, others not so much.

When Iowa went to the Rose Bowl after the 1981 season, ending its 23-year bowl drought, my masters at The AP decided to do it up big. So whatever the team did out there, I was to tag along. You should never complain when you're traveling on someone else's dime, but I felt I was in Southern California long enough that I could have registered to vote.

I followed the Hawkeyes to Disneyland and Universal Studios. I went to every practice. Before eating with the team at Lawry's restaurant one night, Ron Maly, who was covering for The Des Moines Register, and I wrote our stories in the restaurant's kitchen. Not that there was any hardship involved. We ended the night eating prime rib. 

For two solid weeks, I wrote two or three stories a day. Believe me, I was running out of things to write, so the game itself was a welcome diversion. Well, sort of. I had to figure out what to write after the Hawkeyes fell flat on their collective faces and lost to Washington 28-0. And this was after Pam and I pulled ourselves out of bed at 4 a.m. so we could get to our seats for the parade. At least they were good seats. And the right price, too -- free.

Two years later, I was looking out on maybe the bleakest scene ever. It was one of those dark hours before dawn, the wind howled, snow blew everywhere and it was about 25 below. This was the day I left for Jacksonville to cover the Hawkeyes in the Gator Bowl. Which turned out to be the coldest Gator Bowl in history.

It was so cold the pipes in the stadium froze. No one brought enough clothes. One day, several of us ventured out to Jacksonville Beach for a media luncheon to get some stuff on Florida, Iowa's opponent. Gray clouds hung low over the beach, which was pounded by evil-looking waves. No one was tempted to take a dip. I sat next to Florida coach Charley Pell, a charming fellow who later was busted for some NCAA rules violations. OK, it was 107, but after 50 or 60, who can keep track?

Neither team acted like it wanted to play the game and Florida won 14-6. The wind chill at kickoff: 13 below. I told you it was cold.

So, Pam and I go from there to Miami, where the weather was much more pleasant and we saw a classic -- Miami foiling Nebraska's gutsy two-point conversion attempt at the end to win 31-30 and deny the Cornhuskers the national championship. I wrote a Nebraska sidebar and received a nice compliment from the desk editor in New York. I thanked him and then told him I had a lot of practice writing about the loser. It was my fifth bowl game and the team I was covering lost four of them.

Iowa's appearance in the 1984 Freedom Bowl in Anaheim was memorable, and not just because Chuck Long threw those six touchdown passes to lead a rout of Texas. That was the trip that introduced us to Crackers, one of the finest bars ever.

The music was great (oldies, of course), the servers lively (every hour they stopped what they were doing to sing and dance) and at midnight, a huge American flag unfurled from the ceiling while Kate Smith's "God Bless America" blared from the speakers. I'm no super patriot, but it was pretty cool. I think we went every night. Much to my embarrassment, it was only later that I realized that Orange County, how do we say it now, trends conservative. My first clue should have been the local airfield's name -- John Wayne Airport. Duh.

We were back in Southern California the next year, watching Ronnie Harmon fumble four times -- and drop a touchdown pass -- in another Rose Bowl loss for the Hawkeyes. But those gaffs were all accidental, right?

Yeah.

The 1988 Peach Bowl became a lot more fun when we discovered Flamingo Joe's, a downtown Atlanta bar that played lots of old music. I think Mark Neuzil, then with the Cedar Rapids Gazette, won us free drinks by guessing the singer when the following intro was played: "Been forty days since I don't know when .. "  (Lee Michaels, "Do You Know What I Mean"). 

Naturally, we went every night -- but only after writing our stories

One of the Holiday Bowl trips produced some extra work over a rumor that Iowa coach Hayden Fry was being considered for the Southern Cal job. This was before the days of the internet, so we had to drive around to find the newspaper that reported this tidbit so we knew what we'd be asking about. Then several of us, including Marc Hansen of the Register and Bob Brown of the Fort Dodge Messenger, waited in the dark (it gets chilly at night in San Diego) for Iowa to finish practice so we could corral Hayden. He was polite and, as you might expect, he laughed the whole thing off.

A couple of days later, Bob and I approached Hayden after a luncheon the day before the game and Bob asked an innocuous question about the game. Hayden must have thought Bob said something about Southern Cal because he said, "Are you guys trying to piss me off?" Not sure what he heard, but it had nothing to do with Southern Cal. Still, Bob and I laughed about that for years.

Before the 1991 Rose Bowl, I wrote quite a bit about Iowa working hard on punt protection because the Hawkeyes had a couple blocked during the season. So the first time they punt? It was blocked, of course. I just looked at Ken Peters, the kind-hearted soul who heads the AP sports operation in LA, and shook my head.

Now the challenge is stopping Georgia Tech's run-happy triple-option. Some doubts about the Hawkeyes' ability to do that must be creeping in because Tech is now favored by five points, after the line opened at 2 1/2.

Norm Parker will have his defense ready, but it sure would help if the Iowa offense plays well. The Hawkeyes managed to get by with only their defense in the regular season finale against Minnesota. That won't cut it Tuesday night. Just look at what Navy and Air Force did in their bowl games. They run an offense similar to Tech's and made their opponents, Missouri and Houston, look silly. And Tech is doing it with better athletes.

No matter the outcome, I don't need to be there. I'll be perfectly content watching from the comfort of my sofa, regardless of what's going on outside.

Besides, I'll be in Florida in less than a month -- and I won't have to write a word.

What one second can do for you

It doesn't matter how old you might be, you can always learn something new.

Take last night, for instance. Who knew Sully's Irish Pub in West Des Moines attracted so many Texas fans? We're there toasting a Drake basketball victory, friendship and any other excuse we can dream up for drinking Irish coffee and Guinness. The Nebraska-Texas game is on television and a huge cheer erupts when Texas kicks its game-winning field goal as time expires.

Funny thing, there's not a hint of burnt orange or Longhorns' gear in sight, yet a lot of people are really excited. Hook 'em Horns, right?

Well, not quite.

We're being facetious about all of this, of course. Those weren't Texas fans celebrating. They were Iowa fans -- and there no doubt were whoops and hollers in bars across the state when Hunter Lawrence's field goal sailed through the uprights. Because the Texas victory improved the Hawkeyes' chances of landing a berth in a BCS bowl.

But Iowa fans everywhere had to be squirming as Texas quarterback Colt McCoy rolled to his right with the final seconds ticking away. When he finally threw the ball away, the clocked showed zeros and the Nebraska players rushed the field, thinking they had won the game 12-10 and clinched the Big 12's BCS berth. But the play was reviewed, one second was put back on the clock and Lawrence came through.

And that one second has made all the difference. What if the Longhorns had committed one of the biggest blunders ever and really let time run out? What if the official review determined time had indeed expired?

Oh my.

A Nebraska victory would have sent shock waves rippling through the entire bowl scenario. It would have put the Cornhuskers in the Fiesta Bowl and dropped Texas into the at-large pool, from where the Longhorns might have bumped Iowa from a BCS game.

With two Big 12 teams in BCS bowls, Iowa State would have moved up in the pecking order and the conference wouldn't have had enough teams to fill its bowl commitments, which would have affected other bowls. If no Big Ten team got into a BCS game, everyone in the league would have moved down a notch and that also would have impacted other bowls.

Imagine the hand-wringing that would have ensued, not to mention the fact that TCU or maybe Cincinnati would have ended up in the BCS championship game against Alabama.

But one measly second and a calm, accurate kicker kept the BCS house in order. So Iowa fans, you might want to try to get Lawrence's cell phone number and send him some congratulatory text messages. And maybe a thank-you note to that replay official.

As for Texas, one touchdown and 13 points isn't going to strike any fear in Alabama hearts. After the way Nebraska manhandled McCoy and the Longhorns, the Tide defense has to be licking its chops.

Mack Brown and his offensive coaches had best be getting to work soon. They've got a lot to figure out between now and Jan. 7.

Let's go bowling

Be wary of what lurks within, Iowa football fans.

Within your own conference.

As the Dec. 6 bowl selection date approaches, Hawkeye fans are justifiably excited about the possibility of their team landing an at-large invitation to a BCS bowl. Iowa has finished its regular season at 10-2 and is 11th in the BCS rankings, so the Hawkeyes are eligible for one of the four at-large spots in the big-money bowls.

The Florida-Alabama loser in the SEC championship game will get one. That leaves three. TCU will be guaranteed a spot if it  finishes unbeaten, which is almost certain to happen. That leaves two. If Boise State goes unbeaten, the Broncos will be hard to ignore. So we could be talking about just one at-large berth remaining.

At first glance, Oklahoma State appears to be Iowa's main competitor, if the Cowboys beat Oklahoma in their Bedlam Series game on Saturday. Okie State is 12th in the BCS standings now and would finish 10-2 with a victory over the Sooners.

But Penn State, 13th in the BCS standings and also 10-2, is really the team to be concerned about. Yes,  the Hawkeyes beat Penn State in Happy Valley and were more competitive against Ohio State than the Nittany Lions. But the Iowa loss was a long time ago, back in September. Plus, Penn State has more national cache than Iowa, has a better offense than the Hawkeyes (just about every decent team does) and they have Joe Paterno, who's certainly more colorful and a better draw than Kirk Ferentz (With no offense intended to Kirk. That's just the way it is).

In Iowa's favor: The Hawkeyes did beat Penn State, they find a way to hang around no matter the opponent or circumstances and, most importantly to the bowl folks, they'll put a lot of butts in the seats and spend a lot of money in the hotels and restaurants.

I think Iowa's going to get that at-large spot, in the Fiesta Bowl. But if that's your hope, it wouldn't hurt to be pulling for Oklahoma this weekend, just in case. And you better hope that Nebraska doesn't upset Texas in the Big 12 championship game.

If that happens, all bets are off.

Now, what about Iowa State?

The Big 12 has eight guaranteed bowl slots, including a BCS game, and right now, eight teams are eligible. It could be nine if Kansas beat Missouri on Saturday.

Should that happen, I look for Iowa State still to get the nod over Kansas for a Big 12 bowl, even though the Jayhawks beat the Cyclones. Iowa State fans will travel, the Jayhawks have gone in the tank since beating ISU on Oct. 10 -- they've lost six straight -- and things are generally a mess in Lawrence with coach Mark Mangino being investigated for verbal and emotional abuse.

So, if you're a bowl, do you want Kansas and all that baggage or do you want an Iowa State team with a new coach who's invigorating the program and would be excited just to be there, wherever it may be. Of course, this all could be moot if Kansas loses to Missouri, which is likely to happen.

It could be the Insight Bowl in Phoenix. It could be the Independence Bowl in Shreveport. But the Cyclones are going bowling. And I say good for them.

Open it up, Kirk

Iowa goes to Ohio State's Horseshoe this weekend with a redshirt freshman, James Vandenberg, making his first start at quarterback.

All Vandenberg is being asked to do is lead an offense that wasn't all that potent to begin with against the No. 1 defense in the Big Ten. All that's at stake is the Big Ten championship and a berth in the Rose Bowl.

No pressure, huh?

So, how about trying something a little different? Anyone who follows Iowa football knows that coach Kirk Ferentz and offensive coordinator Ken O'Keefe are too conservative to try anything really crazy. But you're not going to beat the Buckeyes lining up in your base offense and running right at them. Ain't gonna fly.

You can't give Vandenberg too much because the kid's barely had time to grasp the basic offense. But you can at least give him a chance by throwing a few new wrinkles into the offense.

The two Iowa players most likely to break off a big play are receivers Marvin McNutt and DJK. Have McNutt take some direct snaps. He went to Iowa as a quarterback. He ought to be able to handle that. Run a reverse with DJK. Try a couple of bubble screens. Run McNutt on a reverse and have him throw it.

And while the offensive coaches are at it, maybe they could find a way to get a few balls to someone who's become invisible lately. You remember Tony Moeaki. He's the tight end who caught six passes for 102 yards and two touchdowns in the victory over Michigan. He's caught six balls total in the four games since, none against Northwestern last week.

He's being double covered, you say? Well, draw up something to make sure he isn't. That's why Kirk and Ken get the big bucks.

It's not all on the offense, though. The Iowa defense has to come up big time in this one. The Hawkeyes need to get some stops at Ohio State's end to keep the field position in their favor. They also have to come up with a couple of momentum-changing turnovers, something they couldn't do against Northwestern.

Even if the Hawkeyes get creative on offense and force some turnovers, there's still no guarantee they'll win. But without some creativity and turnovers, they have no chance.

Credit where credit's due

Why has it become so hard in sports to give the other team credit for something?

Your team loses and it's because the players gave the game away. Or your team had some bad luck. Or there were some fluky plays. And, of course, the refs/officials/umps screwed us.

This comes up in the wake of the narrow but significant victories the Iowa State and Iowa football teams posted over the weekend.

Iowa State came up with eight turnovers in a 9-7 victory at Nebraska -- the Cyclones' first win in Lincoln in 32 years. If Florida or Alabama or even Nebraska had eight takeaways, fans and pundits would be slobbering all over themselves about the great defense they played.

Case in point: Alabama defensive lineman Terrence Cody -- who has all of 17 tackles this year (and no sacks) -- blocked two kicks to help preserve the Tide's 12-10 win over Tennessee and now he's being talked about in some circles as a Heisman Trophy candidate.

Iowa State gets eight turnovers and it's a fluke. The Cyclones got lucky. Nebraska shot itself in the foot. One NU fan said the Cornhuskers had to give Iowa State the game for the Cyclones to win it.

OK, when Nebraska receiver Miles Paul loses the ball as he headed to the end zone, maybe that's a fluke. But ISU safety James Smith never gave up on the play and that's why he was in position to recover the ball when it squirted from Paul's grasp like a wet trout.

As for the other turnovers, it sure looked like the Cyclones created them. They punched the ball away or simply wrested it from Nebraska runners. Say what you want about interceptions off tipped balls, but somebody on the defense has to be in position to tip it. And how about the hops 6-foot, 234-pound linebacker Jesse Smith showed when he jumped to make that last interception? He got it because he was in the right place.

One Nebraska player lamented, ``Luck's not going our way right now.'' But just who was the unlucky team? Iowa State played without its starting quarterback and running back, several players were puking in buckets because they were sick and defensive back Ter'ran Benton went out in the first half with a broken leg. Now that's bad luck.

You've got to hand it to Nebraska coach Bo Pelini, though, because he made no excuses. He told reporters he didn't want to say the Cornhuskers beat themselves because that would discredit what Iowa State did.

Still, the Huskers might want to put in just a wee bit more time on ball security drills.

As for Iowa's 15-13 win at Michigan State, Ricky Stanzi's last-play touchdown pass to Marvin McNutt made all the highlight shows and deservedly so.

But if Florida's Tim Tebow had done that, oh my gosh. It would have been his Heisman moment. Touchdown Timmy does it again. We would have heard about it from now until the ceremony.

Iowa pulls it off and well, the Hawkeyes are barely scraping by. That was a bad call when the MSU defensive back was flagged for holding just before intercepting a pass on the final drive. The Spartans weren't in the right kind of defense. And so and so on.

Check the replay and yes, Michigan State had no defenders in the middle of the end zone. Once McNutt got inside position, his defender was toast. But how about giving McNutt credit for getting in that position and some kudos to Stanzi for his quick read in recognizing the situation.

What's wrong with saying, ``You know, those other guys made some great plays. That's why they won.''

Is that so hard to admit?

MVP and other topics

Iowa football beat writer Andrew Logue posed a thought-provoking question in The Des Moines Register this week. Who's the Hawkeyes' most valuable player?

Hmmm.

That requires some deliberation because the Hawkeyes don't have a big star, which is one reason they haven't caught the nation's fancy despite their 7-0 record and conference-leading 3-0 mark in the Big Ten.

Tight end Tony Moeaki would have been a good choice had he been healthy all season. He's certainly been a big factor the last two games, but the Hawkeyes won all three games he missed. Other than Moeaki, the offense has been just good enough to keep the team from losing.

That leaves us with the defense, the strength of this team. Defensive end Adrian Clayborn would be a good choice. So would linebacker Pat Angerer, cornerback Amari Spievey and safety Tyler Sash.

I'll go with Sash. He's a sure tackler (third on the team with 52) and he's shown a nose for the ball with his five interceptions. Hardly anything or anyone has gotten past him this season.

And while we're at it, let's throw a few crumbs to punter Ryan Donahue. When a team relies on its defense as much as Iowa does, a solid punter can be a huge help and Donahue definitely has done his part. He's put 16 of his 32 punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line, giving his defense a big edge in field position. Thirteen of Donahue's punts have been returned, but for an average of just 3.5 yards, so he's getting good hang time. He might not spend much time on the field, but he's still a valuable cog.

As long as we're on the Hawkeyes, here's an admonishment: Stop it! Put a lid on that talk about playing in the national championship game -- at least for now.

Yeah, it's great that Iowa is undefeated and sixth in the BCS standings. But there's just too much football to be played to be dreaming about that Jan. 7 title game in Pasadena. OK, you can dream, but be realistic enough to understand that it might not happen.

Five games remain, including two tough ones on the road. The Hawkeyes play at Michigan State tomorrow night and they've lost to Sparty four straight times in East Lansing. A fifth straight loss there is entirely possible. If Iowa gets by that one -- it's also entirely possible the Hawkeyes could win -- they're still facing a Nov. 14 game at Ohio State. Iowa hasn't won in Columbus since 1991. So caution is advised.

Having said that, I think the worst the Hawkeyes will end up is 10-2. And that might still be good enough to claim a berth in a BCS bowl. Maybe.

The thing is, the polls might punish Iowa severely if it would lose a game. The Big Ten isn't held in such high esteem right now and there evidently are still a lot of Hawkeye skeptics out there just waiting to say, ``See, I told you so.'' After Iowa beat Penn State, it took the Hawkeyes three weeks to move ahead of the Nittany Lions in the coaches' poll. And even then, Iowa landed just one spot above Joe Pa's bunch, despite a convincing 21-10 victory on the Nittany Lions' home field.

It would be unfortunate if all the talk of an unbeaten season right now would result in 11-1 or 10-2 being viewed as a disappointment. Back in August, any Iowa fan would have celebrated that kind of record.

And now to our final topic, Marquis Gilstrap.

Gilstrap is the Iowa State basketball player who's getting a huge buildup. Though he's yet to play a minute for the Cyclones, he's seen as someone who can turn Iowa State into a team that finally makes some noise in the Big 12.

Gilstrap already has been voted the league's newcomer of the year. Texas Tech coach Pat Knight says he wishes he had recruited Gilstrap. Knight also says the 6-foot-7 forward is as good as any McDonald's All-American the Cyclones could have landed. Nebraska coach Doc Sadler says Gilstrap will be a ``great player.'' ISU coach Greg McDermott says Gilstrap is just what his team has been missing -- a versatile wing player who can shoot, rebound and take the ball to the hoop with authority.

Wow. You have to wonder if anyone could live up to that kind of hype. He sounds like the real deal, but how many times have we seen the next big thing turn out to be not quite as advertised?

On the other hand, there's something that tells me Cyclone fans have every right to be excited about Gilstrap. Mike Green, an associate director of athletic communications at ISU, is the eternal pessimist. If there's something to be down about, Beener will find it. But he's seen Gilstrap in action and says the guy can really play.

Hey, if Beener says that, I'm going with it. Keep the hype coming.

A plug for ISU's defense

Is that headline correct? Something positive to say about Iowa State's defense?

Believe it.

Usually when you include the word plug and ISU's defense in the same sentence, it's in the context of plugging holes in a unit riddled with them. But this year's group has been much more stout than what we've seen in the recent past.

All the buzz going into the season was over the new spread offense that was supposed to dazzle everyone with passing and light up the scoreboard. But that unit isn't yet running as smoothly as the coaches would like. Instead, it's the defense that deserves a lot of the credit for the Cyclones' 3-1 start. And who thought we'd be saying that?

In its three victories, Iowa State has given up 17, 14 and 10 points -- this from a unit that was torched for 35.8 points a game last season. Yes, the Cyclones gave up 35 points in their drubbing by Iowa, but a lot of that had to do with the offense's six turnovers.  Even the best defense can lose its will if it has to keep dragging itself back onto the field after a slew of  turnovers.

So far, the Cyclones' undersized defensive line has held up, though it hurts losing end Rashawn Parker for the rest of the season with his torn ACL. Jesse Smith is having a strong senior season at middle linebacker. Ditto for James Smith at free safety. JC transfer David Sims has been a nice addition at strong safety. His leaping one-handed interception against Iowa was highlight reel stuff.

For sure there are concerns heading into Big 12 play, starting with that smallish defensive line, a group that's now without one of its leaders. The linebackers aren't all that big, either, and heck, neither are the DBs. In the pass-happy Big 12, they're going to see more sophisticated offenses than what they've faced so far.

But for now, Cyclone fans should celebrate their team's 3-1 start. That's more games than ISU won last year and as many as the Cyclones won in 2007. And there's a good chance -- dare we say this? -- to be 4-1. The Cyclones get Kansas State in their opener at Arrowhead Stadium in KC and they're actually favored by three points. Any team that can lose to Louisiana-Lafayette, as KSU did, certainly can lose to Iowa State. Nebraska, by contrast, pounded Louisiana-Lafayette 55-0.

Later, ISU gets Baylor at home and the Bears won't be the same without quarterback Robert Griffin. Colorado visits later and Buffs have shown they can be had ...

Geez, I gotta stop before everyone starts thinking I'm drowning myself in Cardinal and Gold Kool-Aid, too.

Hold off on that Kool-Aid -- for now

Let's get something straight right away. I'm not ready to start drinking the Hawkeye Kool-Aid or jump on the Kirk Ferentz bandwagon. 

Yeah, the Hawkeyes are 3-0 and they've got several winnable games down the road. They'll play in a bowl game somewhere.  Still, it's way too early to get drunk on sugary drinks and start rambling about a run for the Big Ten title or landing a berth in a BCS bowl.

However, I have seen enough that I might be tempted to at least take a sip or put one foot on the running board of that wagon.

The main reason?

The defense. I was skeptical of the defensive line -- as I'm sure others were -- but if the Arizona game is any indication, that bunch is going to be just fine. Tackles Karl Klug and Christian Ballard already are helping fans forget they don't have Mitch King and Matt Kroul anymore. And you had to be impressed with how 282-pound defensive end Adrian Clayborn sprinted across the field to chase down Arizona running back Nic Grigsby from behind. That was a big-time play.

The linebacking was always going to be solid, and Tyler Sash and Amari Spievey are all-Big Ten-caliber players in the secondary. 

Why the skepticism?

The offense. The line still isn't settled and if quarterback Ricky Stanzi keeps getting off to shaky starts, it'll rear up and bite the Hawkeyes one of these days, like maybe Saturday night at Penn State.

So what's going to happen in that game? Who knows? It's hard to get a handle on it. Penn State hasn't been tested. Do we really know if Joe Pa's bunch is deserving of a No. 5 ranking? If Mississippi is an example of what a Top 5 team is supposed to look like, that doesn't say much for Penn State, does it? The Rebels were downright awful Thursday night.

Iowa's recent success against Penn State has been well documented. A big reason, in my view, is that while Penn State has opened things up some on offense, the Nittany Lions still favor a smash-mouth, physical style and that's Iowa's game. The Hawkeyes can stand up against those teams. It's the finesse teams like Northwestern that tend to give Iowa fits.

Iowa fans like to remember last year's game, when the Hawkeyes ruined Penn State's unbeaten season. But don't forget the 27-7 loss the last time Iowa played in Happy Valley. That was just two years ago. The Hawkeyes were embarrassingly bad in that one.

So, let's play and see what happens. Too bad it's on at the same time as the Iowa State-Army game. I'll be there and I'm looking forward to it. It should be an interesting game. Just wish one of them was an 11 a.m. kick.

Now, if Iowa wins, heck, I'll be ready to belly up to that Kool-Aid bar and hop on the bandwagon with both feet. Until then, anybody know where I can get some Templeton Rye?

It's Big Game week ...

... so excuse me while I yawn.

OK, I'm not that cynical about Saturday's Iowa-Iowa State football game in Ames. But the game just doesn't excite me that much -- this year or any year. Maybe it's because I didn't go to either school or develop a loyalty to one or the other. I can appreciate that a lot of people enjoy watching it, but it's just one more game for me.

Don't get me wrong. They should play each other. And I like to see both of them do well. It's always easier to write about winning teams. And the week they played, I always turned out a bunch of stories, just like everyone else. I just never got caught up in the emotion.

Plus, I never cared for the bickering that goes on this week. There's some good-natured back and forth to be sure. But there's also a lot of childish sniping that makes the debate over health care look downright cerebral. And I'm sick of hearing the argument that this is Iowa State's ``Super Bowl'' and the Cyclones don't care what happens the rest of the season as long as they beat Iowa.

Hey, if Iowa State's 2007 team had a choice between going 9-3 and losing to Iowa or 3-9 and beating the Hawkeyes (which is what actually happened), how could anyone in their right mind suggest the Cyclones would take the latter?

But I will say this. It's more important for Iowa State to win the game than for Iowa to win it. I'm not saying Iowa State makes the game more important than Iowa does. It's just more  important for Iowa State to win it.

That's because the Cyclones typically don't do as well in the Big 12 as Iowa does in the Big Ten. Since Iowa State broke its 15-game losing streak to Iowa in 1998, the Cyclones have finished above .500 in the league exactly once, a 5-3 mark in 2000.

Four times they've broken even at 4-4. They've also gone 1-7 three times, 0-8 twice and 2-6 once. So, if ISU is to build any kind of won-loss record, it has to win as many nonconference games as possible. And winning nonconference games means beating Iowa.

The Cyclones went to a bowl game five times from 2000-2005. In four of those bowl seasons, they strengthened their record by beating Iowa.

Iowa, on the other hand, can get by when it loses to Iowa State because the Hawkeyes have been finishing in the top half of the Big Ten. They've gone to a bowl seven times under coach Kirk Ferentz and have lost to Iowa State in three of those seasons. Heck, they lost to Iowa State in 2002 at home, then went 8-0 in the Big Ten and ended up in the Orange Bowl.

That doesn't mean I think Iowa puts any less emphasis on the Iowa State game. It just means that generally, Iowa is better able to handle the rest of its schedule than Iowa State. The Hawkeyes can compete in the Big Ten. The Cyclones struggle to do that in the Big 12.

I did enjoy the Iowa-Iowa State game in 2001. It was the last game of the regular season and both teams were eligible for bowls, so the game wasn't going to wreck either's year. Iowa State won, so the Cyclones could hang their hats on that. But Iowa got the better bowl (Alamo vs. Independence), so the Hawkyes had that going for them.

The downer, of course, is that the game was played at the end of the season because it had been postponed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

I'll be at Saturday's game, of course, and I'll write about it. Unless someone really messes up with a lot of turnovers or special teams breakdowns, it should be close. Either team could win it, so there's at least some suspense.

What would make it interesting for me is if someone who usually doesn't get a lot of attention or has dealt with some adversity steps into the limelight and plays a significant role. Exhibit A: Bret Culbertson beating Iowa with those five field goals in 2007 after muffing critical kicks each of the two previous years with the Big 12 North title on the line. 

Give me a new star or a bounce-back guy. Those are the kind of stories I like.