In typical Hawkeye fashion the game came down to the last few minutes but unfortunately this time, they made the fatal mistake of challenging the Buckeyes to an overtime duel.  There are a few things in Big Ten football that are bad decisions.  Taking the Buckeyes to OT is one of them.  And once again a backup player stepped up to make the big play.  Buckeye Kicker Devin Barclay, in for injured kicker Aaron Pettrey, came in and kicked a 39 yard field goal to win the game, share of another Big Ten title and the automatic BCS berth.  Not bad for a former pro soccer player that walked on to the team.

For the Buckeye nation it was their 5^th straight title. Read the rest of this entry →

Well after 9 weeks of exciting football the Hawkeyes luck finally ran out.  The dream of a national championship was gone.  But that wasn’t the worst part.  QB Ricky Stanzi was knocked to the turf and left the game with an ankle injury.  According to KCCI, Stanzi is out for the rest of the season after he underwent surgery this morning.  The Cinderella story has turned into a Hitchcock nightmare.  Now the Hawkeyes are going to have to fight for a share of the Big Ten title with redshirt freshman James Vandenberg at the helm.  I like Vandenberg’s spirit.  He said, “There’s no time to hang our heads, we’re in a race with two other good teams and it’s all going to be about getting back to work.” Read the rest of this entry →

How sweet is the Juice?  After I had written him and the rest of the Illinois team off, they play one of their best games in years.  Juice Williams was amazing.  After the Illini shut down the Michigan offense with a goal line stance for the ages, Juice leads the Illini 99 yards to score.  On the day Juice had 123 yards passing and a TD– but that wasn’t enough.  He also had 97 yards rushing and another TD.  The Illini went nuts on the Wolverines racking up 500 total yards on offense on the day– Illini players lit up fantasy scoreboards everywhere.  Mikel LeShoure had 150 yards rushing, a TD and 14 receiving.  Jason Ford rushed for 128 yards and a TD.  Arrelious Benn also had a TD.  Ron Zook had to enjoy this one since they embarrassed the Wolverines.  Tate Forcier had 257 yards passing and 24 rushing.  Carlos Brown ran for 94 yards and a TD.  Plus Roy Roundtree had 92 yards receiving on the day.  That is it for highlights on the Michigan side.  Read the rest of this entry →

Quick, name the team with the current longest winning streak in the FBS…ok that was easy, Florida.

Iowa QB Ricky Stanzi is either announcing his team's arrival on the national stage, or doing a great Terry Bradshaw imitation. (Icon SMI)

Now who has the second longest active winning streak?  Give up yet?  It is Iowa baby!  As in the Big Ten conference leading Iowa Hawkeyes.  A Hawkeye may not have been as relevant this late into a season since Hawkeye Pierce from MASH filled the airwaves.  Gold and Black is back!

Week 8 Recap saw a couple of close games.  Iowa keeps it interesting by never really closing out a team until the final minutes of a game.  Last week it got a little too close though as Ricky Stanzi had to pull out a victory as time expired.  No matter what they face this team just finds a way to win.  Stanzi has confidence in his receivers and it shows.  Stanzi threw for 138 yards to seven different receivers.  He also had one huge TD pass at the end of the game.  Adam Robinson continues to emerge as the main running back posting another 100 yard game with 109 yards rushing.

On the Michigan State side the fantasy points were better with QB Kirk Cousins throwing for 225 yards and a TD plus 23 rushing yards.  Blair White had 95 yards receiving and a TD.  Michigan State now sits in 4th place in the Big Ten Standings but they are playing way better than that. Read the rest of this entry →

Blazing Buckeyes Batman!  Who saw that coming?  I was shocked.  Purdue pulls off one of the biggest upsets of the year in my opinion.  Boilermaker QB Joey Elliott led the way with 281 yards passing on what I thought was one of the toughest defenses in the Big Ten.  Heck, I thought they were one of the best in the country.  I wrote this one off and didn’t even bother watching this game.  How did Purdue do that?  I’m sure I am not the only one asking that question this week.  Well my hat is off to Purdue.  Nice game guys.  But in all fairness Buckeye fans you got a glimpse of Pryor’s exciting potential.  After 3 periods of being abused by the Boilermakers, Pryor tried to mount a comeback.  I watched the replay of this game and one thing I saw was a much different QB for the Buckeyes.  Pryor showed great leadership in the fourth quarter.  And overall his stats are not bad for a loss.  He passed for 221 yards and a TD plus he ran for another TD.  Devier Posey also had a good game with 87 yards receiving and a TD.  I know the Buckeye nation is stinging a little from this one but this game may be the one that slaps them back into reality.  Ohio State is now in 2^nd in the Big Ten standings behind Iowa and those two meet on November 14 at Columbus.  Read the rest of this entry →