Stanzi is pretty good. The line is a question mark but I think they were missing 2 starters today.
Iowa was only missing 1 OL starter today....but he is arguably our second best OL...Adam Gettis. Ferentz has said Gettis has taken a huge step forward this season....so hawk fans are anxious to see him. A few of the running plays that EIU blew up today were because Gettis' replacement either got beat or lost an assignment (but he is a freshmen, so that is expected). Adding Gettis will definitely open some holes between the tackles.
Iowa was missing five total starters today, and all are expected to be back next week: Gettis, Prater, Hampton, Tarpinian and Binns.....so Iowa should look considerably better on both sides of the ball next week when those guys get into the line up (especially Hampton...everyone who has seen practice has said that Hampton adds an entirely new gear to the Iowa run game).
The reality is, we didn't learn too much today from Iowa that we didn't already know...the things I learned today that were encouraging:
- Stanzi took a sack or two when nothing was there and also checked down more than he did last year. It is obvious to me that he is more aware of ball security this season.
- The OL, even though they were playing an inferior opponent, looked pretty good. The line looked quite a bit better this season in the first game than it looked in the first game last season...so I was pretty happy about that (especially without Gettis). Basically, I saw enough today to think that the OL won't be a liability once we get into October....there is a lot of talent there....its just a matter of gaining experience.
The things I thought were negative:
-Bruce Davis is not as good in pass coverage as Pat Angerer....it isn't even close. Jeff Tarpinian is supposedly better in pass coverage, but we haven't seen him yet so we don't know. Davis is good with run support...but his pass coverage leaves something to be desired. On a side note - I was impressed with Tyler Nielsen today....I think he'll fill the role vacated by Edds quite nicely.
-Micah Hyde (the #2 corner) is talented, but he is young and will make mistakes. EIU scored their one TD because of two consecutive miscues by Hyde. He let an EIU WR beat him deep on a PA pass, then the next play he got beat in the corner of the end zone. He made a couple of great pass break ups....but you can tell he is inexperienced.
Those are my general observations of Iowa after one watching of the game....I'm going to watch the whole thing again tomorrow to get a better informed opinion of the game.
