News and notes from week 10

What a sickening display it was Saturday at Kinnick Stadium. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Then when the locomotive burst into flames, the Iowa players crawled out with their skin melting off their bones. Their fault? Certainly not. Much like the four losses last year, the 17-10 setback to lowly Northwestern on Nov. 7 falls squarely on the shoulders of the coaching staff. Forget the four turnovers, the injury to Ricky Stanzi and the holding penalty which negated a long touchdown run by Brandon Wegher. It was pretty obvious that redshirt freshman James Vandenberg was not prepared to take one snap, let alone over two quarters worth. Hey, Ken O'Keefe, Stanzi is resilient but he's not bulletproof. You'd better have a back-up quarterback who can step in and at least manage the game and it is your job to have him ready to do that. He was not ready and while some of that can be attributed to his experience, there is still a reason he is on the team: Because he can play the quarterback position pretty well. It didn't look like it on Saturday and I think it's because he lacked the guidance of the coach. There was even one instance in the second half, during a timeout, when the Iowa offense was on the sideline dialing up a play and not once did O'Keefe even acknowledge Vandenberg. That is poor coaching at its finest, folks.

Enough ranting.

And the game ball goes to...: Adrian Clayborn. Clayborn did everything he could do to help the Hawkeyes on Saturday, racking up 2.5 tackles-for-loss and a sack. On top of that, it seemed like No. 94 was in the back field causing chaos even when he wasn't making tackles. Needless to say the defense's effort was not lacking in the slightest.

Tip of the cap: to quarterback James Vandenberg. The redshirt freshman from Keokuk didn't look like the Iowa high school all-time leader in passing yards, but who would've when thrown into the line of fire without a weapon to defend himself. Vandenberg has the tools around him to make plays and he doesn't have to be a hero. He just has to do his best Chicago Bears Kyle Orton impression and manage the game. He is the future of the program. After 2010, Vandenberg is in line to be Ricky Stanzi. What a great time for him to start learning, when the Hawks need him most.

Wag of the finger: to the Iowa offensive line. ESPN.com Big Ten blogger Adam Rittenberg agrees that this group has underachieved this season and it was pretty evident against the Wildcats. I'm not saying they're no good, I'm saying they have not been the dominant group like they were supposed to be. Point and case: the Hawks' 65 net rushing yards on Saturday. It didn't help young Vandenberg that he had to scramble just about every time he dropped back to pass. Kirk Ferentz is supposed to be an offensive line expert. I just don't get it.

Final thoughts: Disgust mostly. To make matters worse, the Hawkeyes virtually limp into their toughest test of the year with a redshirt freshman ready to make his first start ever. Here's where I'm at: Iowa is better than the Capital One Bowl. But if they don't win on Nov. 14, that's where they're going, unless somehow, some way they get an at-large bid into the BCS. Not liking their chances. Good thing Notre Dame lost to Navy? Yep.

Next week: the Hawks travel to Columbus to take on no. 10 Ohio State. Iowa has four wins in the last 60 years in Ohio Stadium: 1949, 1958, 1987 and 1991. The Buckeyes won the last meeting between the two teams in 2006, 38-17, in Kinnick Stadium. Let the nervous breakdowns begin.