Hawkeyes Start Fast Again

Sept. 11, 2010

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IOWA CITY, Iowa — For the second straight week, it was sunny skies, a sellout crowd of 70,000, and fast start for the nationally ranked University of Iowa football team. And, for the second straight week, the Hawkeyes notched a “W,” this time at the expense of intrastate rival Iowa State, 35-7, in the annual Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk Series game.

Iowa, now winners of four of its last five dates with the Cyclones, took the opening kickoff and efficiently and effectively, marched 71 yards on 13 plays to take a 7-0 lead. The touchdown came on a 9-yard strike from Ricky Stanzi to Marvin McNutt, who had a pair of receptions for 75 yards in Iowa’s 39th victory all-time over ISU against just 19 losses.

Successive a three-and-out by the Hawkeye defense – which dominated the visiting team all afternoon – the home team went on another time-consuming scoring drive. This time, Iowa used 16 plays and 8 minutes of clock to cover 71 yards. The march concluded with a two-yard bolt up the middle by Jewel Hampton, who was playing his first game in since a brilliant freshman season two years ago.

Hampton would finish his first game of 2010 with 84 yards on a team-high 20 carries.

Iowa added two more scores – a 2-yard pass from Stanzi to tight end Allen Reisner and a one-yard dive by Stanzi – to effectively put the game in the win column before the marching bands took center stage at halftime.

Iowa State00077 Iowa Statistical Leaders Passing: Ricky Stanzi 11 of 18, 204 yards, 2 touchdowns
Rushing: Adam Robinson 14 carries, 158 yards, 1 touchdown Receiving: Derrell Johnson-Koulianos 5 catches, 65 yards Tackles: Jeff Tarpinian 11 total tackles

Stanzi completed 11 of 18 attempts for 204 yards before being lifted for James Vandenberg after three quarters. A game-high five of the completions were to wideout Darrell Johnson-Koulianos. The two were clearly on the same page.

“That’s just a pair of seniors who worked very hard together all summer to make sure timing patterns like that were just perfect,” said Ed Podolak of the Hawkeye Radio Network after a 13-yard completion on the second play of Iowa’s second scoring drive of the day.

“We used our time wisely during the off-season and it’s paying off. It’s helping us to start fast,” said Stanzi, who – like all smart quarterbacks – praised his offensive line for coming together and making it easier.

“We want to start fast and control our intensity. There’s a lot of room for improvement, but we’re happy with the win and the improvement from last week. We can get better, though. We know there’s a lot of work to get done.”

“We came out sharp, crisp, ready to play,” Kirk Ferentz said at halftime. Indeed. The Hawkeyes cranked out 159 yards of offense in each of the first two quarters and 479 for the game.

Iowa defense was just as productive. It allowed ISU just 3 yards in the first 15 minutes, recorded a pair of sacks and grabbed three interceptions.

Adam Robinson punctuated the first-team offense’s productivity with a 39-yard touchdown scamper midway through the third quarter. The sophomore had a career-high 156 yards on just 14 carries, a performance that included a 74-yard run on a draw play that most of the sellout crowd will go to bed believing it was a 75-yard touchdown.

“I love watching him run,” said Podolak. “He just keeps churning and churning and churning. He gains so many yard of contact. It’s impressive.”

ABC-TV’s analyst Ed Cunningham was impressed, too. “A year ago at this time they had no Jewel Hampton and had no idea who Adam Robison was. They know who Adam Robinson is today,” he said.

The victory is the first of three regular season “trophy games” for Hawkeyes, who will keep the Cy-Hawk Trophy on display inside the Jacobson Athletics Building for another year.

“I didn’t see this coming at all. A really great peformance by our guys. We came out ready to go and executed well and that’s always a positive,” Ferentz said in his post-game radio show.

“It’s more fun when you come out and execute. Rick’s a veteran player and he’s providing great leadership,” he added. “I also want to credit our offensive line. The are coming together nicely and really played well today.”