I decided to re-watch the game before I did the grades. I had great seats on Saturday location-wise, but the fans in front of me were obstructing my view most of the game so it was hard to get a good feel for how individuals were playing. (They were some "kids" probably around 5'7", so not really short, who stood on the stands the for the majority of the game. We asked them the step down, but sure enough every time the ball was thrown in the air, or a run went for more than 2 yards, they were back up on the stands. And guess why the couldn't see very well and needed to jump up on the stands??...their dad, a freakin' grown man, was right in front of them up on the stands the whole time as well. Come on people! Just because they are named "stands" does not mean you should stand on them.) Anyway, it's late now, so I'm just doing the offense tonight. Defense and special teams will come tomorrow.

The Offense

Quarterback: B
I'm probably going to sound like a broken record here....but for the third week in a row, Stanzi had a bad first half (C-) and an excellent second half (A-). Just look at the stats: 1st half - 9/18, 101 yards, 0TD, 1 Int = QB rating 86.0; 2nd half - 11/14, 104 yards, 0 TD, 0 Int = QB rating 206.7. He was particularly impressive on the final scoring drive in the fourth quarter going 4 for 4, including 3 3rd down conversions. The drive chewed up 8:30 and put the game out of reach for the Wildcats.

Running Back: B+
Last week was Wegher's turn for a 100-yard game, this week was Robinson's turn. Robinson looked particularly good today rushing for 101 yards on 18 carries. He had 2 goal-line touchdowns and a game changing 43 rush on a 3rd and 23 draw play where he broke about 5 tackles.

Wegher also had a good game going for 46 yards on 17 carries. He had another leaping touchdown (the picture on the right is the from the play a second before he jumps) and a couple of catches out of the backfield. He and Robinson both did a very nice good picking up blitzers and blocking for Stanzi.

Wide Receivers: A
I am very excited about this group of receivers. It is as deep and as talented as I can ever remember. Today they were able to find holes in the talented Wildcat defense (mostly over the middle against the linebackers) and I saw some good downfield blocking that led to yards after the catch.

Each week, different guys have been stepping up...this week was Colin Sandeman. He has been nursing an injury the first couple of weeks, but turned in a 5 catch, 47 yard performance today. He had a great catch over the middle on 3rd down on the first drive of the game that led to a touchdown.

Chaney has also been impressing me this year. He looks like a totally different player than years past. He got the ball on the end around 3 times (KOK must be setting something up with that play...we've seen it a lot so far this year) gaining 16 yards on the ground. He also had 3 catches for 22 yards including a great 3rd down catch on the final scoring drive where catch the ball short of the marker but was able to beat his defender for the 1st down.

McNutt had a couple of note worthy plays as well. He had a ridiculous one handed grab for 7 yards and the longest completion of the day, a 34-yarder that led to the Hawkeyes second touchdown.

Tight End: B
Reisner put in a good effort yesterday filling in for Moeaki. He did a good job catching the ball in traffic and had a great 29 yard catch where he ran right up the seam. I didn't notice him a whole lot blocking wise, but that's probably a good thing.

Offensive Line: B-
The offensive line was pretty good today and did not give up too many negative plays. I think the running backs were stopped behind the line only twice (not 100% on that), but Stanzi was sacked 3 times. Bulaga was out for the second game in a row, but Reiff held his own once again. The line really started to dominate later in the game against a worn down Arizona defense as Iowa had a huge time of possession advantage (37:56 - 22:04).

Offense as a Whole: B+
Considering this was by far the best defense that Iowa has faced this year, the offense did really well. Even with the slow start by Stanzi, Iowa was able to dominate the time of possession in the first half, and it showed in the forth quarter when the Arizona defense looked gassed on the final 8:30 drive.