With the star offensive lineman, stud tight end (who's a fantastic blocker), and the top returning running back out, most coaches would draw up a game plan to pass more. With a deep and talented pool of receivers, a veteran quarterback, and 2 freshman running backs, most coaches would spread it out more. Kirk Ferentz and Ken O'Keefe are not most coaches.

Instead of trying to get more and more wide receivers on the field, the Iowa coaches staff is trying to get more offensive linemen on the field. Yes, offensive linemen. During Saturday's game Iowa debuted a package with offensive guard Andy Kuempel playing as the second tight end. Kuempel is not at all a threat in the passing game and was in there for blocking purposes only, and I guarantee Penn State knew that as well. And what did Iowa do...run it straight at them.

Most team's only bring in extra linemen during goal-line and short yardage situation. Not Iowa. This package was used through out...1 and 10, no problem. In the 4th quarter KOK called 16 straight runs and not a single pass. The Hawkeyes ran for 61 in the quarter and scored 10 points on offense (also 6 off of Clayborn's blocked punt return). They also owned the time of possession limiting Penn State's chances. In the 4th quarter, Iowa controlled the ball for 9:02.

And, did I mention that Iowa's only offensive touchdown of the game, Adam Robinson's fantastic 13 yard run, was out of the 6 offensive linemen package. This package actually had 6 o-lineman, a TE, and a fullback...it doesn't get much more obvious than that. Penn State knows it's a run and has 9 guys (!!) in the box. Despite that, Robinson takes off and runs right through a huge hole created by Richardson, Calloway, and Kuempel (who completely takes the defensive end out of the play) on the right side and rides his blockers to the endzone. (See around the 2:15 mark in this highlight video.)

Kuempel lined up at "tight end" but not fooling anyone.

I am really curious to see if KOK and Ferentz decide to keep a package like this in the game plan the upcoming weeks. With Bulaga officially back and the way Reiff has been playing, maybe we'll see him play this OL/TE hybrid position, especially if Moeaki isn't playing. I have to think once Moeaki is completely healthy though, we use him and Reisner in the 2-TE sets as Moeaki is an excellent run blocker and a real threat catching the ball as well.

Just a quick post here...fantastic news from Coach Ferentz's presser today: Bryan Bulaga as of yesterday is cleared to play. As rumored, Bulaga had a thyroid condition. The great news is that it has passed and that he will not need to be on medication the rest of his life.

Bulaga has been out since week 2 against Iowa State, and Riley Reiff has done a very good job filling in. However, this week is potentially the first time all season that we see the starting offensive line at full strength (Vandervelde and Calloway missed the first week with an injury and suspension respectively). Ferentz said that Bulaga would start if he practice well this week. I'm assuming that means he will get the start. The good news too, is that he can kind of use this game (no offense Arkansas State) as a tune up game to get ready for Michigan and the rest of the Big Ten slate.

Another good week for Hawkeye commits. A few teams stayed undefeated and one got its first win. The stars of the week were Marcus Coker, who led his team to a 42-0 victory with 3 touchdowns and James Morris, who filled in a quarterback and put up big offensive numbers.

Marcus Coker: DeMatha 42 - Paul VI Catholic 0
Coker racked up another 256 yards and 3 touchdowns on 15 carries in a route of the Paul VI Panthers. On the season Coker has 880 total rushing yards and has scored 11 touchdowns. He is averaging 12.4 yards per carry. His success on the field has him on the watch list for the high school National Player of the Year award.

Jim Poggi & Anthony Ferguson: Gilman 35 - Georgetown Prep 14
Gilman only had 2 complete passes, but rushed for over 300 yards in a 3 touchdown victory over Georgetown. I couldn't find if Poggi played this week, but read the linebackers played well, so I"m guessing that he did.

Christian Kirksey & Don Shumpert: Hazelwood East 41 - McCluer North 28
Trailing by one, Hazelwood East scored 14 4th quarter points to beat McCluer North for their first victory of the year. Shumpert had 4 recpetions for 50 yards. Kirksey returned a kickoff for 38 yards and added 12 tackles on defense.

Andrew Donnal: Anthony Wayne 37 - Maumee 20
On Parent's Night at Anthony Wayne, the Generals beat the previously undefeated Maumee Panthers. You can see a picture of Donnal ready for action here.

Austin Vier: Ballard 28 - Perry 7
Ballard's defense held Perry to only 127 total yards, winning easily 28 to 7 and moving to 5-0 on the year. Vier had an okay game at QB going 9 of 17 for 81 yards. He also had 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions.

Mike Hardy: Kimberly 27 - Appleton West 13
After falling 0-13 in the first quarter, the Papermakers stormed back to defeat Appleton West.

James Morris: Solon 41 - North Cedar 15
Solon moved to 5-0 on the season and is ranked #1 in Iowa Class 2A. Solon was without its starting QB, so Morris (usually a running back and linebacker) stepped in. The offense managed over 450 yards under Morris's command and he even threw a 50 yard TD.

Matt Hoch: Harlan 48 - Winterset 3
Harlan also moved to 5-0 beating down Winterset on Friday night. Hoch caught a 28 yard touchdown pass and ran for 44 yards on 2 carries.

Louis Trina-Pasat: Lane Tech 49 - Hyde Park 0
Lane Tech played its best game of the year running all over Hyde Park.

Brandon Scherff: Denison 14 - Sergeant Blugg-Luton 31
I was only able to find the score on this game.

Previous Recruit Roundup:

• Week 4
• Week 3
• Week 2
• Week 1

Iowa makes its way back into the polls after the 21-10 victory against Penn State last night. In the USA Today Coaches Poll, the Hawkeyes come in at #17...4 spots behind Penn State. What?! Penn State is #13 after beating exactly nobody and then getting dismantled at home in front of their famed white out. Maybe all the coaches went to bed before the 4th quarter last night, but there is really no reason why you should rank PSU ahead of Iowa. I usually don't get too worked up about the polls, but this is just ridiculous.

The AP Poll is much more respectable. Iowa is ranked #13 and shockingly (kind of sarcastic, but kind of not) Penn State is #15.

I am mostly pleased with the #13 and #17 rankings, but there are just so many good arguments why Iowa should be ranked higher. Iowa has now won 8 games in a row...the only team with more, Florida, who is currently ranked #1. Texas also has 8 in a row and is ranked #2. Also, look at the teams Iowa has beaten this year. They are a combined 12-4 (the only losses coming to Iowa) and have outscored their opponents (excluding Iowa) 410 to 130...that's an average of 34.2 points scored and 10.8 points allowed. Against Iowa, they are only averaging 11.5 points score and allowing 25.

Somebody figured it out too...Jeff Sagarin. In his ELO_CHESS rankings (a computer ranking used in the BCS formula) he has Iowa ranked #1 overall. You read the right, NUMBER FREAKIN' ONE! Iowa is #5 when he factors in his predictor rankings that take into account points scored. Also, Iowa is the only team in that is 2-0 very top 30 Sagarin ranked teams (PSU 23 and Arizona 21) and the strength of schedule is #11.

Other Thoughts on the Polls:
Going back to Penn State....why were they not punished very much? Ole Miss and Cal, 2 other top 10 teams last week, both lost on the road to good opponents and they fell all the way 21 and 24 in the AP and 18 and 19 in the Coaches. Penn State, on the other hand lost at home and only fell to #13 and #15.

Why isn't Auburn ranked yet? And, what about Wisconsin? Both teams are undefeated (something about half of the teams ranked in front of them can't say) and have put up some impressive numbers. Auburn is averaging on 45 points per game and has beaten a couple of decent teams in West Virginia and Mississippi State. Wisconsin has also beaten a couple of decent teams (Fresno State, Michigan State...maybe even Northern Illinois) and QB Scott Tolzien has been very good.

Boise State is in the top 5. Yes, Boise State is good, and has won some tough games, but really I think it is a little premature. I think Houston probably has a better arguement as far as the non-BCS teams go for being rated so high beating Oklahoma State and Texas Tech (that's more impressive than a win over Oregon).

It's very late, and I'm just getting all my thoughts together on this game. Obviously it was a sweet, sweet victory, made even more sweet by the fact that Clark all basically guaranteed a victory, then pretty much stunk it up after PSU's first 2 drives. Also, knowing the Penn State has had this game circled on the calendar since last year...the players, coaches, and fans were all dying for revenge...the white out was on (I loved seeing that little sea of gold in the corner)...and all broadcast nationally on ABC in prime-time and with GameDay there (by the way...thanks Corso for picking Penn State).

Iowa's Defense Dominates:
The real story of this game was defense, and really, hats off to both defenses because they were both excellent. In the end though it was Iowa's D that made the big, timely plays. The defensive line, led by Adrian Clayborn was fantastic. They were constantly in the backfield, wreaking havoc on Clark either with sacks, QB hurries, or just knocking him down.

I cannot say enough about Clayborn. He was practically unblockable, and though his stats don't show it (just 2 tackles) he was causing all sorts of problems for Penn State. Binns also had an excellent game...and was maybe even better than Clayborn (if you don't include that blocked punt return for a TD). Binns had 8 tackles, including 2.5 for loss and that big sack/forced fumble that resulted in the safety. Klug too...6 tackles, 2 for loss. Just a good effort by the d-line.

I thought the linebackers had their best game of the season as well. Angerer and Hunter combined for 26 tackles (14 and 12 respectively). They were also excellent against the pass doing a good job protecting the middle of the field. Angerer had a big interception and returned it 38 yards down the sideline and Edds had the game-sealing interception late in the 4th.

Overall, the defense was just remarkable. If you take away that first play (I can't believe Spievey got beat so bad...and where were the safeties?) Penn State did not do much offensively at all. Iowa held Royster to just 69 yards, and PSU only had 109 rushing yards total on the day. And, after the first 2 drives, Iowa held Clark to a misserable 94 yards on 6 of 23 passing. One the day, Clark's QB rating was just 81.04.

Special Teams are Special:
I've said it time and time again this year (maybe not enough on this blog, but I did write last night that special teams would be the difference maker), but the Iowa special tames are really good and a big advantage in close games. Donahue had a solid game, and his punt downed at the 5 led to the safety and he had another downed inside the 20.

Daniel Murray was just okay today, but the 2 field goals he made were definitely big (would have been a really good game if he hadn't missed that 42 yarder at the end of the first half). It was kind of fitting that the field goal to end that game was from 31 yards out, exactly the same distance as the game winner that year.

Adrian Clayborn's blocked punt and ensuing return for the touchdown was the play of the game. It turned momentum completely in Iowa's favor, it gave Iowa the lead for the first time and they would not relinquish it, and it was just awesome.

The Offense was Good Enough:
Stanzi did what Stanzi does: play bad to start the game (though he wasn't really that bad...how many dropped balls were there in the first half?), then play good (enough) in the second half and lead the Hawkeyes to victory. His stats weren't great, but he played well enough going 11-26 for 135 yards.

The running backs and offensive line are continuing to improve. Though Penn State's front 7 were very good all day, Iowa managed 163 yards led by Adam Robinson with 88. Especially in the 4th quarter when Iowa was putting the Nittany Lions away, the o-line was getting a good push and creating some decent holes. Robinson looked good on his 13 yard touchdown run, breaking a couple of tackles. I have been very impressed with his ability to get yards after contact for the second week in a row.

Best Team in the Big Ten?
Iowa has a good of argument as any team, that its the best in the Big Ten. Undefeated, won 8 in a row, knocked off Penn State in Happy Valley, amazing defense, good offense and special teams... Next week should be a win against Arkansas State, then if Michigan beats Michigan State, we have a serious battle for homecoming. Michigan does not have a good enough defense to challenge for the Big Ten title (Indiana should have won that game today if they only had a decent red-zone offense). Then come Michigan State who has looked bad, espeically on defense. Then Wisconsin, which will be a good test in Madison. A couple of "easy" games at home, before the game against Ohio State. At this point, it looks like that game could decide the Big Ten Champion. Man, I'm getting ahead of myself here, but an 11-1 seems very, very possible at this point and honestly 12-0 is not out of the question (though I seriously doubt that it will happen). If this team continues to play with the same ferocity on defense, and the offense continues to improve (which I think it has played better each week, PSU defense was just really good this week), then this team has a chance to be really special.