I have seen these animated drive charts on numerous sites around the blogosphere and finally took the time to figure out how to get one for the Iowa game. The charts are an invention of the flash-savvy Tennessee blog Rocky Top Talk. I thought it was kind of cool, so I threw it up here. Let me know if you'd like to see this posted every week and I'll do by best to deliver.

FULL SCREEN VERSION

The one thing that jumped out to me was that all of Iowa's scoring drives were over 65 yards. Iowa really didn't have great starting field position all game long, but it didn't really matter as the Hawkeyes were able to grind out long drives and able to hit the big play to score quickly.

There wasn't a whole lot of movement in my week 2 BlogPoll ballot. This week again is a mixture of both on-field performance and season-long expectations. So, for example, this week Oklahoma moved up for its performance against Florida State. Utah continues to climb now that its game at Iowa State looks like it might be easier, as well as the season ender at BYU. Utah could be an 11-win team this year. I also decided to eliminate all teams with a loss from my ballot. Last week I left Virginia Tech ranked #25 and look what happened to them. So only undefeated teams in the top 25 this week.

For the second straight week Iowa had a dominating victory. It was exactly the kind of game I like...the kind that I can relax after the first quarter, knowing that the game is in the bag. Though, according to many people (Cyclone fans, sports radio hosts, etc...) this game was not supposed to be this way. In the week prior to the game I heard it said many times "Iowa is on the better team on paper, but..." Arnaud is improved, the Cyclone defense is as good as ever, the offensive line is huge, Iowa State has more heart...blah, blah, blah. As it turns out, Iowa is a much better team on paper, and a much, much better team on the field.

On Paper: Iowa's receivers match up nicely with ISU's secondary
Iowa State was without starting corner Te'ron Benton and safety David Sims was playing in his first game of the year. In Benton's place was Jeremy Reeves, who stands just 5-7, 168 lbs. Iowa had two experienced, talented, and much taller receivers in DJK and McNutt.

On the Field: Iowa's receivers ran wide open
It was actually ISU's supposedly better cornerback, Leonard Johnson, that Iowa was able to pick on all day, but really found openings all over the field. Both DJK and McNutt had big days on Saturday. DJK had a team high 5 catches for 65 yards. McNutt had just 2 receptions, but they went for 75 yards including a 66-yarder that set up a touchdown and a 9-yard TD catch. ISU's secondary looked lost at times, and an embarrassing fight broke out amongst themselves in the 3rd quarter after giving up a big pass play to Iowa TE Allen Reisner.

The need to know
What: Iowa vs. Iowa State
Where: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City
When: 2:30 PM
TV: ABC or ESPN2 (Coverage Map)

Injury report
Out: Marcus Coker (collar bone)
Questionable: Daniel Murray (hip flexor)
Probable: Adam Gettis (sprained ankle), Shaun Prater (hamstring), Josh Koeppel (hit by a freaking truck), Jeff Tarpinian (broken hand)

I watched both the Iowa State and Iowa games last week. It can be hard to get a good read on a team during the first week of play, especially when they are play inferior opponents, but I did get a general feel for both teams' strengths and weaknesses. Iowa should have an advantage in just about every facet of the game, but here are the 3 thing I think Iowa will be able to exploit tomorrow.

1. Hang Time
Cyclones: Iowa State's latest depth chart [pdf] has a big "OR" listed between its two punters, last week's starter Daniel Kuehl and true freshman Kirby Van Der Camp. Kuehl had one punt against Northern Illinois that went just 18 yards. Van Der Camp reportedly has a stronger leg and averaged 40.5 yards per punt in his senior year of high school. However, he is still a freshman that would be playing in his first game...on the road...against a top 10 team...that is ISU's biggest rival. That is not an ideal situation.