Today's game could not have gone much better for the Hawkeyes. A 30-point victory, plenty of time for the starters to iron out some things, but still some good action for the second-teamers, no injuries, few very penalties, and an overall pretty clean game. Sure, there was a collective moment of panic when Ricky Stanzi came up limping after a short run on a roll out in which nobody was open. But he bounced back and re-entered the game the next series. And yeah, there was that fake punt that caught Iowa off guard. But really, it was exactly the type of game that Iowa wants for week one.

Star players
Adam Robinson: Robinson had a heck of a game. He carried a heavy load taking all the carries with the first-team offense. Robinson finished the game with 24 carries for 109 yards and 3 TDs. He also had 3 catches for 43 yards. What impressed me most was his ability to get yards after contact. He was breaking tackles left and right and threw in a couple of nice spin moves today. He also did well picking up blitzing Panthers a few times. And what is even more exciting is that next week Jewel Hampton is back. These two are going to be an excellent 1-2 punch.

Paki O'Meara: Paki was a standout on special teams and did a nice job when he got in to relieve Robinson in the 4th quarter at running back. Paki had one of the biggest plays of in the game when he blocked a punt, picked it up, and took it in for a touchdown. He also averaged 8.5 yards on 4 carries on the final drive of the game.

Tyler Nielsen: The defense as a whole played pretty well, but Nielsen stood out to me by making a couple of good plays. He had a team high 6 tackles including 1.5 TFLs. Also, from what I can remember, he was pretty good in pass coverage.

Special teams have a big impact
Kickoffs: Problem solved. True freshman and walk-on kicker Mike Meyer proved today to be the answer on kick offs. He averaged 65.5 yards on his 6 kickoffs and 4 made it into the endzone. If EIU's returners weren't so cavalier about taking the ball out of the endzone, Meyer would have had more than his 1 touchback. EIU's average starting position following a kickoff was the 19.5 yard line. That is very, very good.

Punts: One perfect 43-yard punt, caught mid-flight by Micah Hyde on the 5 yard line. Ryan Donahue is such an important part of this team.

That fake punt: Iowa got caught completely off guard and gave up a huge gain on a fake punt. That 36 yard play accounted for over half of EIU's rushing yards and led to the team's only points. Iowa is going to need to be more aware going forward.

Stanzi plays it safe
Stanzi had a really efficient day. He had that scary knee injury that turned out to be very minor, and he had a fumbled snap (not sure who's fault that was). Other than those couple of hiccups, he played very well. He was 18-23, 229 yards, 1 TD and no interceptions. For the most part he kept things simple. He only went deep once and over threw McNutt. I couldn't tell if was just an overthrow or if the wind caught it (it was windy inside Kinnick today). Otherwise, Stanzi spent most of the day checking down to his tight ends, running backs, and full backs. Reisner and Herman combined for 7 catches for 96 yards. Brett Morse has the only receiving touchdown for the Hawkeyes. DJK and McNutt were both pretty quiet. I think this was all by design. Iowa was just keeping it simple and throwing non-risky passes. No need to force it when the linebackers could not keep up with the tight ends.

The defensive line was fine
Adrian Clayborn didn't really put up big numbers today. I thought EIU schemed pretty well to take him out of the game. He did have 4 tackles and 0.5 TFLs, though, and drew at least one holding penalty and a chop block I think. He also opened things up for Karl Klug, who had 6 tackles. Other than that, Ballard had a nice knock down, and both Daniel and Daniels had a sack. The unit wasn't overly dominating, but played well for the most part.

Overall...
This was a good warm up game. Sure, I'd like to see the offense come out firing and put up 50 points. I'd like the defense to blank a team and give us less than 100 yards. Really though, this game went according to plan and now it's on to Iowa State.

The need to know
What: Iowa vs. Eastern Illinois
Where: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City
When: 11:00 AM
TV: BTN

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

Suspension
Out: Jewel Hampton and Broderick Binns

Other tidbits

• Colin Sandeman is going to be the starter today over DJK. I'm not reading much into this. DJK missed a little bit of time during camp due to a minor, undisclosed injury, so he's probably just getting up to speed a little bit and the coaches are probably just rewarding the guy who has been performing all camp long. I still expect DJK to play early and often.
• With Gettis out and his listed back up, Cody Hundertmark, leaving the team, there is a hole in the line at starting right guard. My guess is that Nolan MacMillan will get the start there, but there could be a couple of other guys in the mix.
• With Binns' suspension, Iowa is mixing up the defensive line a little. Christian Ballard will slide back to defensive end and Mike Daniels will replace Ballard as the starting tackle.

The off-season is coming to an end...finally. It has been the most news-filled off-season that I can ever remember in my time following college football. I spent a whole lot less time doing research on Iowa's future opponents and analyzing past performances. Instead I had a steady stream of topics to write about, which was great and kept me busy. Well, today is no different. So for the last time this off-season, here's a roundup of some of the latest news.

Kirk Ferentz gets a contract extension through 2020

Ferentz received a contract extension during the summer last year that kept him on through 2015 without a raise. Well, after a 11-2, BCS Bowl winning season, Ferentz gets an extension again, this time with a raise. It was announced yesterday that Ferentz is expected to sign an extension to stay the Iowa Head Football Coach through the 2020 season. He will do so for a salary around $3.7 million a year. This contract will take Ferentz to 65-years old, so for all intents and purposes, it is a life time deal.

Cody Hundertmark, officially off the team

On Monday, it was a rumor that Hundertmark was gone. Tuesday, Coach Ferentz called it a "gray area." Well, now it's official. Hundertmark has decided to leave the team to focus on academics. Hundertmark moved from the defensive line to the offensive line sometime in the middle of last year. He was really starting to get some mentions as a person that has played well along the line and probably would have played a lot this year. I totally understand focusing on school though. He's a Finance and Management major, so that could definitely a successful path for his future. So, good luck Cody.

The Hawkeyes unfortunately don't play for 2 more days, but football starts tonight and I couldn't be more excited. Tonight I'll sit down a watch a game or two. Tomorrow, I'm headed to Fry Fest. Then it's here.

I still don't know which game/games I want to watch tonight. I'll probably tune in to Iowa State's opener and maybe check out one of the Big Ten games. Here's the list of games I'm considering:

• Iowa State-Northern Illinois | 7:00, FSN (a little scouting perhaps)
• Ohio State-Marshall | 6:30, BTN (just to check in on OSU)
• Minnesota-Middle Tennessee State | 6:30, ESPNU (MTSU has a good chance of winning this game)
• Indiana-Towson | 6:30, BTN (I think the OSU game is on though)
• Pitt-Utah | 7:30, Versus (probably the best two teams playing tonight)
• USC-Hawaii | 10:00, ESPN (if I'm up late)

So what's everybody else watching tonight?

The Big Ten announced today the divisional alignment for the 12-team conference starting next year. You've probably seen it by now, but in case you haven't, here it is:

• Division O (West) - Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Minnesota
• Division X (East) - Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue

The protected rivalries are: Michigan-Ohio State, Nebraska-Penn State, Iowa-Purdue, Wisconsin-Minnesota, Illinois-Northwestern, and Michigan State-Indiana.

One last information thing before I get into my thoughts...the 2011 schedule.

Date	Team
09/03	vs. Tennessee Tech
09/10	at Iowa State
09/17	vs. Pittsburgh
09/24	vs. Louisiana-Monroe
10/08	at Penn State
10/15	vs. Northwestern
10/22	vs. Indiana
10/29	at Minnesota
11/05	vs. Michigan
11/12	vs. Michigan State
11/19	at Purdue
11/26	at Nebraska

I have to say as an Iowa fan I am pretty happy with this set up. First of all, Iowa keeps it's rivalry with Minnesota and adds a rival in Nebraska. Wisconsin isn't a yearly foe anymore (for now...we'll see what happens when the league goes to a 9-game conference schedule), but I am perfectly fine with trading Nebraska for Wisconsin. I also like the idea of ending the season with Nebraska over Minnesota. I like the tradition and all, but Iowa-Nebraska will be a bigger game. I wish the game was in Kinnick next year though. It is going to be huge.

Iowa's division sets up pretty nicely. I think top-to-bottom the west might be slightly better. Minnesota, Michigan State, and Northwestern are all usually middle of the pack teams, while Indiana, Purdue, and Illinois haven't been as consistent. However, I think the other division is more top heavy and it is very unlikely somebody outside of Ohio State or Penn State (and occasionally Wisconsin) to win the division. Iowa's division though, has some more opportunities...especially for Iowa.

The two traditional powers ahead of Iowa in the division are Michigan and Nebraska. Look at their cross over games: Ohio State and Penn State respectively. Iowa's cross over in Purdue makes its schedule slightly easier on a year-to-year basis. This could be a big advantage in the race for conference title game. How awesome would it be if Iowa played in the first ever Big Ten conference championship game? It could definitely happen. Nebraska's schedule is ridiculously difficult next year (PSU, Wisconsin, and Michigan on the road, OSU and Iowa at home). Michigan could likely still be down. The rest of the teams aren't too scary right now. I think Iowa will be the favorite.

Last thought for now: the 2012 home schedule is awesome. Iowa plays Iowa State, UNI, Central Michigan, Minnesota, Penn State, Purdue, and Nebraska all at home. That's 2 interstate rivals, 1 gimme, 1 traditional rival, 1 recent rival, 1 brand new protected rival, and 1 border-state hate war. (So I used the word "rival" a little loosely, but still those are good games.) Season tickets might be tough to get again.