October 29, 2009

Tom Dienhart
Rivals.com College Football Senior Writer

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Ferentz has Iowa off to an 8-0 start for the first time in school history. It's the fourth consecutive season and fifth in the past six that at least one Big Ten team has started the season with at least eight victories in a row.

While Iowa is winning, it isn't dominating. The Hawkeyes have won their four Big Ten games by an average margin of five points. And Iowa barely beat two non-conference opponents, edging FCS member Northern Iowa by one point and Arkansas State by three.

"Our margin for error is really thin, and I think our players understand that," Ferentz said. "Thus far, at least, they really haven't seemed to be very affected by anything going on outside, which is really a good thing. And it's a tribute to our leadership.

"We are getting really good leadership, not just from our seniors but from our older guys, and I'll credit all of them for paying attention to last year's group because I thought last year's group did an outstanding job."

The rebirth of Iowa started with that 2008 team, as Ferentz engineered a 9-4 record and a win over South Carolina in the Outback Bowl, the Big Ten's lone postseason triumph. The return to glory has reached new heights this fall with the Hawkeyes now entertaining BCS championship game hopes.

The Hawkeyes have won 12 in a row, the second-longest winning streak among FBS schools to Florida's 17. The last Big Ten team to win 12 games in succession was Ohio State, which won 19 in a row during the 2005-06 campaigns.

But flash back to 2005-07, when Iowa went 19-18 overall and 11-13 in the Big Ten and missed a bowl game in '07. There were myriad off-field transgressions by players that caused some to wonder about the direction of the program. That provided a stark contrast to the previous three campaigns, when the Hawkeyes went 31-7 overall and 20-4 in the Big Ten from 2002-04, with two Big Ten championships.

That was then, this is now. Following last week's heart-stopping win at Michigan State that saw Iowa prevail on the last play of the game with quarterback Ricky Stanzi hitting Marvin McNutt with an 7-yard touchdown pass on fourth down, the Hawkeyes moved to No. 4 in the BCS standings.

"I don't get too hyped up about the ranking," Ferentz said. "Like I told you last week about the BCS standings, if you look at the top 10 from last year at this time, a lot of changes are out there."

Iowa plays three of its final four games at home, with a visit from Indiana on tap for Saturday. But the lone road contest looks daunting: at Ohio State on Nov. 14. The Hawkeyes also have home games with Northwestern (Nov. 7) and Minnesota (Nov. 21).

No one thought it would be a November to remember in August, when projected starting running back Jewell Hampton suffered a season-ending knee injury in camp. Then, the Hawkeyes needed a miraculous effort to beat Northern Iowa in the season opener, blocking two field goals in the waning moments.

Now Iowa is poised for its first trip to the Rose Bowl since the 1990 season. (Iowa won a share of the Big Ten in 2002 but played in the Orange Bowl.) Or maybe a whole lot more.

"The reality is that we could be a 4-4 team and we just need to be mindful of that," Ferentz said. "We are not a 4-4 team and I am extremely satisfied by that, but if we don't handle the next four weeks, well, then we could be an 8-4 team. We just need to worry about what is in front of us. With our injuries, our margin for error is pretty slim anyway."

KEY MATCHUP: Wisconsin's rush offense vs. Purdue's rush defense. If Purdue wants to become bowl-eligible, the Boilermakers must win three of their last four games. After a 1-5 start, Purdue has won two in a row. It tries to continue its uphill march at Wisconsin, which was off last week. Purdue has lost 10 road games in a row. For the Boilermakers to have a chance to leave Madison with a win, they must slow down the Badgers sophomore running back John Clay, who paces the Big Ten in rushing with a 102.3-yard average. Purdue has the league's ninth-ranked rushing defense (156.2 ypg). Can the Boilermakers' front seven step up?

PLAYER ON THE SPOT: Whoever is playing quarterback for Minnesota. There are rumblings that the Golden Gophers may pull a switcheroo under center, with redshirt freshman MarQueis Gray replacing junior Adam Weber, the 11th-rated passer in the Big Ten. Gray replaced Weber in last week's 38-7 drubbing at Ohio State. Weber was just 10-of-23 for 112 yards with two interceptions against the Buckeyes before being pulled. Gray came on to go 5-of-6 for 51 yards and a touchdown; he also ran 11 times for 81 yards. Minnesota needs better production from its signal-caller with Michigan State coming to town this week. This is a winnable game for a Gophers program trying to become bowl-eligible.

NUMBERS GAME: Of the top four teams in the Big Ten, Ohio State has the most difficult remaining schedule. The Buckeyes' remaining three Big Ten foes have an aggregate 8-4 conference mark. What's it mean? Ohio State's run of four consecutive Big Ten titles may come to an end.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING:

"There's a great deal of frustration, obviously, with the program at the moment, and that's all I have to say. We're still going to evaluate [at the end of the season], but I think it was really unfair to start jumping at the end of the fifth year on the guy. That's what I wanted to put aside." - Illinois athletic director Ron Guenther, on the future of coach Ron Zook, whose team is 1-6 overall and 0-5 in the Big Ten this season. Guenther says Zook will return in 2010

"We didn't really have guys covering the wrong people or guys totally out of position, but there were a few technique things that if you've got 'B' gap, you've got to be in 'B' gap; if you've got 'C' gap, you've got to be in 'C' gap." - Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez, responding to comments that Penn State players said the Wolverines' defense look confused

"I don't even know what you're talking about. Was that at Northwestern?" - Penn State coach Joe Paterno, when a reporter described details of the Nittany Lions' last game at Northwestern in 2005

"They must think that these guys are horrible, but I know they are going to come in and play well, just like every team. We just have got to hold up our end of the deal and go out there and play some good football." - Ohio State defensive end Thad Gibson, on this week's foe, New Mexico State, which is a 43-point underdog.

Etc.: Ohio State (6-2) became the Big Ten's third bowl-eligible team last weekend with a win over Minnesota. Iowa (8-0) and Penn State (7-1) also are bowl eligible. ... Iowa likely will be without starting RB Adam Robinson for the rest of the season after he suffered an ankle injury in the Hawkeyes' 15-13 win at Michigan State. Without Robinson, who has 629 yards rushing, the Hawkeyes will turn to true freshman Brandon Wegher and former walk-on Paki O'Meara. Iowa also lost starting G Dace Richardson until the postseason with a broken leg. ... Michigan C David Molk is done for the year after tearing the ACL in his right knee in the loss to Penn State last week. Molk was coming off a foot injury when he suffered his knee injury. David Moosman will take over at center. ... Ohio State will be without starting OT Mike Adams (knee) for at least two more weeks. DT Dexter Larimore (knee) likely will be out for this week's visit from New Mexico State, and RB Dan Herron (ankle) is questionable. ... The Big Ten hasn't done well against other Big Six leagues: It's 0-1 vs. the ACC, 1-1 vs. the Big 12, 2-1 vs. the Big East and 1-3 vs. the Pac-10, giving the Big Ten a 4-6 mark. ... Iowa has won four games by three or fewer points for the first time ever. ... Minnesota senior WR Eric Decker is out for the rest of the season with a foot injury. He had a team-leading 50 catches for 758 yards (15.2 ypc), with five touchdowns. ... Michigan CB Boubacar Cissoko has been booted off the squad for a violation of team rules. ... Look for Illinois to continue to play two quarterbacks, as the Fighting Illini did last week in a loss to Purdue, with senior Juice Williams and redshirt freshman Jacob Charest seeing action.

Tom Dienhart is the national senior writer for Rivals.com. He can be reached at dienhart@yahoo-inc.com.