Iowa 2010

Iowa (2009 Statistics)

• Kirk Ferentz is in his 12^th year as head coach of the Hawkeyes.
• Iowa struggled running the ball in 2009.  They had to establish a new rushing identity after losing Shonn Greene to the NFL Draft (the only FBS player to rush for at least 100 yards in every single game of 2008).  And the Hawkeyes ended up just 99^th in the country with 114 yards per game (28 yards per game less than Greene averaged on his own).    Offensively, they finished 10^th out of 11 teams in the Big Ten in scoring, rushing and total offense.
• What Iowa did well last year was play defense.  They had an incredible pass defense and scoring defense, allowing just 15 points per game.  But they had to given how few points this team scored.  They finished the year with a +7.8 point differential against opponents, which was the lowest amongst the 21 teams that won 10 or more games in 2009.  Their rush defense was average for the Big Ten but should improve this year considering that they return all four starters (each started all 13 games last year).  They bring a combined 252 tackles and 27 sacks and is this experience should make them even better in 2010.
• Ricky Stanzi is 18-4 as a starter.  But his accuracy leaves a lot to be desired.  He has just a 56.3% complete rate (I don’t trust anyone under 60%) and his Touchdown to Interception ratio is terrible at 17 TDs to 15 INTs.  Something to know about Stanzi entering the 2010 season is that in the 25 games in which he had thrown the football, he had 25 career interceptions. Btw, James Vandenberg stepped in when Stanzi was injured and was even less accurate though (48.3% and a 2TD-5 INT ratio)!