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Iowa Preview
with a Review of Purdue

by Jeff Metzger

October 22, 2003

Offensive Report Card | Defensive Report Card | Player of Game | Iowa Preview

Purdue Report Card

I’m taking a little bit different approach this week. If you’re a regular reader, you’re probably as tired of reading the same crap about this group as I am of writing it. So, this week I broke out the thesaurus to come up with some adjectives that will describe each unit’s play while expanding my reader’s vocabulary at the same time. Here goes:

OFFENSE: Ineffective, Inept, and Dreadful

Quarterback: Inaccurate and Indecisive

Running Backs:
• Ailing, Feeble, and Weak (Austin Scott)
• Inactive and Unused (Ricky Upton)
• Abandoned (Tony Hunt)
• Dedicated and Steadfast (Sean McHugh)

Receivers:
• Lackadasical , Lousy, and Atrocious (Tony Johnson)
• Developing (Mo Humphrey and Donnie Johnson)
• Steady (Mike Lukac and Gerald Smith)
• Forgotten and Invisible (Matt Kranchick)

Offensive Line:
• Weak, Makeshift, Hesitant, and Unsteady

DEFENSE: Mediocre and Permeable

Defensive Line: Diminutive, Vulnerable, and Unsubstantial

Linebackers:
• Hesitant, Sluggish, and Sloppy (Gino Capone)
• Confined but Speedy (Deryck Toles)
• Inconsistent (Derek Wake)

Secondary: Unaggressive, yet Opportunistic (Alan Zemaitis)

SPECIAL TEAMS:
• Inconsistent and Unfocused (Robbie Gould)
• Dreadful, Woeful, and Putrid (Kickoff returns and Punt coverage)
• Consistent (Jeremy Kapinos and David Kimball)
• Detrimental and Unfocused (Calvin Lowery)

COACHING/GAMEPLAN:
• Unprepared, Confused, Uncertain, Unmotivated, Disorganized, and Chaotic.

POSITIVES:
• Well, I’ve finally started to listen to JOE and lower my expectations. You know, the losses aren’t as painful as they used to be when you don’t expect as much. A Penn State defeat used to ruin my entire weekend. Now, I’m lucky if it affects me as much as the gluttonous manner in which I devour the delicious and tasty morsels waiting for me at the post game tailgate. At least I’ve got TUMS to cure that ailment.

CONCERNS:
• I guess my waistline, since I’m now eating more due to our poor performances this season
• The PA announcer at Purdue. This guy was so bad his own fans were ready to take him out.
• Holding my lead in the pick ‘em contest. It’s going to be a dogfight to the end.

 

PLAYER OF THE GAME: FEATURE TWIRLER BOBBI JOOOOO SOLOMON
• Made Purdue’s ‘Golden Girl’ look like Bea Arthur (no offense Guff)
• Had wide receiver’s coach Kenny Carter observing her fundamentals during pregame to see if he could apply any new techniques on the art of ‘catching’ to his receivers.

STAT OF THE GAME:
• Purdue scored 14 more points than Penn State. Hence, we lost the game.

JOE SAYS:
• Does it really matter? He’s painting rosy red picture and believes that things aren’t that bad. I’m really starting to lose it here……….

A LOOK AHEAD TO GAME 8: IOWA

COACH: Kirk Ferentz (27-28 in 5 seasons at Iowa)

RECORD: 5-2 (1-2 in the Big Ten)

LAST WEEK: Lost to Ohio State, 19-10

SERIES HISTORY: Penn State leads the series 10-7, with the Hawkeyes winning the last 3 contests

PLAYERS TO WATCH:
• Fred Russell – the Hawkeye tailback is averaging almost 110 yards per game. So far this season, he has gained 768 yards on 158 carries with 3 TDs.
• Nate Kaeding – the Iowa placekicker has a canon for a leg. He is 9 for 9 on his FG attempts and is perfect on his PATs. He is one of the top kickers in the nation and will have a long career for many years to come kicking the ball on Sundays.
• Abdul Hodge– the Iowa MLB has 78 tackles on the season, including eight for a loss. He also has 2 sacks and has forced 2 fumbles.

KEY STATISTIC: While the Hawkeyes allowed Ohio State to score 19 points, they did not allow an offensive touchdown. The Iowa defense held the Ohio State offense to just 185 total yards and a meager 56 on the ground.

IMPORTANT MATCH-UPS:
• KIRK FERENTZ vs. JOE PATERNO: Ferentz has Joe’s number. He consistently comes up with a gameplan that exploits Penn State’s weaknesses and takes it to the Nittany Lions. Will an off week give JoePa the needed time to dust away the cobwebs from his vastly superior football mind?

• IOWA’S ZONE BLOCKING SCHEME vs. PENN STATE’S DEFENSIVE FRONT: Big Ten foes that run this type of scheme traditionally have killed us on the ground. Watch for Fred Russell to use his shiftiness to cut-back and eat the Lions up for 5 and 10 yard runs at a time.

KEEP AN EYE ON:
• Line-up changes – did the off week allow the coaches to make any personnel moves?
• Austin Scott – is he healthy and will he even make the trip?
• Quarterback – is Zack healthy enough to see substantial action? Will MRob return to the form we saw during the Wisconsin game?
• Tony Johnson – will he make the trip due to his DUI charge and if so, will he play?
• Donnie Johnson – Coach Paterno stated that Donnie is practicing with both the WR’s and the TB’s due to Austin’s health. Will he see action at both positions?

MY PREDICTION: Iowa 27, Penn State 13

BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW: Kirk Ferentz’ brother-in-law (Kevin Hart) played linebacker and lettered on the 1976 Nittany Lion squad.

**For more information on Iowa Football, check out www.hawkeyesports.com
**Be sure to visit www.gopsusports.com every Tuesday for a transcript of Coach Joe Paterno’s weekly press conference.

Until next time, S-T-A-T-E, Go State!!!

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