The Scorecard #6

HS: Regina is still rolling it's way towards another state title... not that should surprise anyone all that much. (But Dyersville-Beckman made 'em work up a sweat to get back into the title game! There are chinks in the juggernaut, apparently.)

Bonus HS: In an unusual turn of events, City High took on West High in an all Iowa City 4A volleyball title game- West took the big prize, 3-2-- but nice job by both teams getting there. Always cool to see Iowa City grab a title in anything....

College: Well, what can we say? I had a feeling we were going to split the Michigans and I was proved correct, but I don't think it necessarily had to be that way. Iowa pretty much spent the first half gift-wrapping the game and helping Sparty tie a pretty bow on top and that first quarter- wow, that was a complete shambles. The week-to-week consistency with this Iowa team is probably the most frustrating thing about it, but watching them surge back to grab 21 points in the second half showed that we can actually play football. It's just that for whatever reason, we took the first half off yesterday. I do think we've got a decent shot against Purdue (if Sparty can learn not to suck on the road, so we can we) and Nebraska will be super-tough at home, but I think we've got the skill level to at least give them a game. (Though curiously, Nebraska's been up and down this year too. How do you stomp Sparty and then lay a turd against Northwestern the very next week? Iowa can apparently give you lessons, if you're wondering.) So I'm thinking 7-5 would be optimistic (and would probably land us a bowl appearance of some kind) and 6-6 would be more likely making a bowl appearance something we should thank our lucky stars for, if we get one at all.

I'm sure the usual howls for heads of the coaching staff will probably go up, but I'm willing to take a breath and let the season play out before we talk about that. I'm sure Hayden Fry reshuffled things from time to time during his tenure and I'm sure Ferentz will (hopefully) get around to doing the same thing. I don't think we need to radically alter our basic offensive philosophy (Iowa will always be a run first kind of team) but getting an offense that's not so damn 1 dimensional would be nice. How many times did Coker run straight up the gut for a half a yard yesterday? Did we try pitching it? Rolling it to the outside? A reverse? Anything? If the entire conference can read your playbook, we should probably do something the other guy's not expecting from time to time and see what happens. At this point- what do we have to lose?

And kids: Sparty took more dives than a European soccer team yesterday. Neither our defense nor our offense is that big, bad and mean... The Cigar smells some horseshit at work.

Bonus College: I know it's only a football game, but Penn State versus Nebraska provided some of the most powerful, emotional moments I've ever seen on television. Penn State lost- but only by 3, but I think they took the first steps towards turning a corner on this horrible, horrible mess- and that should be seen as a win in the long run. (Question of the day: former AD Curley and VP Schultz perjured themselves and covered up child rape yet are still employed by Penn State- they're on administrative leave. Joe Paterno told the people he was supposed to tell, yet got fired. Everybody should still get fired, kids- but there's two more people that need pink slips out there.)

And in a creepy interview last night on NBC, Jerry Sandusky admitted to showering with kids, but denied being sexually attracted to young people and being a pedophile. How you square that particular circle is beyond me...

Bonus Bonus College: Boise State? Seriously? Again? Yep, they muffed a kick and ended their BCS title hopes- such as they were at home against TCU yesterday in a thoroughly entertaining game I watched on Versus. (Daddy like his Direct TV, yee-haw!) What blew my mind though: their kicker had a long of 32. That seems awfully short to me-- for all the high powered offense they have, you'd think they'd invest in a decent kicker.

Stanford lost to Oregon meaning that there are 3 unbeaten teams left standing right now- Oklahoma State, LSU and Houston. Houston, although I think Case Keenum is ridiculous (how do you score 9 TDs in one game? Even if you are playing Rice, that's riDICulous...) doesn't have the resume, though if they go undefeated they should feel free to bitch about the short comings of the BCS- everybody else does! Oklahoma State has Iowa State and then the Bedlamn against Oklahoma left. LSU has Ole Miss, Arkansas and then a probable SEC title game against Georgia (I'm assuming) left. If the two of them win out, then they should be in, no problem. If they don't, then all heck will break loose and if I'm Houston, I'd be gentley pointing out that I'm the only undefeated team left standing (that's if they get by SMU and Tulsa, which I'm betting they will.) The tiresome arguments about LSU-Bama, LSU-Oregon rematches will re-emerge and it'll just suck. So Cowboys: you best stay focused these last two games...

Pros: 45-7, Green Bay. 'Nuff said...

Bonus: I know it's only a friendly, but England managed to slide past defending World Champs Spain to the tune of 1-0. Impressive!