It Begins!

(Zach)

Thanks to Murph and Andy for the shout out to my college football odyssey, even though they short changed me.  I started for Iowa City at 6:15 AM, not 6:30.

In all honesty, it was a lot of work, but a blast.  Other than needing an ark at times for all the rain, going to games at Kinnick and Jack Trice was everything I thought it would be growing up.  And it made five years of freezing my butt off in Missoula and Fargo worth it.

I guess now I can't wait for the games to matter a bit more.  Iowa did what they had to do against a bad Tennessee Tech team.  I think the conditions and Kirk Ferentz being the kind of guy who doesn't run up scores kept it from being bigger than 34-7.

If anyone is ripping ISU for going to the wire with UNI just shut up.  This is the same program that should have beaten Iowa in 09 and is a year to year contender for the FCS national title.  There were several FCS teams that DID upset BCS teams (Sacramento State won at Oregon State 29-28, Richmond beat Duke 23-21).  Seldom do the Appalachian State over Michigan upsets happen, but a good FCS team can hang with just about anybody in FBS who isn't a superpower (Texas, OU, etc.).  The Panthers will win the Missouri Valley again, but they need Tirrell Rennie to give them more from the passing game to win it all.

The most concerning thing for Iowa State has to be the line play.  The defense never got a ton of pressure on Rennie, and the offensive line got flat blown up at times.  That said, both lines did step up and make plays late in games.  Still, with the Hawkeyes bringing a veteran O-Line and the makings of another good D-Line, Paul Rhoads has to figure some stuff out fast.

My head tells me Iowa is going to win this game.  But I get this nagging feeling that Iowa State will find a way to pull the upset.  I think Rhoads is due and playing at Jack Trice can be a great equalizer.  For the Clones it all rests on Steele Jantz.  If he plays like he did for the first three quarters of the UNI game against Iowa then ISU may have to think about giving Jared Barnett a rep or two.  If he's the fourth quarter Steele Jantz for most of the game, Iowa could be in trouble.  The Hawkeyes struggled to wrap up and tackle Tennessee Tech's mobile QB.

RVTV starts later today in Pleasantville!  Keith will still be updating his blog, but we'll describe the madness here as we road trip across Iowa.  Like many of you I've been a fan (from afar) of RVTV for years, so I'm looking forward to joining the fun.  Watching Keith's bad movies, listening every night to Andy talk about what bugs him, and Chris' for some reason refusing to wear clothes (see the end of this video http://www.whotv.com/videobeta/25fd4ffc-41d4-4d49-af6c-8754122e07de/News/RVTV-Starts-Monday ) have me a bit nervous though.