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A) Here?s a ?fluff piece? on Iowa?s 3rd generation quarterback being thrust into the limelight:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20091108/SPORTS020502/911090313
(B) IMO a much more substantial piece on Vandenberg (for at least the last two seasons, gazetteonline.com has been my first choice as the media outlet with the ?best? coverage of Iowa football):
http://gazetteonline.com/sports/iowa-hawkeyes/hawkeye-football/2009/11/09/james-vandenberg-was-born-for-this
?So, Iowa?s new quarterback is a third generation college football (quarterback) with a dad who?s an emergency room doctor who makes life-and-death decisions on a regular basis. He?s going to need to draw on all of that . . . ?I thought Coach (Ken) O?Keefe was really aggressive with the playcalls with James considering his lack of experience,? wide receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos said. ?James accepted it. He was excited. He knows the reads, he knows the defenses just as well as Ricky does. He?s just missing out on the actual playing time and the game speed But right now, it?s James V?s time.? . . . ?It?s (Stanzi?s injury) like seeing your little brother get hurt,? wide receiver Marvin McNutt said. ?You want to go pick him up off the field yourself. At the same time, you know you?ve got another little brother who can step in and play, too.? Vandenberg looks very, very little brother . . . He aged a little after his first pass Saturday was picked off. He?ll age a little more this week when the task at hand finally hits him . . .?I?ve got to learn from today and we?ve got to move on,? said Vandenberg, a 6-3, 205-pounder from Keokuk. ?There?s no time to dwell on being nervous anymore. There?s too much at stake now.?
(C) The hot topic on the Iowa message boards was sparked by a post game comment by OL Bryan Bulaga that Vandenberg had never taken a snap with the first team (during practice).
http://iowa.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=804&tid=127845652&mid=127845652&sid=940&style=2
The best explanations of Bulaga?s statement that I?ve seen on the message boards are as follows:
?Okay folks for those who have never seen a college FB team practice this is how it works. Usually the last hour of practice the number 1 and 2 offense run plays against the scout team defense who simulates that weeks oposition. The 1's take a play then the 2's so on and so on for about 50-60 plays of that weeks game plan. So it's not that Vandy doesn't get his reps it's just that he takes them with the 2's. Every team in America practices like this Texas, Alabama, Florida & Iowa. What Bugla said was correct Vandy doesn't take his practice snaps with the 1's Stanzi does. H'e with the 2's so can't put that on KOK. KOK is conducting offensive drills just like it's always been done. That's how Coach Synder did also under Hayden.?
?the skill guys rotate through the #1s and #2s. That way everyone on the two-deeps works with Stanzi (and, by extension, Vandenberg). Unless you see a bunch of guys unfamiliar with cadence and jumping off-sides, it doesn't matter as much which guards and tackles he works with -- it matters that he gets reps with all the skill positions, and it seems that he did . . . And, frankly, it would make no sense to think he wouldn't. Of course the #1s and #2s are going to rotate through. You have to work all the RBs, WRs and TEs with Stanzi. So when the backups are running with Stanzi, then DJK, McNutt, Moeaki, etc. would be running with Vandenberg. It doesn't matter that much whether Bulaga, Vandevelde, Reiff, etc. have run much with Vandenberg, as there's no timing to coordinate. The blocking schemes don't change based on which QB is in there.?
And the
topic even prompted this unsolicited statement from HC Kirk Ferentz during his Tuesday press conference (in the context of talking about an emergency 3rd string QB for this week: ? . . . one of my friends called me . . .he had heard it in one of those meeting rooms on the websites or talk shows or whatever the hell it is. And the word out there is about Vandenburg not getting snaps . . . our twos get a lot of work . . . ?
Transcript of Ferentz's Tuesday press conference with excerpts:
http://www.hawkeyesports.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/iowa/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/111009
Excerpts:
?. . . James is a good football player. He's walking into a tough, excellent defense. It might as well be an NFL defense we're playing. So it's going to be a tough order there. The crowd noise is going to be hard. All of those things. You couldn't ask for a tougher starting contest for him. He'll get good support. He'll be prepared. I'm not going to measure him over the next 60 minutes of play. He'll continue to improve. He's a quality football player, and he works hard. I have total confidence in him.
Q. Does the playbook change?
Oh, yeah. I mean Rick's more experienced now than he was 20 games ago. So things are a little bit different. It will be the same for James. Ohio State will do a good job of changing our playbook, too. We haven't seen a lot of open plays on the tape. We're still looking back somewhere in 1983 right now looking for some stuff. We'll find something somewhere.
Q. Does he have a list of safe plays that he can go to?
He's been around our offense. He knows our offense. He made a great run check the other day. It wasn't like it was a total catastrophe out there. I thought he did a lot of good things. The throws he didn't make to me, that's experience. That's being a little bit excited, what have you. He'll be better. This is a tough contest for him. A tough draw. But, , I play our football team. You measure people over the course of the race, not just every lap.?
(D) The most interesting "take" I've read on an Ohio State message board was the following:
"Wow. Just over at an Iowa board. However confident we are they are even more so - that WE will win . . . I can't imagine being in their situation and not believing you have a chance."
"I can't imagine Iowa beating us. But how depressing it must be to be playing for the Rose Bowl and undisputed Big Ten championship - all on one game - and not buy in to the possibility . . . I mean, you are living in Iowa. You HAVE to dream!
http://www.buckeyeplanet.com/forum/buckeye-football/614010-iowa-tosu-nov-14-3-30-et-abc-winner-rose-bowl.html
(E) Finally, ?Vandenberg looks very, very little brother . . .?
Hope this helps,
GL
