First game of the year Vs Eastern Illinois

A pretty solid start to the 2010 season for the Iowa Hawkeys as they pounded Eastern Illinois 37 to 7 for their opening day win. Adam Robinson looked great for the Hawks and the offensive line opened up some lanes for him to run through. Ricky Stanzi looked very sharp except for a couple of passes that he overthrew but I saw him more conservative with his passes where in the past he might force one down the field but yesterday he took what the defense gave him throwing to Robinson and his tightends. The wide recieving core didn't get to much action yesterday but Sandeman and McNutt had some catches for the Hawks. Really if you think about it Iowa was 2 fumbles away from taking a 52 to 7 lead so I wouldn't get to caught up in the score. I think with Hampton coming back next week we will have a big time one two punch in the backfield with Robinson's power and Jewel Hamptons Speed. I like both of these backs a lot and expect big things from both this season.

Defensively
I liked what I saw today they made a lot of tackles in space and really held Eastern Illinois down. About 38 of their rushing yards came on the fake punt besides that play we completely shut them down on the ground. Pass defense overall was pretty good Greg Castillo impressed me with his break on the ball and physical play at corner, right when the ball was caught he tackled him that can be the difference between a first down and a punt. The defensive line overall didn't get too much pressure on the Quarterback but Eastern Illinois was trying to get the ball out of their QB's hands very quickly. I think with Binns coming back next week we will see a lot more passes knocked down by our D lineman and some more pressure but the chance for Daniel and Daniels to see some time only improves our depth. The linebackers played very well overall with two new linebackers making their first start in Nielson and Davis they both did a good job in pass coverage and made tackles in space which you have to do vs a spread offense team. I think this was a good test for what we will see in the next 2 weeks in Iowa State and Arizona.

Overall it was a very good game for the Hawkeyes who got the job done winning 37 to 7 and now play Iowa State next Saturday in an afternoon rivalry game. The offense looked very sharp except for the two fumbles,we can take care of those fumbles. The defense looked very good except for a couple of times Hyde got caught looking in the backfield but with Prater coming back next week hopefully, we get a boost in the secondary and Hyde will only get better as the season goes on and not look in the backfield like that again. Special teams was excellent yesterday blocking a punt, Mossbrucker made all of his extra points which is always good to see and then it was really nice to see our kicker putting it into the endzone on kickoffs so they couldn't get good field position. Overally it was good win for the hawks but their are a few things they can improve on this week to get ready for Iowa State.