Is it just me, or does the 2009 Iowa Hawkeyes' season seem eerily similar to Ohio State's 2002 national championship season?
-- Larry, Costa Mesa, Calif.
Iowa still has a long way to go to before being mentioned in the same breath as that Ohio State team -- in fact, before that can happen it will need to beat Ohio State on the road YoNov. 14 -- but the parallels certainly exist. Much like these Hawkeyes, those Buckeyes played an old-school, often unsightly brand of football. Like Iowa, Ohio State endured an inordinate amount of last-minute escapes. But here's the most important shared trait of all: A large majority of the county refused to believe they were the juggernaut their record indicated. They were "the Luckeyes," and not until that final Ken Dorsey pass fell incomplete in Tempe did most deem them legitimate. (Except in Miami, where referee Terry Porter will forever live in infamy.)
When Ricky Stanzi completed that last-second pass to Marvin McNutt against Michigan State last Saturday night, it actually reminded me of a similar moment from that '02 Ohio State season: Craig Krenzel's 37-yard touchdown pass to Michael Jenkins on a last-minute fourth down to win a 10-6 game at Purdue. Compare the two teams' schedules and you'll see a lot of similarities: Both needed a last-second defensive play to survive a heavy underdog early in the year (Iowa over Northern Iowa, Ohio State over Cincinnati), both scraped out low-scoring wins over Penn State in which the key play did not come on offense and both overcame second-half deficits at Wisconsin.
There are, however, some pretty notable differences. For one, the Buckeyes delivered two early nonconference routs that helped boost their credibility: A 45-21 win over Texas Tech in the now-defunct Pigskin Classic and, more impressively, a 25-7 win over eventual Pac-10 champ Washington State, ranked 10th at the time. Iowa, to its credit, beat 5-2 Arizona, currently tied for second in the Pac-10, but that game went virtually unnoticed at the time.
And then there's the personnel. While most failed to appreciated it at the time, that Ohio State team was incredibly talented. Amazingly, all 11 defensive starters and two nickel-backs were drafted, as were seven offensive starters (not including two-way starter Gamble) and kicker Mike Nugent. I'm no draft expert, but my guess is this Iowa team will wind up producing half that many. Stanzi is an underrated prospect, and the Hawkeyes clearly possess a whole bunch of big-time defensive players (defensive ends Adrian Clayborn and Broderick Binns, safety Tyler Sash, linebackers Pat Angerer and A.J. Edds, cornerback Amari Spievey), but they don't have any elite skill players on the level of Maurice Clarett (pre-meltdown) or Jenkins, especially now that leading rusher Adam Robinson is out for the season.
Which brings me to the most important element of all: The Big Ten of 2009 is not the Big Ten of 2002. Ohio State went 8-0 in a conference that was arguably the toughest in the country that season. Four teams (OSU, Iowa, Michigan and Penn State) finished the regular season in the top 12. Five won bowl games. Two league players (Iowa's Brad Banks and Penn State's Larry Johnson) were Heisman finalists, and future NFL first-rounders included Charles Rogers, Braylon Edwards, Lee Evans, Dallas Clark and Robert Gallery.
Compared to those '02 Buckeyes, the '09 Hawkeyes are playing against significantly watered-down competition. However, the same may well be true nationally. Contrary to preseason speculation, '09 Florida has not looked remotely like '02 Miami. Nor has anyone else. The Hawkeyes aren't the most talented team in the country, but, at least according to the BCS computers, they've delivered the best results.
Cont'd ...
