COLUMBUS - The medical report states that Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi, who led the Hawkeyes to a 9-0 start this season - the best in school history - had minor surgery on his injured ankle Tuesday and will not be able to play on Saturday when Ohio State hosts Iowa. A trip to the Rose Bowl and a guaranteed share of a Big Ten title goes to the winner.
Without Stanzi, the Hawkeyes will have to rely on a seldom-used 19-year-old redshirt freshman named James Vandenberg, but Ohio State coach Jim Tressel insists that change won't alter the approach taken by the Buckeyes. They want to be up in his grill, no matter who it is taking the snaps.
"We go into every game with the primary objective of our defense is to make sure we affect the quarterback," Tressel said. "Affect him with his decision-making ... affect him with his ability to throw the ball ... and affect him from a physical standpoint. You want to get to the quarterback and you want to get after him."
The Buckeyes did just that last weekend in a 24-7 win over then No. 10-ranked Penn State, pressuring veteran quarterback Daryll Clark into a 12-of-28 performance with an interception and sacking him twice.
| IOWA AT OHIO STATE |
• When: Saturday, 3:30
• Records: No. 15 Iowa is 9-1, 5-1 Big Ten; No. 10 OSU is 8-2, 5-1
• Series: OSU leads 44-14-3
• Favorite: OSU by 16
• TV: 13
• Radio: 106.5 |
|
|
"Those guys were just getting after it, and it just disrupted the whole offense," Clark said. "We were just in a little bit of disarray the whole game."
Tressel wants the same result when his team faces Iowa, a team that saw its unbeaten streak snapped by Northwestern last weekend after the Hawkeyes lost Stanzi to the injury in the second quarter. The Buckeyes and Iowa share the Big Ten lead at 5-1, and they are the only teams in the conference that can win an outright championship or land the Rose Bowl trip."We're going to prepare for what Iowa does because they're not going to change who they are if, indeed, they do change quarterbacks," Tressel said. "They're still going to be who they are. So we won't all of a sudden say, 'hey, this week let's get after the quarterback more' because we do it - that's what we do."
Stanzi, a junior from Ohio's Mentor Lake Catholic High School, is 17-4 as a starter at Iowa and has demonstrated a flair for the dramatic. After throwing four interceptions in the third quarter against Indiana earlier this season, Stanzi had two long touchdown passes in the fourth quarter and led his team to victory. He also directed a 10-play, 70-yard drive in the final minute-and-a-half at Michigan State, throwing the winning touchdown pass on the final play of the game.
Vandenberg, whose last big game was two years ago when he led Keokuk to the Iowa high school state championship, was just 9-of-27 with an interception after replacing Stanzi against Northwestern. Vandenberg has credentials - he was Iowa's player of the year as a senior and holds 12 state high school passing records.
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said Vandenberg gets the football version of baptism by fire when he enters Ohio Stadium, but Ferentz expects him to be ready.
"This is a tough contest for him - a tough draw," Ferentz said. "I can't remember many Ohio State teams that weren't really good on defense, and this is no exception. They've got excellent players - very well coached. They're impressive. They're fun to watch on film if you're not playing against them, so our margin for error will be very thin."
Contact Matt Markey at
mmarkey@theblade.com
or 419-724-6510.
Search
advertisement
