Stanzi can just point to the scoreboard

Posted on Sep 20, 2009 by Marc Morehouse.

IOWA CITY — The “Stanzi start” thing depends on point of view.

Yes, the first half was a mess once again Saturday. Iowa junior quarterback Ricky Stanzi came out wild and crazy against Arizona. In the first quarter, he was picked off by Arizona cornerback Trevin Wade for a 38-yard return for a touchdown. Also in the first quarter, he missed tight end Allen Reisner for a long gain and possibly a touchdown.

And so, the trend continued for Iowa (3-0) going into Penn State (3-0).

Through three first halves, Stanzi has completed 49 percent and has a pass efficiency of 93.

“I figured we’d be barking up that tree,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “I’ll tell you the trend I liked was his fourth-quarter performance. I thought that was really good.”

That’s another point of view. Stanzi’s troublesome starts have bloomed into fantastic finishes.

In three second halves, Stanzi has completed 73.3 percent of his passes and has an efficiency of 163. In the Hawkeyes’ 27-17 victory over Arizona, Stanzi was nearly perfect in the fourth quarter, completing 4 of 5 for 43 yards.

Stanzi was perfect on the drive that put away Arizona.

With 13:10 left in the fourth quarter, the Hawkeyes drove 74 yards on 14 plays and chewed up 8:30 off the clock. Running back Brandon Wegher’s 2-yard dive gave the Hawkeyes a 27-10 lead with 4:40 left.

Stanzi fueled the drive with 4 of 4 for 43 yards. All four of his completions generated first downs, including third down conversions of 4, 7 and 6 yards. The Hawkeyes converted 10 of 19 third downs against the Wildcats, mostly because of Stanzi’s arm.

From this point of view, Stanzi’s performance was otherworldly Saturday.

“I think that’s how everyone plays,” said wide receiver Colin Sandeman, who led the Hawkeyes with five catches for 47 yards. “You’ve got to get warmed up and get into the flow of the game. You guys know Rick, he just doesn’t let anything affect him.”

That’s what Stanzi sees. Or that’s what he chooses to see.

“You have to play through the ups and downs of a game,” said Stanzi, who finished 20 of 32 for 205 yards and the interception. “There aren’t going to be too many games that are steadily up hill the whole time. There are going to be ups and downs, ups and downs.

“If you stay at that mid-level and don’t go too high or too low, everything should work out.”

And of course, the sloppy starts aren’t all Stanzi.

Last week, tight end Tony Moeaki said he knew receivers and tight ends weren’t always running the right routes, making the right reads, in every situation. Wide receiver Marvin McNutt echoed that after Arizona.

“Not all of it is on Rick,” said McNutt, who caught two passes for 50 yards. “A lot of it has to do with the way we run our routes. It’s more than just Rick, it’s us clicking as a unit.”

On the big miss to Reisner, the junior tight end called it a miscommunication.

“Mainly my fault,” said Reisner, who caught three passes for 40 yards. “We just went on to the next play and it was all right.”

On the interception for the TD, ESPN analyst Craig James criticized the route that wide receiver Trey Stross ran on the play, saying Stross bowed out instead of flattening. Sounds as though it was at least discussed between the two.

“I ran what I felt was a good route and he threw it a little early. That’s frustrating,” Stross said. “He thinks he did the right thing, and I thought I did. We forgot about it and we hooked up three or four times after that. That’s just a part of the game.”

Do you see the slows starts? Or do you see the clean, precise — and winning, so far — finishes?

“I threw my first pick six and I threw it in a game we won,” Stanzi said. “I guess that’s kind of a good thing.”

That’s another point of view.