No. 13 Iowa to catch some much-needed rest

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP)—No. 13 Iowa has already wrapped up one of its most successful regular seasons in school history.

Good thing, too. Coach Kirk Ferentz isn’t sure he has enough healthy players to practice.

The Hawkeyes (10-2, 6-2 Big Ten) pitched a 12-0 shutout of Minnesota on Saturday that was, in many ways, a microcosm of their season. They got a stellar effort from the defense, stopping the Gophers four times on fourth down, to make up for another weak performance by the offense.

It gave Iowa just its fourth 10-win regular season and first since 2002, and left Ferentz and his players in limbo. They’re hoping their resume—and their fans’ reputation for traveling well—is enough to earn an at-large BCS bowl bid.

Iowa is bunched with a group of BCS hopefuls that, at least for now, includes Boise State, Penn State and Oklahoma State.

“I’ve got no idea. That’s for the system to decide, and then obviously the bowls will have to make those decisions,” Ferentz said. “If we play in January, I’m pretty confident we’ll be better. We’ve got a lot of guys I’m not sure we could play this week. We’d have a hard time practicing with pads on, I know that.”

One thing that should work in Iowa’s favor is that quarterback Ricky Stanzi and running back Adam Robinson will likely both be healthy by the time a bowl game comes around.

Against the Gophers, it was obvious how much the Hawkeyes missed those guys.

Freshman James Vandenberg, who was impressive in spurts in a 27-24 overtime loss at Ohio State last week, looked more like the kid who was 9 of 27 in a 17-10 loss at Northwestern.

Facing a defense that threw everything at him, Vandenberg had just 117 yards passing and an interception while taking four sacks. That performance likely shelved what had been premature talk about Vandenberg challenging Stanzi for the starting job in 2010.

“Last week was a different kind of challenge, and James did a great job. Today was a tough day for him, really a tough day,” Ferentz said Saturday. “I know down the road this is going to be a great day for James Vandenberg, too. His statistics weren’t real pretty. We never really got anything going in terms of rhythm offensively, but this will be just invaluable for him.”

Robinson, who missed two games with a high ankle sprain, rushed for 72 yards on just 12 carries before leaving the game after tweaking that injury in the second quarter. Brandon Wegher scored the game’s only touchdown—tying the school record for TDs by a freshman in the process—but it’s clear at this point that Robinson is Iowa’s best option at running back.

He broke the school’s freshman record with 775 yards rushing, set by Ladell Betts in 1998.

“For us to win 10 games this season with all the things that we’ve faced this year, it’s just absolutely amazing,” Ferentz said.

Minnesota’s bowl picture isn’t nearly as bright.

The Gophers (6-6, 3-5) finished eighth in the Big Ten and are the only bowl-eligible team in the league to finish below .500 in conference play.

Their loss to Iowa also highlighted their struggles against the league’s elite. Minnesota was outscored 70-7 in defeats to Penn State, Ohio State and the Hawkeyes.

“They fought their guts out. We had an opportunity to win the game and didn’t get it done. It hurts,” coach Tim Brewster said. “It stings.”

Iowa’s fans will spend the week of Thanksgiving debating BCS scenarios, but not Ferentz. He plans to relax and enjoy one of the most satisfying seasons of his 11-year tenure in Iowa City.

“No regrets. I think these guys—I don’t know what else we could have asked our players to do,” Ferentz said. “I’ll go on record as saying I am going to take some time and relax, and I’ve encouraged our players to do the same thing next week and our coaches. They’ve earned it. It’s been a grind.”