The Pylons -- Spring thing

1. Margin of error -- The Hawkeyes won five games by a TD or less last season. What if Jeremiha Hunter doesn't bat down that second field goal attempt against Northern Iowa? Yes, Iowa was 11-2 last season and won the Orange Bowl. It was a team with good talent, outstanding work ethic and a cool under fire that was measured time and time again last season.

This has nothing to do with today's scrimmage, but it became part of the Hawkeyes' essence in '09. Is it something they can duplicate? I think yes, but that will be born out of the fire of August and thereafter. Someone asked me about leadership during the chat on Friday and all I could think of was Pat Angerer and A.J. Edds. Iowa doesn't have those guys, but it does have their apprentices.

It wasn't always back-t0-back blocked field goals that won the close games last season. A lot of it was the little things. I believe that's still in place. It might not translate into 2009 success, but it's there.

2. What's next? -- After today's scrimmage, the Hawkeyes are off through the end of May. Summer conditioning begings the first week of June and runs to the final week of July. The Big Ten kickoff luncheons are Aug. 2 and 3. Iowa media day is, tentatively, Aug. 6. Eastern Illinois is Sept. 4.

Summer conditioning includes weights, but, I believe, it's oriented toward conditioning. Also, this is where the "Iron Hawks" awards are given.

This happened one summer:

3. O-line one more time -- I keep coming back to this, but I believe it's as close to a make-or-break unit as the Hawkeyes have in 2010.

We will get a taste for what's going on at center today. I think. Josh Koeppel was a little injured at the beginning of spring practice. I think he's back and in for today, but I don't know. James Ferentz will get the call today. Both will have their hands full. They'll see few tackles the caliber of Iowa's Karl Klug and Christian Ballard in the conference.

We should get a feel for the competition at right guard. Junior Adam Gettis starts, with junior Cody Hundertmark rolling in. I think that'll come down to the 25 practices in August.

Two names to watch are Woody Orne and Nolan MacMillan. They have a chance to factor. I'm not sure how healthy MacMillan has been this spring. Orne is brand new at this level.

I think it's becoming clear that Markus Zusevics has won the right tackle job. I'm not going CNN and calling the race (not making fun of CNN, just fill in the blank on that one), but Kirk Ferentz and Ken O'Keefe have chatted him up this spring. He's sort of symbolic for what could be ahead for this unit -- smaller and more athletic than the last two seasons. It's younger, so it's built that way. 

4. The offseason -- Don't want to be the voice of gloom and doom, but this is the time of year for the bad things.

Arrests, academics and the occasional injury pops up this time of year. No news is good news. Maybe as important as the bowl of oranges in the lobby of the Hayden Fry Football Complex is the manner in which the program has cleaned up the off-field. They don't get enough credit in the media, so here it is. Now, the hard part is keeping it up.