The Walkthrough -- Tree City USA

-- Recap: FB Brett Morse cleared, but not with the No. 1s during team. He has a sore back or hamstring.

Freshman Brad Rogers ran with the No. 1s at fullback.

Senior MLB Jeff Tarpinian is out today. Still not all the way back from the neck stinger. Troy Johnson gets his third career start with true freshman James Morris backing up. Redshirt freshman Shane DiBona is the No. 3.

Kicker is Mike Meyer, with Trent Mossbrucker backing up. 

-- Team drill notes: Back problems for FB Brett Morse. Cleared to play, though.

Looks like Brad Rogers is getting the start at FB.

-- Dont' see MLB Jeff Tarpinian out there. He has a stinger and has missed a lot of time, including the Penn State game.

Troy Johnson and James Morris appear to be the MLBs today. Ferentz just said on radio that Tarpinian or redshirt freshman Shane DiBona would be the No. 3.

Don't see Tarpinian out there. He doesn't appear to be dressed. EDIT: Just got official word, no Tarp.

-- Senior FB Brett Morse is dressed. Hamstring, I'm told. Jacob Reisen is dressed. He might get the start. He's a 6-2, 231-pounder from Iowa City Regina. He's Iowa's lone grayshirt recruit.

Senior RB Paki O'Meara is dressed. He left the Arizona game with a concussion and hasn't been back. He won't be on kickoff team because of the amount of concussion he's gone through in a short period of time. 

-- CB Jordan Bernstine is dressed and going through warmups. He missed PSU with a knee injury.

-- On kicker, Mike Meyer and Trent Mossbrucker are out there. No Daniel Murray.

-- First "uh oh" moment of the day for Iowa fans: Fullback Brett Morse might be gimpy today. He's out in sweats working with strength coach Chris Doyle. Usually means bad things, like not playing. He's doing some serious lunges right now. Maybe trying to loosen up a leg muscle?

Your No. 2 fullback is Brad Rogers. Wade Leppert left the team during camp. No. 3 might be Jacob Reisen. Don't know if he made the trip.

Keep an eye on Morse, who's still going through rigorous work with Doyle. He's a huge part of Iowa's running game.

-- Iowa QBs walk through the tunnel and back to the lockerroom.

No crazy Stanzi rumor this week.

That's got to be an omen, right?

-- Is Minnesota fighting for coach Tim Brewster's job today? The Gophs just had a TD called back that would've made it 21-7.

Brewster's tenure in a nutshell.

-- Iowa receivers coach Erik Campbell, a former Michigan player (1984-87) and assistant coach, just walked over and shook hands with Denard. He said hello to a few old Wolverines pals.

-- Denard is on the field.

His dreads are pulled back into a do-rag type of a deal. It does look as though the wind is getting around the field here at Michigan Stadium.

So far for Iowa, the managers are out on the field. Next week, they've got the Toolbox battle with Wisconsin's managers. They play it on Friday night. Check for Scott Dochterman's story next Friday in The Gazette.

There's Ricky Stanzi, who actually looks like a quarterback Michigan would've had pre-RichRod, standing 6-4, 230.

-- The Sugar Bowl has two reps in the pressbox today.

After the BCS picks the title-game contestants and the conference champions are placed and the bowls select replacements for the title-game teams, the Sugar gets the next pick.

Scott and I think this is the first time the Sugar has seen Iowa this season. Might be wrong on that. I know the Orange has been around twice. The Rose and Fiesta were in Arizona.

The Florida Citrus committee also is here. It is everywhere. The Citrus tie-in is the Capital One Bowl.

-- We're still at least a half hour maybe from the Stanzi/QB throw workout.

Flight in was terrific. It's a gorgeous day. The Weather Channel said there'd be an 11 mph crosswind. Maybe. Not sure it matters in this massive bowl. It's seriously massive.

This is my fifth trip to Michigan Stadium. I covered Iowa's 1990 victory here for the Daily Iowan. I was a grad student, for a little while anyway.

How 'bout that doughnut?