The Pylons -- Penn State

1. Yards per attempt

Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi is off to a hot start, 66.7 percent completions, nine TDs to one interception, a 179.41 pass efficiency and 249.8 yards a game. His most interesting stat, in my mind, is 10.1 yards per pass attempt.

Stanzi is one of just five QBs in the country who have a yards/attempt stat of more than 10 yards. The other four, in order, are Alabama's Greg McElroy (10.45), Arkansas' Ryan Mallett (10.42), Wisconsin's Scott Tolzien (10.13), Stanzi (10.1) and Auburn's Cameron Newton (10.04).

So, what does it mean?

It's an important stat in measuring efficiency. It also puts some measure on risk. The gains offset the risk, which is why teams average more yards per pass than yards per rush. For the passers, frequency of success isn't as important as quality of the success. This discussion can go into mean and median. But this stat cuts through the clutter of pass efficiency. It tells you how successful a team is throwing the ball. Notice the five QBs mentioned above. All play on winning teams so far this season.

Last season, Stanzi finished at 8.0 yards an attempt. In '08, he was at 7.7. Notre Dame's Dayne Crist is ranked No. 50 in pass efficiency. His yards per pass attempt is 7.7. In '07, Iowa QB Jake Christensen finished at 6.1 and the Hawkeyes were 6-6 and out of a bowl.

"As I said, two years ago he (Ricky Stanzi) took them down the field in the clutch," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "I think he's turned out to be one of the better quarterbacks in the country. Very accurate with the football. Doesn't scramble a lot, but when he scrambles he's very effective.

"He doesn't give up a lot of yardage. And he's a good leader. And he's got guts. He takes a lot of chances. I like the kid. I think he's a heck of a player."

Stanzi keeps this up, it is time to talk about him as one of the better quarterbacks in the country.

2. Hello, bye

It's not a factor that can block or tackle, but the Hawkeyes can blow it out on Saturday night and take a week in an ice bath.

The Hawkeyes go dark next week before their Michigan on Oct. 16 at the venerable Michigan Stadium (no signage, not a single one, the last time we made the trip) at 2:30.

What does this mean for Saturday night? Nothing, really, but it puts some weight on it for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa is favored. Iowa is going into a bye week. Iowa opens the Big Ten season at home. If Iowa is serious about the Big Ten, Iowa can't lose this game. By the way, Penn State travels to Illinois next week.

"The first thing we're going to be doing is give the guys that have been playing some rest," coach Kirk Ferentz said. "I think that's really important, because we have a long season this year. Our first focus is this week and then, once we get through that, the guys that are nicked up get a chance to heal. Guys that have been playing significantly, I'll rest them, and then try to move some younger guys along.

"Everything will be faster. In and out of the building faster, that type of thing. I want to give them a chance to get away from football too. At the end of the week we'll give them some time just because they won't get Thanksgiving due to the inherent wisdom of our decision making."

Yes, Ferentz would prefer to have Thanksgiving weekend off. If you're having trouble reading between the lines.

3. On the back of Penn State

My columnist colleague Mike Hlas asked coach Kirk Ferentz what the Hawkeyes' victories over Penn State have meant for him in the building of his program.

I thought it was an excellent question. It's an astute observation and, I believe, true.

Here was Ferentz's response:

"It has certainly helped us," he said. "You go back to 2000 and we were struggling at 2-18. Any oxygen would have helped and that certainly gave us a little traction as a program and got us going. I think what we learned in that game is that if you are going to beat them, in that case it was beyond 60 minutes, you better play the game allotment plus."

Remember that week vividly. I went to Carlos O'Kelly's for the radio show. It was just after Ferentz's contract. He was in an excellent mood. He finally signed his contract after, I believe, 18 months. Maybe he had an inkling on the Hawkeyes' overtime victory. Some of you voted for the game when I asked for votes on Ferentz's top 10 victories this summer.

"That was a good week," he said. "We finally got my contract finalized on that Thursday and then we went out there and won the game on Saturday. That gave us a little traction and got us started. The one two years ago, that was something we needed at that time to get back into a zone that we wanted to be in. I think we were all feeling pretty good about where we were by January 2nd. That was a big step and a big part of that equation there."

I read so much on the internet, but someone on Twitter put out the notion that Iowa-PSU was the Big Ten's best rivalry of the 2000 decade.

I could see that and wouldn't argue a whole lot.

4. Carry on my wayward son

A Kansas tune and pretty much the theme for Iowa running back from here on out.

Sophomore Adam Robinson will carry the load and then some. He's experienced. He's building a pretty good resume. He catches passes and, at the risk of a jinx here, he's carried the ball 251 times in his career without a fumble. I'm not sure what a good or great number on fumble frequency is, so I'm just going to throw that streak in the otherworldly pile.

Robinson is Nos. 1 through 3. Ferentz was asked about an optimum number of carries for the 5-9, 205-pounder from Des Moines Lincoln.

"This week, 45, 50. That means we win," Ferentz said.  "I'd buy that. He's got all week to rest.

"We're going to do what it takes. Again, I probably should know this. I don't know how many Fred Russell averaged. Kind of that scenario I guess, right? But I think it's legitimately, I don't know why a guy can't carry in his 20s, I don't know why he can't, if they're healthy, so . . ."

Brad Rogers and Marcus Coker are the backups. But they might be pretty far back judging from that response.

Either way, Ferentz liked what he saw from those two. Of course, you have to put out the qualifier "it was just Ball State." But Rogers and Coker knew what they wanted to do when they were out there. They made one cut and they went.

"That's an issue with younger guys, they think they can make 12 cuts," Ferentz said. "You can't do that. Things happen way too fast. This week, things are going to close down even quicker. Better make up your mind and get going or we're going to be getting nailed in the backfield. Better be pretty quick with the decisions."