Your Ohio State two deeps

Absent -- No Ricky Stanzi. No Brett Greenwood. No Colin Sandeman. No Adam Robinson.

Surgery -- EDIT: Surgery confirmed. Stanzi had pins put in, hoping for a bowl return.

Next week -- Minnesota game is an 11 a.m. kick on either ESPN or ESPN2.

TV this week -- It's a national game, 2:30 on ABC. Announcers are Sean McDonough and Matt Millen with Holly Rowe on the sidelines.

Tostitos national team of the week -- Here's the release from the Football Writers Association of America: With their 17-10 win at No. 4 Iowa, the Northwestern Wildcats (6-4) are the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week for games of the weekend of Nov. 7, as chosen by the board of the Football Writers Association of America.

Trailing 10-0, the Wildcats forced four second-quarter turnovers to ignite the rally. Corey Wooten sacked Iowa's Rick Stanzi and forced a fumble that was recovered for a touchdown by Marshall Thomas to put Northwestern on the board. Stanzi was injured on the play and did not return to the game.

On Iowa's next possession, a Quentin Davie interception led to the go-ahead score. Drake Dunsmore caught a 4-yard touchdown pass to cap the drive and give the Wildcats a lead they would not relinquish. The win was Northwestern's third straight in Iowa City and ended Iowa's 13-game winning streak.

"We fully expected if we could put together 60 minutes of Wildcat football together in all three phases we'd have an opportunity to compete," Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald said after the game. "And, to our young men's credit, we did."

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For this honor, the Wildcats beat out Navy (7-3) and Stanford (6-3). Navy upset No. 19 Notre Dame, 23-21, in South Bend. The win secured a Texas Bowl berth for the Midshipmen. Toby Gerhart ran for a school-record 223 yards and three touchdowns as the Cardinal stunned No. 7 Oregon, 51-42.

Evy remembered -- Former University of Iowa Football Coach and Athletic Director Forest Evashevski, died Oct. 30th at the age of 91. He is a member of college football's Hall of Fame. He coached the Hawkeyes (1952-60) to three Big Ten titles and two Rose Bowl victories. He died at his long-time home in Petosky, MI. The Hawkeyes honor his memory with an "EVY" helmet sticker.

Iowa's resume -- Iowa has won at least five conference games for the sixth time in 11 seasons under Kirk Ferentz.

• Iowa won 13 straight games before a loss last week to Northwestern. The Iowa win streak was its longest since a 20-game streak between 1920 and 1923.

• Iowa's strength of schedule is rated 13th strongest in the nation, based on all 2009 opponents. Iowa's 10 opponents to date have compiled a 54-40 record.

James V's time -- This will be the redshirt freshman's first career start. After him, it's John Wienke, who has yet to throw a pass in his career. After him, it's Wyatt Suess, a walk-on from Cedar Rapids Washington who's redshirting this season.

Here's his resume from the official website:

High school honors - - EA Sports third team all-American... Iowa class 3A Player of the Year as a senior... prepnation.com Most Outstanding Player in Iowa... Iowa High School Offensive Player of the Year as a senior... captain of the 3A all-state team as a senior... first team all-state as a junior and senior... elite all-state selection as a senior... first team all-district as a junior and senior... KHQA News tri-state (Iowa, Illinois and Missouri) Player of the Year as a senior... Career - - Most prolific passer in Iowa high school history... holds 12 different Iowa high school passing records, including career passing yards (7,709), touchdown passes (93), single season passing yards (3,729 as a senior) and single season touchdown passes (49 as a senior)... ranks sixth all-time nationally in single-season completion percentage (70%) and 10th nationally in career completion percentage (64.6%)... passed for 1,325 yards and 15 touchdowns as a sophomore... threw for 2,655 yards and 29 touchdowns as a junior... intercepted only seven times in 372 attempts as a senior... team captain... compiled 11 varsity letters... lettered three times in basketball and tennis and once in both baseball and golf... two time tennis conference champion... academic all-state selection... National Honor Society member... named to the Principal's Honor Roll 16 times... Citizenship Award Winner... participant in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.

The Road -- Dating back to 2008, Iowa has won its last six games away from Iowa City. That includes wins at Minnesota, Iowa State, Penn State, Wisconsin and Michigan State, along with a victory over South Carolina in the 2009 Outback Bowl. In those wins Iowa allowed just 46 points.

The road winning streak is the longest for Iowa since the Hawkeyes won all five of their road games during the 2002 regular season. That streak was six straight games away from home, including the 2001 Alamo Bowl.

Iowa has the longest road winning streak in Big Ten play with wins in its last four conference road games (Minnesota, Penn State, Wisconsin and Michigan State).

Top two defenses -- Following are a number of defensive rankings in which both teams are among the top 20 in the nation:

Category Iowa Rank OSU Rank

Interceptions 19 T-1st 16 T-3rd

Total Turnovers 26 T-2nd 25 T-5th

Pass Efficiency Defense 94.3 4th 94.6 6th

Pass Defense 173.0 16th 168.7 11th

First Downs Allowed 15.3 13th 14.5 7th

KO Coverage 18.7 10th 18.8 12th

Scoring Defense 15.9 13th 11.2 4th

Total Defense 291.7 14th 254.3 6th

Net Punting 38.4 19th 36.9 37th

Punt Return Defense 4.4 12th 3.8 7th

Ohio State notes

Iowa and Ohio State have both fared well at home over the last eight seasons. Iowa has the 12th-best home record (43-9, .827), while Ohio State ranks fifth best (51-5, .911).

• Iowa has not played at Ohio State since 2005. Only two current Hawkeyes, OL Dace Richardson and TE Tony Moeaki played in the 2005 contest at Ohio Stadium. Only four current Hawkeyes saw action when Ohio State and Iowa last met in 2006 at Iowa City, including OL Dace Richardson, LB Pat Angerer, WR Trey Stross and TE Tony Moeaki.

• Iowa has 13 players on its roster from the state of Ohio, including regular starters in QB Ricky Stanzi (Mentor), WR Trey Stross (Avon Lake) and WR Derrell Johnson-Koulianos (Campbell). Others include Steve Bigach, Lebron Daniel, Bruce Davis and William Lowe from Cleveland, Tyler Harrell (Dublin), Micah Hyde (Fostoria), Joe Gaglione (Novelty), Brad Rogers (Toledo), Chris Rowell (Warrensville Heights) and Zach Furlong (Xenia).

 • There are no Iowans on the Ohio State roster.

Turnover and over -- Iowa had turnovers on four straight possessions in the second quarter, two interceptions and two lost fumbles. Northwestern recovered a fumble for a touchdown and scored a touchdown following one of the interceptions. In a win over Indiana, Iowa was guilty of turnovers on five straight possessions in the second half.

The 10 points scored against Northwestern marks Iowa's season low (15 at Michigan State). Iowa did not score in the second half for the fi rst time this season.

Twenty starters -- When Vandenberg starts Saturday, the Hawkeyes will have had 20 different starters on offense this season.

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OK, Hawkeyes fans, are you Gene Kranz . . .

Or are you Pvt. Hudson from "Aliens," manically played by Bill Paxton?

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