Hlas: Stanzi needs to take an ax to his picks

After Wisconsin's 31-28 win at Minnesota on Oct. 3, UW quarterback Scott Tolzien was praised by teammates for his ability to forget mistakes.

Tolzien had an interception and lost a fumble that day, but the Badgers won behind a running game that trampled the Gophers. Forgiving comes easier when you win.

Saturday in Columbus, Tolzien threw a room-service interception in the first quarter that Ohio State's Kurt Coleman returned 89 yards for a touchdown. In the third quarter, Tolzien passed into double-coverage. A 32-yard Jermale Hines interception return gave the Buckeyes another TD.

Ohio State won 31-13 despite being outgained 368 yards to 184. Saturday gave us no quotes from the Badgers about how Tolzien forgets errors.

You know where this is leading, Iowa fans. Your quarterback, Ricky Stanzi, has been given lines of credit for having a short memory when it comes to turnovers. I'm among those who have complimented him for it. Still do.

Has any other quarterback in football history won all three games in which he threw a pick that was returned for a touchdown? OK, Brett Favre may have in 1948.

Stanzi deserves props for playing through those pick-sixes in helping put a ‘6' in Iowa's win column. Many a quarterback would have vanished after one of those against Michigan Saturday night, just 46 seconds into a game on a big stage.

But on Iowa's next possession, Stanzi saw what Michigan was bringing on defense, checked off to a play designed to take full advantage of it and hit a wide-open Tony Moeaki for a 34-yard touchdown.

The Wolverines' touchdown-by-interception was negated, and Iowa barely won the rest of the battle for a 30-28 triumph.

However, the law of averages mandates Stanzi has to stop throwing those wayward passes, and pronto. He barely got away with it against Arizona, Arkansas State and Michigan in Kinnick Stadium. That stuff won't fly at Wisconsin or Michigan State, the next two games.

Now, let's recognize this quarterback isn't a so-called “game-manager.” That isn't what Iowa needs with a running game that often is a shell of what it was a year ago with Shonn Greene carrying the mail. It needs a quarterback who airs it out, not tucks it in.

You can't expect perfection. What you want is largely what Stanzi has given. He hasn't shrunk in key moments, and has made a stack of big plays in a half-season.

But now it's time for him to clean things up, as Kirk Ferentz likes to say.

The Hawkeyes didn't get to 6-0 by being covered with flaws. I'll take Stanzi over most Big Ten quarterbacks. So will Ferentz.

But now Iowa is going to Madison to play a Wisconsin squad that held the Buckeyes to eight first-downs.

In a down-and-dirty fistfight Saturday, the cleanest quarterback will surely be the winning quarterback.