On Iowa Daily Briefing 6.15.12 -- Vandenberg and we're not talking bears

HEADLONG HAWKEYE

No, don't worry. The bear story is fini, at least here. As astute comment on this story did point out that we should be ready to see the bear photo at the beginning to every Iowa game this season. Yeah, that's going to happen.

It's an interesting story and debate. We're moving on in this space.

There is the little matter of football with James Vandenberg.

The last time we saw the Iowa quarterback it was mid-April. Iowa had just finished its spring practices. Vandenberg said the final install of first-year offensive coordinator Greg Davis' playbook came the final week of spring.

Vandenberg said it took some time, but the offense made strides. Wednesday, he talked comfort level on a scale of 1-to-10 with 10 being most knowledgeable.

"Out of 10, I would've given myself a 6, maybe 7," he said. "I'm a little higher than that now. I just want to continue to grow. I was probably at a 9 and a half on the old playbook and that's where I want to be in this one. I was in that system for four years.

"It's been easier to learn than I could've imagined. Once you know college concepts, it's all kind of the same. It's a lot of new terminology, so more than anything, it's getting comfortable with it."

Of course, when spring practice ended, organized team activities ended because that's against NCAA by-laws. And, Iowa doesn't start 7-on-7 drills until next week. That will be 100 percent Davis' new passing schemes, passing ladders and all that football terminology.

Vandenberg has, however, been to Davis' office more than a few times this summer. Vandenberg said he's been leaning on him to learn this and be able to translate it by the time practice starts in August.

"Me and him hang out all the time, we meet a lot," Vandenberg said. "We just want to really detail things.

"I want to know what he's thinking when he calls certain plays. It got to that point with the other offense. That's the little thing. It's not knowing the play, it's knowing when the play might be called. How many yards you're going to get if you dump it to this guy? All the intricacies that go with a complex offense."

Vandenberg's video study has been Iowa's spring practice, watching Iowa run bits and pieces of Texas' offense under Davis.

"We have a lot of good cuts of the plays run by us now," Vandenberg said. "We don't have to watch Texas clips. Obviously, they ran it well, too, but being able to see us on film and learn from the mistakes we made those first couple of practices and how we kind of changed is nice.

"We've got a cut of everything with us doing it, that's something we're all checking out, down to the smallest details. We've got to keep that train going during the summer."

So, the idea is to look a lot like Texas, probably with Colt McCoy at QB. That could work. It'll take time, but could work.

B1G LINKY LINKS

-- ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg had the temerity to rank the Big Ten's facilities. I really enjoyed this post. Just dig that chip a little deeper for NU coach Pat Fitzgerald. That chip is going to be so deep the 'Cats won't be able to wear shoulder pads correctly.

-- The Lansing (Mich.) State Journal's Joe Rexrode speaks to MSU DC PAt Narduzzi on CB Johnny Adams. I voted him first-team all-Big Ten. He's an excellent player. And now I have seven stories left before I get charged for whatever.

-- If the testimony of the alleged victims in the Jerry Sandusky trial hasn't torn out your guts, you're a cyborg and you might need an oil change. Here's Yahoo! Sports Dan Wetzel with the latest.

OUR NATIONAL MUSE

-- CBSSports.com's Dennis Dodd writes that the playoff thingie is stuck more than we might think with the Big Ten and Pac-12 opposing a four-team playoff. I'll call Gary Barta and get the scoop.

-- Here is the Curious Index from EDSBS. It's a collection of links you might enjoy. You'd really enjoy their Shutdown Fullback. Google, watch, laugh.

-- A former USC player

burns his apartment with a pot blunt because God told him to do it. Is this real life? Unfortunately, yes.