The Sports Desk: Very early impressions on Vandenberg

This is a little more than a week into James Vandenberg's era as No. 1 QB at Iowa. Obviously, no one knows where exactly this is headed, but the early impressions are favorable.

One strike against him, he's not as funny as Ricky Stanzi.

"Stanzi is one of a kind, but Vandenberg is a pretty funny guy, too," senior tight end Brad Herman said.

It's tempting to check off the leadership column right now. He has a track record.

One of the first times you heard Vandenberg's name it was in regard to an MMA match (sans the striking) in linebacker Pat Angerer's basement in Iowa City.

This fact came out during the lead up to Vandenberg's first start, filling in for injured Stanzi at Ohio State in 2009, which turned out to be a de facto Big Ten title game that went OSU's way, 27-24, in overtime.

"I've literally choked him unconscious before and he's gotten up talking trash," Angerer said. "We're going to be OK."

Angerer is the youngest of five children. He's never had a younger brother. That probably plays into this, too.

"Look at him, you should see him with his shirt off," Angerer joked. "He's usually talking trash and gets his butt kicked pretty good."

No way, Vandenberg said.

"That's not totally true," he said. "Pat's a real good friend of mine. He's real good with all the younger guys. He was one of the first guys I really hung out with my freshman year coming in.

"I go over to his house with him and Troy (Johnson, a linebacker) and (safety) Tyler Sash all the time and hang out. And yeah, we've had some wrestling matches over the off-season that weren't ... they were a little lopsided.

"I don't think he's ever put me unconscious, but I think he's come pretty close."

Just few weeks ago on spring break, Vandenberg went wild boar hunting in Arkansas with Tyler and Nick Nielsen. They are brothers, with Tyler being Iowa's starting outside linebacker and Nick a reserve defensive back.

"He didn't fare too well," Tyler Nielsen said. "He'd probably be mad that I'm telling you this, but he went with a bow and wanted to shoot them with a bow out of a stand. None of them came by, so he gave him my gun on the last day but he never had a really good shot."

Vandenberg is 1-1 in two career starts, two very different situations in which he showed a lot of poise and discipline.

Everything was on the line at Ohio State and the Hawkeyes went into the game with few options at running back. Then, just before the game, true freshman Brandon Wegher suffered a punctured lung while receiving a shot for pain medication. That left Iowa with Adam Robinson, who was forced back into action three weeks after suffering a high-ankle sprain.

Vandenberg was given a wide berth to make plays and he made them. He completed 20 of 33 for 233 yards and two TDs. He also had three interceptions, one near-INT that was bobbled into TE Tony Moeaki's hands and one INT returned for a TD that was called back. Shaky, but definitely competitive and above and beyond given the circumstances.

The Minnesota game was a completely different circumstance. The Gophers limped into Iowa City at 6-5. Iowa had to win to secure a BCS bowl bid and so the gameplan, clearly, was to release the hounds, which was Adrian Clayborn, Pat Angerer, A.J. Edds, Christian Ballard, Karl Klug and the like. Iowa's defense was called on and carried the Hawkeyes to a 12-0 victory.

Vandenberg's assignment was to sit there and take it. Iowa coaches clearly didn't want him unleashing a bad turnover. At one point, the Gophers got home three times on the same safety blitz. What did that show about Vandenberg? He followed orders and stayed disciplined even though it couldn't have been any fun.

"I'd say Vandenberg is everything we expected," Herman said. "You saw him at Ohio State. He can whip the ball. We're happy to have a named quarterback at this point. There's competition for No. 2, but having a set quarterback at this point to give us that stability on offense."

KCRG's John Sears and I discuss Iowa QBs on today's Sports Desk. You can see the video by following this link.

John and I will be reviewing the Hawkeyes by position in the next few weeks on The Sports Desk. Tuesday, it's running backs and next Friday we'll talk wide receivers. If you have any questions or comments on RBs and WRs, make sure you let us know.