Low-pressure preparation helped Iowa QB James Vandenberg produce at Ohio State in 2009

IOWA CITY - Two years ago James Vandenberg represented Iowa's next man in philosophy on the Big Ten's biggest stage and most intimidating environment.

With starter Rick Stanzi sidelined with a severely sprained ankle, Vandenberg - then a freshman - was thrust in at quarterback at Ohio State with the Big Ten title at stake. He was coming off a dreadful 9-of-27 passing performance against Northwestern in the wake of Stanzi's injury and had all the pressure of Hawkeyeland upon his shoulders.

Vandenberg, now a junior, recalled how he had all week to prepare for the game. Yet, it was a mundane thought - not the enormous task - that creeped in his mind minutes after the Northwestern loss.

"It's a completely different role being No. 1," Vandenberg said Tuesday, "I remember thinking, the first thing I thought after the Northwestern game was, 'Man, I'm going to have to lead all those walk-throughs during the week now.' It's just the random, weird thought, but it's a completely different role being the No. 1 guy. A lot of stuff you don't have to do at No. 2."

Vandenberg's a self-described "laid-back guy" from small-town Keokuk, which is nestled along the Mississippi River where Iowa, Illinois and Missouri intersect. He led the Chiefs to a state title in his senior season, but playing southeast Iowa rivals in front of a few thousand people paled to the challenge of competing in front of 105,000 at Ohio Stadium.

Yet, Vandenberg stayed clear of that thought, and his teammates gave him space. He said he asked questions going into the game but he wasn't fed a crash course in Iowa offensive terminology.

"The coaches laid off me," Vandenberg said, then recalling his thoughts. "It's more on me and I knew what I was getting myself into. I knew it was going to take a lot of preparation. They're a great team, obviously. It's going to be a huge stage. I think I knew it and then I just asked for help. I asked Rick for help, Marv (McNutt) and (assistant) coach (Ken) O'Keefe. Everybody else was so cool about it, which was really nice. It was a great experience.

"As far as the nerves come, obviously they were there. The Ohio State game, that was a huge environment. You kind of blocked it out. The more you block it out, the more it becomes just like practice. That's kind of how you want to think about it as a quarterback. You want to see everything slow. You don't want to be seeing everything on the fly. Otherwise you can't react."

Vandenberg completed his first seven passes and his eighth was dropped in the end zone. He twice tied the Buckeyes with second-half touchdown passes, including the second coming with 2 minutes, 42 seconds left in the game. He finished by completing 20 of 33 passes for 233 yards and two TDs. He also had three interceptions and one that was called back because of a penalty. The Hawkeyes lost the game 27-24 in overtime.

But it was Vandenberg's performance in spite of his age and experience that made it memorable and gave his teammates faith he could do the job.

"He's doing a great job," Iowa tackle Markus Zusevics said. "He definitely hopped in where Ricky left off. I think that Ricky set him a real good base or model where he could take off and take over from there."

Vandenberg also gives much of the credit to Stanzi.

"That level-headedness of Rick; he never got too high, he never got too low," Vandenberg said. "It's just an attitude you've got to build into your lifestyle, so when those situations do arise, you're still an even keel."