Monday, August 29, 2011

Ready for College Football?

Last week, I went to St. Louis to watch the Cardinals. Now that Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday and the rest of the Redbirds are all but out of the race, it’s time to concentrate on college football.

We have an interesting matchup in the Iowa this week when Northern Iowa travels to Iowa State Saturday. Granted, this game won’t receive national press, but here in the corn state Northern Iowa might pull off an upset.

The Panthers are ranked No. 7 in the FCS (Football Championship Subdivision). They return nine defensive starters and eight offensive starters from the 2010 squad. Northern Iowa also returns 10 of its top 11 tacklers.

The Panthers return an electric quarterback in Tirrell Rennie. The senior can cause difficult with both his feet and arm.

Another plus for Northern Iowa is recent success against Iowa State. The Panthers have defeated the Cyclones three times since 1992 including the 2007 season. Northern Iowa will not come to Ames in fear.

Iowa State returns 11 starts off a team that finished one game shy of bowl eligibility last season. The buzz in fall camp centered on the quarterback position. Junior college player Steele Jantz beat out two others for the job.

The Cyclones faced arch rival Iowa in week No. 2, but they better become focused on the first game or the Missouri Valley Conference preseason pick may pick off Iowa State.

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