The football season officially is here, though it probably didn’t feel like it for Kirk Ferentz in Chicago on Thursday and Friday with much of the Iowa-related talk at the Big Ten’s media kickoff revolving around the legal issues the Hawkeyes have encountered the past 15 months.

I wouldn’t know. I wasn’t there.

As I mentioned in a couple earlier blog posts, my wife and I were expecting our first child, due July 21. Well, she — it was a girl — arrived a day late on Tuesday, so I wasn’t able to make the trip to Chicago for the media days. I was sorry to miss it, but, as you can imagine, I was pretty thrilled with what I was missing it for. Steve Batterson, who covered the Hawkeyes before I took over last season, filled in for me, and I’ve been catching up on what I missed.

As for the Cedric Everson-Abe Satterfield sexual assault case, it pretty much went how I expected. Ferentz met with Iowa reporters Thursday afternoon and was angry that some had the audacity to suggest he was involved in a cover-up. He didn’t say anything that shed a whole lot of light on the situation. I suspect he was under specific instructions from the higher-ups not to say anything too specific. I would have liked to have been there for that, because there are a few questions I wanted to ask that I’m not sure got answered. And I would have liked to witness Ferentz’s body language to get a better read on the tone of the things that were said.

This is a national story now. Since the alleged victim’s mother came forward with the letter she wrote to U of I administrators last fall, the Associated Press has been putting it out on the wire. ESPN’s Big Ten blogger, Adam Rittenberg, had a Q&A with Ferentz posted on Thursday, and the Des Moines Register’s Randy Peterson was on the Dan Patrick radio show Tuesday talking about the story. I actually got a call from the executive producer of the Dan Patrick Show that morning, but I was in the delivery room with my wife (crazy timing) and couldn’t make it on the air.    

As for the on-the-field Iowa news out of the Big Ten media days …

Offensive lineman Dace Richardson appears to be finished because of a complication in his rehab from knee surgery. I can’t say I’m real surprised by this development. All along Ferentz sounded pretty hesitant to say Dace would return from what was a pretty serious surgery.

As I reported here last week, backup quarterback Ricky Stanzi is out with a shoulder strain. Sounds like he’ll be back in mid-August. So, at this point, it looks like Jake Christensen will be the starter entering ’08.

Junior kicker Austin Signor, who handled Iowa’s kickoffs last season, is transferring. That news kind of surprised me, but I guess it makes sense. Sophomore Daniel Murray appeared to be winning the kicking job, and incoming freshman Trent Mossbrucker has a real shot to contend for playing time at the position. Signor probably felt like he wasn’t going to get much of a chance. And, based on what I’ve seen, he was probably right.

Shonn Greene is ready to go in the backfield for the fall and, according to Ferentz, back in shape. Apparently, he was a little heavy in the spring.

Former Iowa safety Marcus Wilson, who left Iowa at this time last season, still is trying to get his grades in order to get back on the team.

No surprise to see Ohio State picked to win the league, which, if the Buckeyes could do it outright, would be for an unprecedented third straight outright title. No surprise either to see Wisconsin and Illinois as the distant contenders. And also no surprise to see Ohio State’s Beanie Wells and James Laurinaitis tabbed as the preseason offensive and defensive players of the year.

In the works

I’ve been in contact with the parents of some Iowa recruits in the Class of 2009 to get their feelings about all the legal issues Hawkeyes players have had the past 15 months, specifically the way the coaching staff and administration handled the Everson-Satterfield situation. I was interested to hear how Ferentz and his assistants have communicated with the parents of recruits when it comes to off-the-field problems. What I’m hearing is that the parents would be upset if their child was there now, but that they feel like Ferentz has a plan in place to make sure the situation will improve in the future. Sounds like most of them would be comfortable sending their kids to Iowa despite all the negative press.

I’ll have something on that in the next week.

And speaking of kids heading to Iowa … 

Mt. Pleasant receiver Jordan Cotton, a 3-star prospect, is set to make his college decision here in the next week or so. It’s down to Iowa and Kansas. From what Cotton said to me in June, it would be a huge, huge upset if Kansas won out.

Also, Sioux City Heelan running back Brandon Wegher, a 4-star prospect, appears to be closing in on a decision. I spoke to his father, Rick, and he told me that after taking the past month off from making college visits, Brandon is ready to get back at it and probably will decide in the next month. Oh, and all the “he’s waiting on an offer from Oklahoma” talk is rumor mill. Brandon’s got an aunt who lives down there, and that’s why he attended a few Sooners games last fall.

According to Brandon’s dad, Brandon has narrowed his list from the two dozen offers he’s got on the table. As the elder Wegher tells it, the outlying schools like Arkansas, Auburn and Arizona no longer are being considered. It’s down to a few “within a half-day’s drive,” he said.

I’ve got a call out to Brandon and will have more on this in the next few days.

And Cedar Rapids Washington receiver Keenan Davis still is sitting at a list of five: Iowa, Illinois, Oklahoma, Colorado and Arizona State – in no specific order.

Iowa, 8-4, really?

I watched ESPN’s College Football Live the other day — I can’t remember which day. Remember, I’ve got a four-day-old baby in the house — and analyst Mark May was asked how many games he thinks Iowa will win this season in light of all the off-field distractions.

May’s response, paraphrased: Iowa will bounce back. Ferentz is one of the best coaches in the nation, and whenever his teams have been predicted to do poorly, they’ve always done well. 

May predicted an 8-4 record, which in this year’s Big Ten probably would mean a New Year’s Day bowl berth and a trip to Florida.

I’m still hovering around 6-6.

Getting a say

I’ll be voting in the Associated Press poll this fall. We’re going to play it up on the site a bit, with weekly power rankings that will double as my ballot. We’ll also have a weekly Heisman tracker and a weekly Big Ten power ranking with a tracker for the Big Ten offensive and defensive players of the year.

Those will start with the preseason rankings and trackers the week leading up to the Aug. 30 opener.

It should be fun – both for me to have a say in the AP poll and for you to read my take on why I voted teams where I did. I’d love your input, and I’d love to spark some debate in the comment stream when the power rankings debut next month.

My preseason ballot is due Aug. 1. I know my top five, but I’m not sure yet on an order. What would yours be?      

How old is too old?

As I’ve done every July since I was 15, I ran out last week and picked up the latest EA Sports NCAA Football game for my XBox 360. Well, it hasn’t always been for the 360. First is was for the PlayStation. Then, the PS2, then the XBox and, finally, the 360. If I’d have splurged for the PS3, my wife might have divorced me.

Anyway, I don’t spend much time playing the game anymore. Too much to do for work, and it’s just not as fun as it used to be when I was in college and we had 10 guys playing in a dynasty together. But I still like to buy the game each year just to see the new features and to find out what the folks at EA have decided to give as far as player ratings go (by the way, they seem to think Iowa’s going to be good). This year’s game is a lot like it has been in the past, with a few added features, such as the ability to upload stadium sounds, that make it a little more like being in the stadium. I’ve only played a few games — remember, four-day-old baby in the house — but my wife thinks I’m a juvenile because of it. Of course, that might be because when I went to pick up the game on Friday, I forgot my wallet and her mother, my mother-in-law, had to put it on her credit card (yeah, that’s how I roll). My question is: How old is too old? My sister says if I have to pause the game to change diapers, that’s probably a sign that it’s time to hang up the cordless controller. What about pausing to heat up a bottle of breast milk? Had to do that three times last night.

Any of you gamers picked NCAA ’09 yet? If so, what are your impressions?

And finally …

I know this is a football blog, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t give the full report on the birth of the child.

Everything went fine. Savannah Marie Page was born — after 18 hours of labor — at 2:17 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. She checked in at 8 pounds, 7.1 ounces and was 20 inches long. She’s got some crazy, strawberry blond hair going on. Doc said she’d delivered 1,000 babies and never seen anything like it. I’m sure she says that to ‘em all.

I’m off on paternity leave until Iowa’s media day Aug. 4 in Iowa City. Then, I’ll be back at it full time leading up to the season. I’ll continue blogging throughout the week. Hopefully, I’ll have some updates on Wegher, Cotton and Davis.

In the meantime, let me know if you have any questions you want answered.       

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 27th, 2008 at 1:15 am and is filed under Hawkeyes Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.