We kind of expected this to be a relatively quiet week. Or at least as quiet as the week before the opening game of the college football season can be.

But it has ended up being pretty darn eventful.

First, on Wednesday, the Big Ten announced how the new two-team divisional alignment will look for next season. It’s not a disaster (Wisconsin fans may disagree), but it’s not as good as it could have been. I’ve already expressed my thoughts in a column on Hawkmania.com and qctimes.com: http:

www.hawkmania.com/articles/2010/09/02/news/doc4c7ee30e3c4fd304682645.txt

I also like what Don Sullivan of Muscatine said in an e-mail about the Big Ten’s decision. He suggested they label the new divisions “Dumb’’ and “Dumber.’’

Then on Thursday, Iowa gave Kirk Ferentz a contract extension that gives him yet another raise and will keep him as the Hawkeyes’ coach through 2020. At times in the past we’ve heard grousing over these types of moves with some people grumbling that no football coach is worth $3.7 million. I’m betting I don’t hear much of it this time, at least not from Iowa fans.

Projected starter – Ricky Stanzi (6-4, 230, sr.)

Top reserves – James Vandenberg (6-3, 212, so.), John Wienke (6-5, 220, so.)

Futures – A.J. Derby (6-4, 225, fr.), Wyatt Suess (6-2, 200, fr.)

Stanzi’s touchdown-to-interception ratio isn’t going to land him any All-Big Ten votes, but this one statistic looks pretty good: He is 18-4 as a starter over the past two seasons. The Hawkeyes were 9-0 with him at the controls last season when he went down in a heap in the end zone against Northwestern. His 2009 season was marked by moments of electric efficiency punctuated by moments of amazing ineptness. Four of his Big Ten-leading 15 interceptions were returned for touchdowns, but his leadership qualities are unquestioned. He spent the off-season studying the interceptions and analyzing why they happened. Don’t be shocked if he is immensely improved this fall.

Vandenberg looked lost after replacing Stanzi in the Northwestern game, then staked his claim to the job for the future by nearly engineering an upset of Ohio State on the road the following week. Kirk Ferentz said Wienke may have been the most improved player on the team in spring drills so he may yet challenge Vandenberg for the backup job.

Derby was regarded by many as the top recruit in the state of Iowa last season, but there already are rumblings that his future may lie at some other position. But at the Kids Day scrimmage on Aug. 14, he looked to have as strong an arm as any quarterback on the team. Some of us fully expect him to remain at quarterback for the duration of his career.

Projected starters – RB Adam Robinson (5-9, 205, so.); FB Brett Morse (6-3, 238, sr.)

Top reserves – Jewel Hampton (5-9, 210, so.), Brandon Wegher (5-11, 206, so.), Brad Rogers (5-10, 215, fr.), Paki O’Meara (5-11, 211, sr.)

Futures – Jacob Reisen (6-2, 231, fr.), Marcus Coker (6-0, 230, fr.), De’Andre Johnson (5-8, 210, fr.)

The debate for several months has been who will win the three-way battle for the starting running back job between Robinson, Hampton and Wegher, but it already has sorted itself out. Hampton was arrested in June and will sit out the opening game as a result. Wegher took a leave of absence during preseason training camp and his status for the entire season is questionable.

Robinson, who came out of nowhere to set Iowa’s freshman rushing record last fall, is almost certain to start the opener and if he does well, he will be difficult to unseat. Robinson might have won the job anyway. He is solid in pass production, can catch the ball out of the backfield, never fumbles and seems to get every available bit of yardage out of every run.

Hampton’s promise is based on things he did two years ago, before knee surgery, and Wegher, although very talented, clearly trails the field from a maturity standpoint even if he does come back. Coker, with Shonn Greene type size, could be a major factor at some point but he broke his clavicle on the third day of fall practices and is out for a few weeks. The Hawkeyes may be desperate enough for depth to move Jason White from safety back to offense, as they did last spring.

The Hawkeyes’ fullbacks don’t do much except block and catch an occasional pass, but Morse has done a very good of that the past two years. There’s no reason to think he won’t be just as good – maybe better – this season. Rogers, moved from running back this fall, has a chance to be much more than adequate. He had moved into the No. 2 spot on the depth chart even before last year’s understudy, Wade Leppert, quit the team last week.

Projected starters – Wide receivers Derrell Johnson-Koulianos (6-1, 200, sr.) and Marvin McNutt (6-4, 215, jr.); tight end Allen Reisner (6-3, 248, sr.)

Top reserves – Colin Sandeman (6-1, 200, sr.), Keenan Davis (6-3, 215, so.), Brad Herman (6-5, 247, jr.), Paul Chaney (5-9, 170, sr.), Jordan Cotton (6-1, 185, fr.), Don Nordmann (6-6, 211, sr.)

Futures – C.J. Fiedorowicz (6-7, 250, fr.), Jonathan Gimm (6-3, 240, so.), Dakota Getz (6-4, 230, fr.), Zach Derby (6-3, 235, so.), Austin Vier (6-7, 228, fr.), Kevonte Martin-Manley (6-0, 190, fr.), Don Shumpert (6-3, 185, fr.), James Hurt (6-1, 200, so.), Steven Skaggs (6-3, 195, so.)

Iowa seldom has been as strong and as deep at the wide receiver positions as it is going into this season. Johnson-Koulianos, though listed as a co-starter with Sandeman on the preseason depth chart, is in position to break the school records for receptions and yards in a career. He has had 38, 44 and 45 catches in the first three years of his college career and needs only 31 more to become the all-time record-holder. McNutt probably has an even brighter future. In his first year as a receiver after making the switch from quarterback, he caught 34 passes for 674 yards and eight touchdowns and produced some of the biggest plays of the Hawkeyes’ season. DJK and McNutt combined for 1,424 yards receiving last season and have an excellent shot at topping the best mark ever by a pair of Hawkeye wideouts – 1,649 yards, by Clint Solomon and Ed Hinkel in 2004.

Sandeman is a solid third receiver and excellent punt returner, and Davis may be ready to fulfill his vast promise after a disappointing freshman season. Behind them are Chaney, who is coming off knee surgery, and Cotton, who caught the eye of the coaches with his energy and hustle in spring drills. And don’t be shocked if another receiver makes his presence felt. Martin-Manley appears to have the sort of game-breaking speed that the Hawkeyes have seldom had through the years.

Reisner isn’t the best tight end in Iowa history, but he’ll be a decent replacement for the departed Tony Moeaki. He has caught 25 passes in a reserve role the past two years and is a serviceable blocker. There are several players behind him with possibilities, but perhaps none more so than Fiedorowicz, who arrives rated by some as the top tight end prospect in the country. He has the size and skills to make an immediate impact.

Projected starters – LT Riley Reiff (6-6, 300, so.); LG Julian Vandervelde (6-3, 300, sr.); RG Adam Gettis (6-4, 280, jr.); RT Markus Zusevics (6-5, 295, jr.); C Josh Koeppel (6-2, 273, sr.) or James Ferentz (6-2, 275, so.)

Top reserves – Cody Hundertmark (6-4, 285, jr.), Woody Orne (6-5, 295, jr.), Brett Van Sloten (6-7, 290, fr.), Matt Tobin (6-6, 285, so.), Kyle Haganman (6-5, 285, sr.)

Futures – Nolan MacMillan (6-6, 288, fr.), Connor Bofelli (6-5, 285, fr.), Andrew Donnal (6-7, 285, fr.), Brandon Scherff (6-5, 310, fr.), Casey McMillan (6-4, 305, so.), Drew Clark (6-4, 288, fr.)

This is the biggest question mark area on the entire Iowa team and it undoubtedly will be a work in progress as the Hawkeyes prepare for the start of Big Ten play. The major building block is Reiff, who started 11 games at three different positions while earning third-team freshman All-American honors last season. He figures to be the starting left tackle for the next three years. Vandervelde brings the most experience with 24 career starts. After that come the question marks.

Gettis and Zusevics, two juniors from the Chicago area, have slowly worked their way up the depth chart through the years but both have limited playing experience. Gettis started one game last season. Zusevics, a former high school volleyball star, never has started. Neither have either of the two players battling for the starting center job. Koeppel has been in the program longer but don’t be surprised if the coach’s son beats him out for the job.

Hundertmark, who moved from defense to offense at the end of last season, was described by Kirk Ferentz last spring as the only other offensive lineman who looked ready to play at that point although he saw very limited action in the Kids Day scrimmage last week. Orne started seven games as a freshman at South Dakota State in 2008, but still seems to be adjusting to a higher level of competition. Everyone else except Haganman is just beginning to figure out what they’re doing.

A player to watch might be Nolan MacMillan, a Canadian who is nearly 20 years old but still has four years of eligibility remaining.

The Brandon Wegher saga gets a little stranger all the time. Word has it now that the mixed-up sophomore running back returned to practice for a few days early last week, then left the Hawkeyes again because — in the words of coach Kirk Ferentz — “his heart wasn’t into it.’’

It’s apparent at this point that the best thing for everyone probably would be for Wegher to take the entire season off. He has a redshirt year to use. He wouldn’t be losing any eligibility. He’s not doing anyone any good with this on-again, off-again, I’m-not-sure-I-want-to-play dance.

It’s understandable that Wegher is having some doubts about what he wants to do. It’s surprising we don’t see more young college football players go through this sort of turmoil. Wegher was pushed to be great by well-meaning parents at a very early age – earlier than most kids – and now he is in a mid-life crisis in which he apparently is trying to figure if he’s chasing his own dream or someone else’s.

The kid clearly needs some time to get his head together and decide what he wants. It’s tough to sort out your emotions and your true desires in a few days or a week or even a month, especially when Hawkeye Nation is hanging on your ever move.

So, take a year off. Let Adam Robinson and Jewel Hampton carry the load this season and decide what you want to do in a less-pressurized situation.

Projected starters – Punter Ryan Donahue (6-3, 190, sr.); kickers Daniel Murray (5-10,185, sr.) or Trent Mossbrucker (6-0, 204, so.); deep snapper Andrew Schulze (6-5, 255, sr.)

Top reserves – Eric Guthrie (6-6, 245, jr.), Charlie Knipper (6-4, 230, fr.)

Futures – Jonathan Mullings (6-3, 210, fr.); Mike Meyer (6-2, 175, fr.)

Donahue is another of those unsung heroes, a guy who doesn’t get much publicity or attention but who is highly valued by the coaching staff for his work ethic and consistency. His punting average fell slightly to 40.9 yards last season, but he dropped 27 punts inside the 20-yard line and had a career-low five touchbacks. He also did not have a punt blocked all season.

Murray is the incumbent place-kicker, but he may have a hard time holding off Mossbrucker, who redshirted last season after some very impressive moments as a freshman in 2008. Mossbrucker was 13 for 15 on field goals and set Iowa’s single-season freshman scoring record before being inexplicably replaced by Murray late in the season. Murray was OK last season – 19 for 26 with a long kick of 48 yards – but head coach Kirk Ferentz never seemed fully satisfied. This may be the most competitive position battle of the fall.

Schulze enters his fourth season as the regular long snapper and one of the most intriguing stories on the Hawkeye roster is Mullings, a 22-year-old Australian rugby player who launched an 85-yard punt for Ottumwa High School last fall. And there’s also another capable kicker waiting in the wings if both Murray and Mossbrucker flop. Meyer, a former Dubuque Wahlert star, looked pretty good in last week’s Kids Day scrimmage.

Projected starters – Strong safety Tyler Sash (6-1, 210, jr.); free safety Brett Greenwood (6-0, 200, sr.); cornerbacks Shaun Prater (5-11, 180, jr.) and Micah Hyde (6-1, 185, so.)

Top reserves – Jordan Bernstine (5-11, 205, jr.), Greg Castillo (5-11, 180, so.), Willie Lowe (5-10, 172, jr.), Kyle Steinbrecher (6-2, 201, jr.), Tom Donatell (6-2, 205, jr.), Jack Swanson (5-11, 200, so.), Nick Nielsen (6-3, 210, so.)

Futures – Jason White (5-10, 205, so.), B.J. Lowery (5-11, 180, fr.), Anthony Hitchens (6-1, 200, fr.), Tanner Miller (6-2, 195, fr.)

Iowa has had its share of great safeties through the years, but it may not have had a tandem as good as Sashwood. Sash already holds the school record for interception return yardage in a career and he has two more years of eligibility. He figures to make a bid for All-American honors if he can simply duplicate what he did a year ago. Greenwood, a former walk-on, enters his fourth year as a starter and is the proverbial coach on the field. He’s the guy who helps everyone get to where they’re supposed to be.

Prater was thrust into an unexpected starting role last season and did a solid job at left corner-back but with Amari Spievey going off to the Detroit Lions, there is a vacancy on the other side. There are four possible contenders for that spot but the favorite is Hyde, who saw considerable action on special teams as a true freshman last season.

He’ll be pushed by Bernstine, who was pro-jected to start last season before breaking his ankle in preseason drills, and Castillo and Lowe, each of whom started games last season. Hyde and Castillo looked very good in a public scrimmage last Saturday and Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said Bernstine has looked more motivated this fall. Lowery made a big impression in his first week of workouts and is being compared by some to Spievey.

The depth behind Sash and Greenwood is somewhat questionable. Walk-ons Kyle Steinbrecher and Tom Donatell stepped into the backup positions in the spring, but Swanson and Nielsen are still in contention for those slots.

Projected starters – MLB Jeff Tarpinian (6-3, 238, sr.), WLB Jeremiha Hunter (6-2, 235, sr.), OLB Tyler Nielsen (6-4, 235, jr.)

Top reserves – Troy Johnson (6-2, 235, sr.), Bruce Davis (6-0, 232, jr.), Ross Petersen (6-3, 236, sr.), Lance Tillison (6-2, 215, jr.)

Futures – James Morris (6-2, 215, fr.), Shane DiBona (6-2, 230, fr.), Austin Gray (6-2, 210, fr.), Terrance Pryor (6-1, 215, so.), Jim Poggi (6-2, 212, fr.), Christian Kirksey (6-2, 195, fr.)

There is no question that the graduation of Pat Angerer and A.J. Edds represented a huge loss, perhaps more in terms of leadership than talent. But the Hawkeye coaches don’t seem all that con-cerned, probably because they have experienced players ready to step into the breach.

Tarpinian has been on the verge of seeing significant playing time for a couple of years but keeps getting set back by injuries. He seems primed now to fill Angerer’s spot in the middle of the defense and by all accounts, is thriving in that role. Nielsen, who has much less on-field experience, seems equally ready to fill Edds’ shoes. Hunter has quietly made 169 tackles over the past two years and made one of the biggest plays of Iowa’s 2009 season when he swatted down Northern Iowa’s second field goal attempt in the final seconds of the opener. He’s ready to emerge from the shadow cast by Angerer and Edds.

Johnson and Davis also are very experienced and could still break into the starting lineup if Tar-pinian and Nielsen don’t produce. When Hunter and Tarpinian were unexpectedly determined to be unfit to play in last fall’s regular-season finale, Johnson was thrust into the starting lineup and ended up being the Big Ten’s defensive player of the week. Davis was a special teams standout last season. Another player to watch is Morris, an athletic true freshman who figures to at least see action on special teams this season.

This is the first in a series of position-by-position looks at the Iowa football team for 2010.

Projected starters – Ends Adrian Clayborn (6-4, 285, sr.) and Broderick Binns (6-2, 261, jr.); tackles Karl Klug (6-4, 270, sr.) and Christian Ballard (6-5, 297, sr.)

Top reserves – Mike Daniels ((6-1, 275, jr.), Lebron Daniel (6-2, 250, jr.), Joe Forgy (6-4, 255, jr.), Thomas Nardo (6-3, 277, jr.), Steve Bigach (6-3, 272, so.)

Futures — Dominic Alvis (6-4, 240, fr.), Mike Hardy 6-5, 270, fr.), Carl Davis (6-5, 295, fr.), Louis Trinca-Pasat (6-3, 250, fr.), Anthony Ferguson (6-3, 280, fr.), Martin Hopkins (6-3, 250, fr.), Scott Covert (6-2, 245, fr.), Donavan Johnson (6-3, 265, fr.)

All four starters return and almost all the position ratings assembled by preseason magazines rate this as the premier defensive line in the country. There not only is ample talent, but it’s a nice mix of styles.

Clayborn is a 285-pound monster with the mobility of a linebacker. He’s on pretty much every preseason All-American team and has been projected to go as high as No. 2 in the next NFL draft. Klug, who played at 256 pounds last year, is a relentless agitator in the mold of Mitch King. Binns also is on the small side, but has long arms and batted down nine passes last season. Ballard, who started at defensive end in 2008, is the unsung hero, a reliable, rock-solid performer who also is likely to show up in the NFL someday. He originally came in as a tight end, but now weighs 297.

The coaching staff regards junior Mike Daniels as a fifth starter and junior Lebron Daniel also might be good enough to start for some other teams. He is likely to start the opener with Eastern Illinois while Binns serves a one-game suspension.

There are five true freshmen at this position, including a few players — Davis, Hardy, Ferguson — who arrive with more size than the Hawkeyes generally have had in the defensive line.