A few thoughts on Iowa’s offensive line situation as I sit here killing time in Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, waiting for Delta Airlines to find a way to get me home from Miami:

I hope Bryan Bulaga knows what he’s doing. Iowa’s junior left tackle has declared for this spring’s NFL draft and while there never has been any doubt that Bulaga was destined to play in the pros, I would have liked his chances a lot more with one more year of college. He could be a late first-round pick this time. Had he waited, he might have been a top-five guy.

One concern is that Bulaga, although very mature both physically and emotionally, will not turn 21 years old until March 21. There weren’t any players in the NFL this season under the age of 21. In fact, the youngest player in the history of the league was Houston Texans defensive lineman Amobi Okoye, who was two months past his 20th birthday when he debuted in 2007.

This puts it in perspective: Riley Reiff, the redshirt freshman who figures to replace Bulaga at left tackle for the Hawkeyes, is actually three months older than Bulaga.

I just hope he’s not jumping too soon.

Even without Bulaga, Dace Richardson, Rafael Eubanks and Kyle Calloway, Iowa is going to have a good offensive line next season.

My guess at a projected starting lineup:

LT – Reiff. Reminiscent of Ross Verba in that he’s not overly big but very efficient. If he holds this position for the next three years, he would be 24 by the time he plays his final college game.

LG – Adam Gettis. Once he gets some experience and improves his pass blocking, he should be a star.

C – Josh Koeppel. He pushed Rafael Eubanks for the job this fall and could finally get his chance as a senior.

RG – Julian Vandervelde. Davenport native will be the leader of this group. If another guard emerges, he could get moved to center.

RT – Nolan MacMillan. After a year of prep school and a redshirt year, the Canadian native is about as physically mature as any freshman around.

Cody Hundertmark, who moved recently from defense to offense, could figure in the mix somewhere, too, as could James Ferentz, Kyle Haganman, Markus Zusevics, Casey McMillan and others. There were five other freshman offensive linemen who were redshirted this season. There’s more depth and talent here than people realize.

What can we expect to see Tuesday night in the Orange Bowl? A few thoughts:

– Georgia Tech typically starts fast and Iowa usually has not, and it’s hard to see either of those trends changing in this game. I think it will take the Hawkeyes some time to adjust to the speed of the Tech option but I think they will eventually adjust. My predicted halftime score is: Tech 17, Iowa 6.

– Although the running attack is going to be a big part of the Iowa offense – Georgia Tech looked especially vulnerable in to the run in the last few games – I think we could see Iowa come out throwing and throwing deep, possibly even on the first play.

– Adam Robinson’s career high in rushing yardage is 109 yards against Michigan State. If he’s as healthy as Kirk Ferentz has led us to believe, he tops that in this game.

– If you’ve enjoyed having Bryan Bulaga and Amari Spievey play for the Hawkeyes, take a long, last look this game. It should be the last time you’ll see either of them. I think they’re both turning pro early.

– Final score: Iowa 27-24. After adjusting to that early Georgia Tech offense, the Hawkeyes find their timing on both sides of the ball in the second half.

Normally this just happens after the season is over and with NFL teams. Now Kirk Ferentz is being linked to a college head coaching job while the season is still in progress.

It’s almost certainly hogwash. I would be amazed if there’s any concrete foundation beneath the rumor that Ferentz is a candidate to become the next head coach at Notre Dame.

More than likely this is some media guy peeling names off the top of his head without any real basis in fact.

It’s possible there’s interest on Notre Dame’s part. But Ferentz has a pretty good thing going at Iowa. He’s one of the 10 highest paid coaches in the country. He’s probably in the top five in the country in terms of job security. So, why uproot your family from a place they’re happy and comfortable to go somewhere they’ve never lived, where you’re not likely to make more money and where you’ll be fired in four years if you’re not at least 10 games over .500?

It makes no sense. Ferentz didn’t come right out and slam the door shut on the rumor Tuesday – he never does; it’s bad business – but he kind of laughed it off and said he’s very happy right where’s at. It’s the closest he gets to a complete denial.

There also are reports that Oklahoma coach Bobby Stoops has expressed interest in Notre Dame and the names of Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly and Florida coach Urban Meyer have popped up. This shows the arrogance of the Notre Dame mentality. Meyer leaving Florida to go to South Bend would be like Ferentz leaving Iowa to go to Drake. It isn’t going to happen.

This is one of those “Hey did you realize?’’ questions that Kirk Ferentz hates to get in mid-news conference. Fortunately, no one asked it Tuesday.

But hey coach, did you realize your career record against Indiana is worse than your won-loss mark against Penn State? And Wisconsin. And Michigan State. And Minnesota. And Illinois. And Purdue.

Indiana is a perennial doormat in the Big Ten. It has finished in the first division just once in the past 14 years, never has been higher than fourth over that span and has been ninth or worse nine times.
But the Hoosiers are 4-4 against Ferentz and that’s with three different Indiana coaches getting the best of him.

And you can tell Ferentz is worried about Saturday’s game, not only because he lost a couple of starters (Adam Robinson and Dace Richardson) to injuries last Saturday.

He knows his team needs to do a little more than just show up for this one. Indiana has a decent quarterback (Ben Chappell), a dynamite receiver (Tandon Ross), maybe the best return man in the Big Ten (Ray Fisher) and very good defensive ends.

“Those two guys wore us out two years ago in our stadium,’’ Ferentz said. “We couldn’t block them all day long.  It’s still kind of vivid in my mind right now.’’

Most of us wouldn’t pick the Hoosiers to win this game, but if you’re a betting person, that Las Vegas spread of 17½ points is pretty inviting. This Iowa team is equally capable of playing up or down to the level of competition. It’s hard to imagine the Hawkeyes beating anyone by 17½ points.

One of the hardest hitting games of the season prompted a handful of injuries and a great deal of uncertainty about Iowa’s lineup for next Saturday’s game with Indiana. A look at the injuries and their potential ramifications:

Dace Richardson: He has started every game this season, at three different offensive line positions, but I’m guessing we’ve seen the last of the big guy this season. He suffered what appeared to be a very serious foot or ankle injury (allegedly a fracture) and I can’t imagine he would be back before the end of the regular season. The good news is that there shouldn’t be much drop-off with veteran Julian Vandervelde ready to step back into the lineup at right guard.

Brett Greenwood: It looked really bad when they strapped Greenwood to a board and took him off on a cart, but that may have been largely a precautionary measure. The junior free safety was back on the sidelines in sweats at the end of the game. If Greenwood is out, fifth-year senior Joe Conklin becomes the starter. Conklin showed some inexperience when he was thrown into the action Saturday night, but with more preparation time he should be OK.

Colin Sandeman: He got knocked cold on a vicious hit by Michigan State’s Jeremy Ware. Head injuries aren’t anything to be taken lightly and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Sandeman sit out a game or two. His absence would mean more playing time at receiver for freshman Keenan Davis, but it’s not clear who would replace Sandeman on punt returns. Maybe Davis. Maybe Tyler Sash. Maybe Amari Spievey. Sandeman had done a very good job since taking over for Paul Chaney so this could be a bigger loss than it appears.

Adam Robinson: Many people probably didn’t even realize that Robinson injured his ankle late in the game because he and Brandon Wegher share playing time at running back anyway. Wegher also was banged up in the game (a shoulder, I think) although he came back and played after that. It not clear at this point how badly hurt either of them is. If both of them are out, it’s a major crisis. Hawkeye fans aren’t eager to see Paki O’Meara return to the starting lineup.

The Iowa football team seemingly is starting to gain a little more respect nationally. Last week the Hawkeyes were ranked 11th in the Associated Press poll and although only two of the teams ahead of them lost (Ohio State and Virginia Tech), they climbed four spots Sunday to No. 7. Several voters obviously decided on the basis of a 20-10 victory over Wisconsin that the Hawkeyes are now better than LSU and Miami (Fla.).

They were one spot higher in the first BCS standings of the season, at No. 6. USC, ahead of them in the AP poll, was behind them on the BCS list.

All of this is sure to encourage those fans who keep talking about the Hawkeyes possibly playing in the BCS championship game if they can manage to win their five remaining regular-season games.

Sorry, but that’s still very, very unlikely. I would say one of the two SEC teams that are 1-2 in every poll – Florida and Alabama – will be in the BCS game. Those two do not meet in the regular season and each of them only has one more ranked team on the schedule. Alabama hosts LSU a few weeks from now and Florida still has to travel to South Carolina.

Texas, No. 3 in the polls, also has a good chance of finishing unbeaten if it can win next Saturday at Oklahoma State. The only other tough game on the Longhorns’ schedule is against Kansas, which also could be its opponent in the Big 12 championship game.

It’s also unlikely that Boise State is going to lose although I could see some voters eventually leap-frogging the Hawkeyes over Boise if they can beat Ohio State on Nov. 14. Of course, I also could see LSU leap-frogging back ahead of Iowa if it beats Alabama on Nov. 7.

The other team ahead of the Hawkeyes in the BCS right now is Cincinnati, which still has two ranked teams remaining on the schedule – West Virginia and Pittsburgh.

It’s way too early to be talking BCS title game. Get back to me after the Hawkeyes have won at Ohio State. Then we’ll talk.

This might be the most amazing thing about the first half of Iowa’s football season: In three of the past four games, the opposing team has returned an interception for a touchdown and the Hawkeyes have somehow managed to win all three of those games.

A pick six is almost always a recipe for defeat. When the opposing defense not only forces a turnover, but is able to turn it into immediate points, it’s a very, very difficult thing for a team to overcome, both physically and emotionally. It’s a testament to the resiliency of this Iowa team that it has overcome those type of setbacks.

In the first 10 years of the Kirk Ferentz era at Iowa, a quarterback threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown only nine times (five of those by Drew Tate). Iowa went 3-6 in those games. The Hawkeyes were 4-11 in games in which the opposing team scored any kind of defensive or special teams touchdown, whether it be via interception, fumble, kick return, blocked punt, etc.

For the Hawkeyes to go 3-0 in such games this season is pretty astounding.

By the way, the only other quarterbacks besides Tate and Ricky Stanzi to throw a pick six in the Ferentz era are Jon Beutjer, Nathan Chandler, Kyle McCann and Scott Mullen. Each of them had just one. That’s right, Jake Christensen never did it. Not even once.

 A list of the defensive TDs scored by Iowa opponents in the Ferentz years:

 2009: Arizona, Terevin Wade interception (W); Arkansas State, DeMario Davis interception (W); Michigan, Donavan Warren interception (W)

2008: Illinois, Dere Hicks fumble (L)

2007: None

2006: None

2005: Iowa State, LaMarcus Hicks interception (L); Minnesota, John Shevlin interception (W); Florida, V.Brown interception and T.McCollum blocked punt (L)

2004: Michigan, Grant Mason interception (L); Kent State, J.Williams interception (W)

2003: Ohio State, Donte Whitner blocked punt and  Michael Jenkins punt return (L); Penn State, Y.Yisrael interception (W)

2002: None

2001: Penn State, L.Johnson blocked punt (W); Purdue, Woodyard interception (L); Michigan State, Haywood kickoff return (L); Michigan, Manning blocked punt (L)

2000: Nebraska, Watchorn interception (L); Illinois, Long interception (L)

1999: Michigan State, Henry punt return (L)

Saturday night’s game at Penn State is important in the Big Ten standings and for getting into a quality bowl game and all those things, of course.

But it’s also important for the Iowa football program in one other respect: Recruiting.

The Hawkeyes have made an effort to open some new recruiting territories in the East the past few years so any success they can enjoy against the highest profile Eastern power is bound to help them in those efforts.

The Hawkeyes already have three of the best high school players in Maryland verbally commit-ted to sign in February. And another Maryland high school star who didn’t get into Iowa academi-cally this fall – wide receiver Stephane Ngoumou — is now in prep school at Milford Academy in New Berlin, N.Y. (the same prep school that produced Shonn Greene) and apparently is planning to enroll at Iowa next fall.

The three current recruits from Maryland are more highly regarded than many of the Hawks’ previous East coast signees. Greene wasn’t necessarily a big-time recruit (although he turned out to be a big-time player) and Ngoumou was a true sleeper.

But running back Marcus Coker of Hyattsville DeMatha and defensive tackle Travis Ferguson and linebacker Jim Poggi of Baltimore Gilman all are three-star prospects. The Hawks beat Penn State in a head-to-head battle to get Ferguson.

And getting Coker sounds like a major coup. The 222-pound back rushed for 392 yards in 24 car-ries and scored five touchdowns in a game against Maryland’s No. 2-ranked team last week. The only bad thing: He did it against the Gilman team that includes Poggi and Ferguson.

It was pretty easy to see the biggest area of improvement for Iowa on Saturday in an impressive 27-17 victory over Arizona: The Hawkeyes’ defensive line, especially end Adrian Clayborn, played much better than it did in the first two games of the season.

The other two layers of the defense – the linebackers and secondary – were solid (and occasionally spectacular) in the first two games of the season and the line also came together in a fairly thorough shutdown of what had been a pretty good offense.

The statistics don’t really tell how well the D-line played although the stats weren’t bad. The Hawkeyes had two sacks, five tackles for losses and four quarterback hurries (three by Clayborn). They’d had only two sacks in the first two games against less talented, more pass-oriented teams.

They also allowed 148 yards rushing (about half Arizona’s season average), with almost none of it coming between the tackles. Most of it came on three plays – a reverse, a quarterback scramble and a draw play in the final minutes against a prevent defense.

All told, it was an important step forward for an area of the team that had to be retooled following the graduations of Mitch King and Matt Kroul.

With kickoff for the Iowa-Arizona game less than 24 hours away, the main focus is not so much on which players will be playing in the 2:30 p.m. ABC regional matchup but which players may not.

There are rumblings that the Hawkeyes not only may be without left tackle Bryan Bulaga again but also could take the field without tight end Tony Moeaki and wide receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos. Of course, the Hawkeyes don’t go out of their way to let the public or the media know about these things. We’ll need to wait until pregame warm-ups to find out for sure. Check out our pregame blog, starting at 1 p.m. for late  updates.

Bulaga sat out last Saturday’s game with Iowa State because of an undisclosed illness, DJK was a game-time decision in that one because of lingering injuries and Moeaki apparently played that game with a sore ankle that he supposedly “tweaked’’ in practice this week. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz admitted on his Wednesday radio show to being uncertain about the status of Bulaga and Moeaki.

Meanwhile, Arizona also has health issues. Tight end Rob Gronkowski, a first-team All-Pac-10 tight end, will miss his third straight game because of nagging back problems and rangy receiver Delashun Dean also is questionable.

This is a tough to game to pick. However, when forced to make a prediction on a Friday morning radio show, I said: Arizona 20, Iowa 17.