It's no secret that Iowa's backfield is a concern for 2008. Only one scholarship tailback is on campus right now--juco transfer and confirmed Mightymouse Nate Guillory--so it stands to reason that he should be, at least until the other incoming tailbacks show up, the prohibitive starter. Right?

Uh... right?!?!?! Kirk, don't tell me... no... oh fuck.

IOWA CITY — Let’s hope you weren’t holding out hope for some big news from Kirk Ferentz’s Wednesday news conference that would make you feel better about Iowa’s running back situation.

It looks as if the starter for now might be Paki O’Meara.

I'm Paki O'Meara!

Our horror cup overfloweth. The good news is that O'Meara is the early leader for the J Leman Memorial Best Mugshot On A Starting Big 10 Player award, heretofore only given to J Leman, because J Leman.

Don't worry, America loves J Leman right back.

I digress. Luckily, the QC Times dispatched notable sourpuss Dan Doxsie to opine on the recent development, because when you've got to deliver horrible, bad, awful news, you may as well do it with a wry grin. Takes attention away from the tears, you know.

The sophomore walk-on from Cedar Rapids Washington, who never has carried the ball in a college game, received this ringing endorsement from Ferentz: "If we have to go with him in the fall, we will.’’

A few seconds later he piled on even more praise: "Obviously, we’re hoping we’ll be able to supplement him with other players in the fall.’’

The entire article is solid stuff, if a bit hater-y. We never like the pessimists, but we might as well be honest--if Iowa goes down in a Hindenburg-like mess of flames in 2008, we hope Dan Doxsie is there in the blazing canopy wth us, pointing out that it's not the heat, it's the humanity.