Well, that was fun. The focus wasn't always sharp (as evidenced by multiple dropped balls and nine penalties for 86 yards), but the defense was positively murderous all day (Ball State was held to an even-steven 56 yards rushing and 56 yards passing for the entire day and didn't pick up a first down until late in the second quarter), which gave the offense plenty of time to find a rhythm. 45 points was the most scored by an Iowa team since OH HEY 55-0 AIN'T NO BIG THING and the shutout was Iowa's first since blanking Minnesota (again) last year. A few quick thoughts:
* Adam Robinson just wants to run, baby. Fresh off the worst game of his Iowa career a week ago and in his first game as the unquestioned (and unchallenged) lead back in the Iowa offense, A-Rob busted off 190 yards of total offense (115 rushing, 75 receiving on three catches) and a pair of scores. As we've said before, A-Rob has everything you'd want out of a tailback except top-end speed and the quicks to hit the corner on the stretch play. But he's turning into an excellent, patient runner between the tackles, he protects the ball well, he never goes down on first contact, and he even displayed pretty solid hands today, all while handling every carry through most of the first three quarters. Much love, A-Rob.
* All hail big bad Mike Daniels. The stat line -- six tackles, tour tackles for loss, one sack -- is impressive enough, but even that doesn't truly reflect how utterly dominant he was in this game. He was, literally, unblockable at various points during the game and blew up multiple plays in the backfield before the Ball State offense had a clue what was happening. At one point, Ball State opted to double-team him instead of Adrian Clayborn. So call him what you want, Diesel (his nickname among teammates), Beast (one of the preferred monikers among the commentariat), whatever... he's a fucking animal right now.
* Welcome to the show, Keenan. When Marvin McNutt left the game with a leg injury (sounds minor), Keenan Davis stepped in and was absolutely king-sized, catching three passes (including the scoring grab) on Iowa's second touchdown drive, when the sputtering offense was making the game a bit more nerve-wracking than it should have been. He added another catch early in the second half and finished with four catches for 50 yards and a touchdown, easily his best day as a Hawkeye.
So tell us who your man of the match was for the game, as well as any other quick thoughts you have about the win.