138 Miles: Bye Week Boredom....and its only Wednesday

Hawk Fans- bored yet?? Never fear, that's why 138 miles is here. Sure, there's a lull on campus during the bye week, but here's some fun Hawkeye related material to keep you entertained.

To continue my praise of James Vandenberg from last post, check out what ESPN Big Ten blogger Adam Rittenberg wrote regarding JVB in his joint post on Early Big Ten MVP candidates:

It's hard not to give the offensive MVP to Wilson, but you're right, Wisconsin is 4-0 even without him. So many weapons on that offense. Robinson and Martinez also are good choices, but I'm going in a different direction. James Vandenberg. You know, the quarterback from Iowa? Through four games, his passing numbers are almost as impressive as Wilson's (1,095 pass yards, 10 TDs, 1 INT), and Iowa really has needed the junior to step up. Vandenberg's heroic performance in the historic comeback against Pitt might be the turning point of the season. If Iowa falls to 1-2, things really could start to snowball. Instead, the Hawkeyes are 3-1 entering the bye week and their quarterback is playing with a ton of confidence. The run game hasn't been nearly as consistent as Iowa thought it would be, and the Hawkeyes needed Vandenberg to be the player in games that they saw in practice last year.

Rittenberg usually gives some love to the Hawks, and he is definitely a fan of Vandenberg.

While Iowa's QB situation is working out nicely, our next opponent's situation is a mess. Penn State could not figure out their starting QB in camp, and apparently they still don't quite have it sorted out. Matt McGloin, who stepped up for the Nittany Lions last season, continues to produce, while original starter Rob Bolden remains on the team after threats to transfer during the off-season. Both quarterbacks have played significantly this year as "co-starters", with Bolden starting and McGloin coming off the bench. Here's the stat comparison:

PASSING	GP	Effic	Cmp-Att-Int	Pct	Yards	TD	Long	Avg/G
Bolden, Rob	4	88.6	33-71-3	46.5	388	1	71	97.0
McGloin, Matt	4	146.8	34-54-0	63.0	421	3	41	105.2

McGloin seems to be a more productive passer, with a greater number of yards, TDs, and higher efficiency. However, Bolden has much more experience in big games, and recently led a game winning touchdown drive against Temple.