Iowa fans have suffered through a lot over the last four years.
The staunch — yet sporadically fickle — members of Hawkeye Nation are used to controversy.
And don’t forget about those seemingly endless off-the-field issues in 2007 (but honestly, who can? It’s going to take three 32-ounce spray bottles of Orange Glo and a down-in-the-dumps-economy-sized pack of paper towels to wipe Dominique Douglas’ stupid money-munching mug from my already cluttered attic).
Fortunately, none of the above has happened so far.
Much like the Chicago Cubs in the 2007 and 2008 playoffs, the Hawkeyes have nothing to justifiably point to should the season eventually end up going southbound. They’re solely responsible for every victory and defeat, regardless of injuries.
Yet in contrast to preseason speculation, the loss of sophomore running back Jewel Hampton isn’t that big of a deal.
Yeah, maybe Iowa’s running game would be a little more nightmarish right now if the Indianapolis native wasn’t bedeviled by a trick knee and could extrapolate on the 463 yards he attained while averaging 5.1 yards per carry a year ago under former All-Galaxy tailback Shonn Greene.
But the fledgling duo of Adam Robinson and Brandon Wegher is doing pretty well in Hampton’s absence. So how can that possibly be dubbed a controversy?
Practically the only topic that has been mildly controversial during the first two-and-a-half weeks of the season has been Stanzi’s play under center.
During the opening quarters against Northern Iowa and Iowa State, the junior didn’t seem like the same shaggy-hair signal-caller who started 11 games for the Hawkeyes in 2008.
No, instead he looked more like the former Iowa quarterback who fans mercilessly booed to the sidelines early last year and eventually out of Iowa City.
By the way, Christensen has helped Eastern Illinois to back-to-back wins against Illinois State and Indiana State, tallying 312 passing yards and four touchdowns in the process — just in case you were even a tiny bit curious.
Really though, it’s a good thing Christensen moved on. He wasn’t going to get another shot while at Iowa, at least not as long as students were opting to wear “Stanzi-the-Manzi” T-shirts rather than replica No. 6 jerseys in the fall (I guess that’s still applicable, though).
Plus, his departure closed the rift between the fair-weather followers who each winter unrealistically daydream that another Chuck Long or Brad Banks will scurry onto campus and the lifelong loyalists who understand Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz doesn’t pursue blue-chip QB prospects like Terrelle Pryor and Matt Barkley.
Had he stayed, the 2009 season would have been more drama-packed than the first two season of Laguna Beach. Fortunately, I go to school in the IC, not the OC.
