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Hawkeyes, Buckeyes forced to deal with the longest day

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By Steve Batterson | Sunday, October 1, 2006 1:17 AM CDT | () comments

IOWA CITY — Saturday’s 7:13 p.m. kickoff was the latest for an Iowa game since the Hawkeyes played at Arizona State in 2003, and both teams found themselves with plenty of time to kill.

Ohio State held a walkthrough at Kinnick Stadium on Friday night before returning to its Cedar Rapids, Iowa, hotel.

Iowa spent Friday night in Cedar Rapids as well, but regular Friday night team meetings were pushed back until late Saturday morning to help fill some time.

The Hawkeyes went to a movie Friday night, seeing “The Gridiron Gang” following a team meal.

Most players expected to watch a little football after lunch and catch plenty of rest before leaving for the stadium late Saturday afternoon.

Buckeyes center Doug Datish planned to spend some time reading, while Iowa quarterback Drew Tate figured he would find time to take a walk.

“I’m sure we’ll get up and get going,” Tate said. “It’s something we all have to deal with.”

The going price

Tickets were scarce outside of Kinnick Stadium. The asking price for those that were available a couple of hours before kickoff was $400, but one person trying to move a handful said business was slow.

He expected that to change as the game approached, but said it appeared that a lot of fans were planning to use their tickets.

Animal house

There was an Animal in the house Saturday night at Kinnick Stadium.

Joe Laurinaitis, better known as “The Animal” in the “Legend of Doom” pro wrestling tag team, was in attendance to watch his son, starting Ohio State middle linebacker James Laurinaitis.

“I don’t mind not being in the spotlight. This is when I get to be a proud parent,” Joe Laurinaitis said while waiting to enter Kinnick Stadium. “He’s off to a great start and hopefully, things are only going to get better.”

The sophomore who backed up Bobby Carpenter a year ago leads the Buckeyes in tackles and coach Jim Tressel said earlier in the week that he had a chance to meet “The Animal” during the recruiting process, visiting the family home in Wayzata, Minn.

“They’re quite a family. I visited mom and dad and he’s got a sister who is quite an ice hockey player,” Tressel said. “They’re a very strong family and when James visited, he hit it off right away with our players. He’s a pleasure to have in our program.”

Used to it

Injuries might have forced some shuffling on Iowa’s offensive line leading up to Saturday’s game, but that’s nothing new for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa linemen traditionally rotate through a number of positions during fall camp, preparing for the inevitable changes that are created by injuries.

“The stance and sets are a little different from one spot to another, but the fundamentals stay the same. We’re built to be interchangeable and that’s a big plus when somebody goes down during a game,” offensive tackle Marshal Yanda said. “It’s no big deal. We just shift and move on.”

Plenty of hoopla

The biggest home football game of the season allowed the Iowa basketball program to host its biggest recruiting weekend of the fall.

A shirts-and-skins scrimmage between current Hawkeyes preceded Saturday’s game. Recruits Anthony Carter, Lewis Jackson and Mike Dunnigan were in attendance as were 2007 commitments Dairese Gary, Jarryd Cole and Jake Kelly and 2008 commitments Matt Gatens and Beas Hamga.

Dropping in

The game ball for Saturday’s contest was delivered by the U.S. Army Golden Knights skydiving team from Fort Bragg, N.C.

Brought in by the University of Iowa ROTC program, the group arrived with the game ball and the university’s ROTC flag during its first appearance at an Iowa game since 1988.

The Outback Blimp also hovered over the festivities throughout the day.

Full house

Iowa issued more than 500 media credentials for Saturday’s game, the most issued for a single event by the Iowa sports information department.

More than 200 of those were issued to ABC and ESPN crews who were handling the game telecast and GameDay broadcasts which took place in Iowa City throughout the day.

The televising network normally needs about 75 credentials to fill it needs.

Last chance

For most of the players on both the Iowa and Ohio State rosters, Saturday was the last chance they will have to face other.

The Buckeyes rotate off of the Hawkeyes’ schedule beginning next season and the teams are not scheduled to play again until Nov. 14, 2009 at Ohio Stadium.

Michigan also rotates off of Iowa’s schedule in 2007 and 2008, the first seasons since 1949 that the Hawkeyes haven’t played at least one of the league’s traditional powers.

Facing the best

Iowa’s game-by-game results vs. the No. 1 team in the Associated Press college football poll:

Nov. 15, 1941 — Minnesota 34, Iowa 13

Nov. 19, 1949 — Notre Dame 28, Iowa 7

Nov. 21, 1953 — Iowa 14, Notre Dame 14

Oct. 31, 1964 — Ohio State 21, Iowa 19

Oct. 11, 1975 — Ohio State 49, Iowa 0

Sept. 5, 1992 — Miami (Fla.) 24, Iowa 7

Sept. 23, 2000 — Nebraska 42, Iowa 13

Sept. 30, 2006— Ohio State 38, Iowa 17

The season

Sept. 2 — Iowa 41, Montana 7

Sept. 9 — Iowa 20, Syracuse 13 (2 OT)

Sept. 16 — Iowa 27, Iowa State 17

Sept. 23 — Iowa 24, Illinois 7

Sept. 30 — Ohio State 38, Iowa 17

Oct. 7 — Purdue, 11:05 a.m.

Oct. 14 — at Indiana, TBA

Oct. 21 — at Michigan, TBA

Oct. 28 — Northern Illinois, TBA

Nov. 4 — Northwestern, TBA

Nov. 11 — Wisconsin, TBA

Nov. 18 — at Minnesota, TBA