Robinson rushes for three TDs as Iowa wins opener

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/04/2010 - Iowa City, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adam Robinson ran for 109 yards and three touchdowns, leading ninth-ranked Iowa in a 37-7 rout of Eastern Illinois to open each school's 2010 season.

Robinson received 24 carries for the Hawkeyes (1-0), who won their opener for the 10th time in Kirk Ferentz's 12th season. The sophomore, who set the school's freshman rushing record last season, added 43 yards on three receptions.

Ricky Stanzi completed 18-of-23 passes for 229 yards and a touchdown in the easy victory, while Paki O'Meara blocked a punt and returned it for another score.

Iowa is looking to duplicate or exceed its excellent 2009 season, when it went 11-2 and earned a spot in the Orange Bowl. The Hawkeyes got off to an excellent start on Saturday, outgaining Eastern Illinois by a 435-157 margin.

Brandon Large passed for 92 yards and a touchdown on 13-of-20 throws for Eastern Illinois (0-1), which is coming off an 8-4 season in the FCS' Ohio Valley Conference. Von Wise was the recipient of the scoring pass, though no receiver had more than 37 yards and no rusher more than 36 in the loss.

Iowa scored early and often to turn the game into a rout.

On the game's opening drive, the Hawkeyes marched 65 yards in only six plays, highlighted by a 35-yard pass to Brad Herman that put Iowa on the Eastern Illinois two-yard line. Robinson ran into the end zone on the next play just 3:40 into the contest.

EIU was forced to punt from its own seven on its first possession, and Iowa got the ball back on its own 44. Robinson capped the ensuing eight-play drive with a four-yard score, and the Hawkeyes had a 14-0 advantage with five minutes left in the first quarter.

Iowa's defense got into the act on the ensuing drive. The Panthers set up for a punt from their own 38 on 4th-and-1, but O'Meara blocked it, recovered the ball inside the 10 and scampered into the end zone for a 21-point cushion.

Eastern Illinois finally cracked the scoreboard to start the second quarter with some trickery. Facing 4th-and-4 from its own 20, EIU called a fake punt, and Cody Bruns ran up the middle for a 36-yard gain. The next play went for a 37-yard pass completion from Large to Chris Wright, and Large hit Wise for an 11-yard score two plays later for a 21-7 contest.

Iowa, though, restored its three-touchdown lead right away, going 60 yards on eight plays in 3 1/2 minutes. The drive featured six rushing plays, the last four by Robinson, who ran right up the middle from six yards away for his third score of the day and a 28-7 halftime advantage.

In a low-scoring third quarter, the only points came on a safety when Large fumbled out of the end zone, giving Iowa a 30-7 lead heading to the fourth.

The Hawkeyes added a touchdown on Brett Morse's two-yard reception with 8 1/2 minutes left in the game, and Iowa cruised to the victory from there.

Game Notes

This was the first-ever meeting between the schools...Iowa is 89-31-2 in season openers all-time...Eastern Illinois recorded only six first downs, compared to 24 for Iowa...The Panthers came into the game ranked 18th in the FCS.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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