By Scott Miller
scott-t-miller@uiowa.edu
COLUMBUS, Ohio — James Vandenberg was supposed to come into Ohio Stadium and embarrass Iowa on national television. He was supposed to become the Buckeyes’ whipping boy. He supposed to turn the Hawkeyes’ offense into a sputtering shell of its past self.
That much was all-but-determined prior to No. 15 Iowa’s kickoff against No. 10 Ohio State.
A redshirt freshman quarterback on the road in this first career start against the nation’s No. 6 defense is an avoid-at-all-costs scenario. But inside “The Horseshoe” with 105,000-plus fans going nuts and the Rose Bowl on the line? The game was seemingly over before it started.
But what people didn’t know is that Vandenberg wasn’t looking at this as a nightmarish situation — in fact, on Tuesday he said, “It’s what you kind of dream about all growing up.”
What people didn’t know is that the Keokuk native hardly ever left the Hayden Fry Football Complex all week. He studied film there; he ate there; he practically slept there. Junior wide receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos said, “You could ask him anything about Ohio State … [and] he knew it. He lived there.”
What people didn’t know was that it would take a lot more than 105,000 people to rattle Vandenberg.
“He was unbelievable,” said Ohio State senior linebacker Austin Spitler, whose team earned a Rose Bowl berth with a 27-24 overtime victory on Saturday night.
Vandenberg started the game 7-of-8, looking like a completely different signal-caller from the week before, when he came in against Northwestern following Ricky Stanzi’s ankle injury. The tentative, hesitant 19-year-old who went 9-for-27 against the Wildcats was gone.
On Saturday night, Vandenberg’s confidence was palpable.
He threw on the run. He threw under pressure. He threw to wide-open spaces. He threw into tight windows. He threw check-downs. He threw deep balls. He threw touchdowns. And, yes, he threw interceptions.
No, Vandenberg wasn’t perfect. In fact, he described his performance as “fair” after the game. But to say he exceeded expectations would be like describing Ohio Stadium as “big.”
“He’s fearless,” redshirt freshman running back Adam Robinson said.
That much showed on the quarterback’s first touchdown strike in the third quarter. Facing a third-and-six from the 9-yard line, Vandenberg took a quick drop, looked to his right, and threw a bullet to McNutt in between two Buckeye defenders. Touchdown.
“He really fired that one in there,” McNutt said.
Indeed, if the ball would’ve been thrown six inches to the left or six inches to the right, it might have been a touchdown the other way.
The same situation presented itself in the fourth quarter. Sitting on Ohio State’s 10-yard line and down 24-17 with under three minutes remaining, Vandenberg floated back in the pocket, gave a subtle pump fake, and delivered another picturesque ball — off his back foot, no less — to McNutt on a fade route. Touchdown.
“He got his feet wet last week, and I was confident that [after] a week of preparation, he’d be a better football player,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “He probably handled the environment maybe better than I would’ve thought.”
Vandenberg added, “I knew I could play better.”
With the game long over and Iowa’s comeback spoiled by a 39-yard Devin Barclay field goal in overtime, Vandenberg emerged from Iowa’s locker room looking like he had just won the game.
His family and friends — nearly all of whom were wearing No. 16 jerseys — greeted him. For a few minutes, the quarterback stood there in the middle of a throng of people. He took a few pictures, signed an autograph or two, and kissed his mother.
The unquestioned center of attention, Vandenberg smiled and laughed and seemed to genuinely enjoy the moment.
It was, quite possibly, the only time he looked like a 19-year-old all night.
