My respect for Brian Kelly continues to grow.  And I wasn't sure that was possible.

Today Iowa lost its starting quarterback Ricky Stanzi in the second quarter with a lower leg injury.  When he the left the game, the Hawkeyes led Northwestern 10-7.

But backup quarterback James Vandenberg was not able to lead Iowa to any more points and the Hawkeyes suffered their first loss of the season 17-10.  Vandenberg was 9 for 27 for 82 yards with 0 TD and 1 INT.

Cincinnati has done such an incredible job of winning despite quarterback injuries over the last two years that many of us - myself included - totally take it for granted.

We shouldn't - and either should the people who vote in the AP and USA Today polls.

In the 10 quarters that Tony Pike has missed since injuring his left arm, the Bearcats have outscored the opposition 86-24.

Zach Collaros - who had thrown a grand total of 4 career passes entering the season - has taken over for a Heisman Trophy candidate and posted a NCAA quarterback rating of 218.44.

To put that into perspective, the NCAA record for a season is 204.6 (set by William & Mary's Shawn Knight in 1993).

I hope Brent and Kirk point out just how extraordinary that is to a national television audience tonight.

I can promise you that we'll be talking about it on the radio.

I'd love to hear from you.  The address is dhoard@pawsox.com.