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63 women's soccer team is unbeaten aer its first four matches of the season and heading into this year's Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series match with Iowa State, and Bond Shymansky's UI volleyball team won two of three in its first action of the season at Texas A&M. at's solid starts for two programs that have bright futures ahead. I want to thank the fans who gave the Iowa football team a huge home field advantage late in the season opener against Northern Iowa. You guys were loud and proud when the team needed you…and the results were impressive. As Eddie (Podolak) noted in the Hawkeye Radio Network, the Hawkeye fans played a big role in those back-to-back delay of game penalties that forced the visitors to settle for three points when seven appeared to be within their grasp. Speaking of bullish, I'm also bullish on Iowa's de- fense. Seems to me our D-line has a chance to be pretty special — it's already very good — which will help the new faces behind them get settled as the season progresses. It's also pretty exciting when young guys (defensive back Greg Mabin and line- backer Bo Bower) are coming up with the take- aways. is group is going to be just fine. Too many good coaches and talented young men involved to not think that way. Big picture thought of the month: It was tough that Wisconsin couldn't hold onto the victory over LSU, but anyone who thinks the Big Ten Conference is already shut out from participation in college foot- ball's first Final Four needs to be reminded that there's a lot of football to be played. e calendar just flipped to September. e B1G is going to be fine…and will be in the mix come November. R andom thoughts as we begin a new season with the Iowa Hawkeyes… If I was an investor, I'd be bullish on our football team for lots of reasons, including the fact that we have a quarterback that has a year under his belt. Hayden Fry said that there are few things better than an experienced quarterback. We have one in Jake Rudock. His performance in the victory over Northern Iowa in the season opener was evidence of what a prize we have: 31 completions to a long list of Hawkeyes, and two touchdowns against zero interceptions He was one cool customer who managed the Hawkeye offense meticulously and put us in position to win…isn't that what winning quarterbacks do? I have to admit that I was quite surprised by our offensive game plan against the Panthers. I thought for sure it would be pound, pound, and pound some more, knowing that we were the deeper team. Instead, we were putting the ball in the air from the get-go, which is entertaining and success- ful. When we did run the ball, it seemed like it was a different ball carrier each time…which is cool, too. Our future opponents will have lots to chew on…which was undoubtedly part of the plan, too. I just walked about of a meeting and learned we had almost 5,000 fans of the Hawkeyes ride the Hawkeye Express on our first game day. at's fantastic. "Taking the Train to the Game" is a great solution for those single game ticket customers. If you are — or will be — a single game customer who doesn't have a regular tailgate experience, I recommend the Hawkeye Express. It's cheap. It's easy. It's convenient. Speaking of fantastic, how about the great work of two of our new head coaches? Dave DiIanni's Iowa