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"You're definitely salivating to get to the quarterback," Buckeyes defensive end Cameron Heyward said.
In a somewhat topsy-turvy season, the one constant for the 10th-ranked Buckeyes has been an aggressive, fast and furious rush from its defensive linemen. The Ohio State defense is third in the nation at stopping the run, sixth in pass-efficiency defense and total defense and 23rd in sacks.
With Vandenberg, a redshirt freshman, making his first start for the Hawkeyes in place of injured Ricky Stanzi, the Buckeyes will be relentless. On every play they likely will send four or more huge bodies after Vandenberg.
Ohio State swears it's business as usual and it isn't going out of its way to pick on the new guy.
"We go into every game with the primary objective of (making) sure we affect the quarterback, affect his decision-making, whether that be with disguise or looks or whatever it happens to be, affect his ability to throw the ball," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "You want to get to the quarterback and you want to get after him. We won't all of a sudden say, 'Hey, this week let's get after the quarterback more,' because that's what we do."
Ohio State's front wall has dominated several games this season, but none more than last week's 24-7 victory at Penn State.
Thaddeus Gibson and Heyward, the son of the late former NFL running back Craig "Ironhead" Heyward, have been outstanding as rush ends. Todd Denlinger and Doug Worthington are the starting tackles, with substantial contributions from Nathan Williams, Lawrence Wilson, Dexter Larimore and others.
Asked how good the down linemen have been, safety Kurt Coleman grinned.
"Oh, my goodness. The front four, or front eight - how many ever they rotate in - they're absolutely unreal," he said. "It's made my life back there so much easier."
It all sounds ominous for Vandenberg, whose resume shows 11 of 30 passes completed in his college career for 120 yards.
"Ohio State will do a good job of changing our playbook. We haven't seen a lot of open plays on the tape," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. "We're still looking back somewhere in 1983 right now looking for some stuff. We'll find something somewhere."
So inexperienced is Vandenberg that the Buckeyes don't really know what to expect from him.
"We just watch as much film as we can since we've only got a couple of quarters," Wilson said. "We try to guess what they're going to do."
Vandenberg has been getting Stanzi's snaps this week in practice.
"Getting more work is going to help me. It's going to make me more comfortable overall," Vandenberg said. "I'll be familiar with all the looks."
Stanzi underwent surgery for a sprained ankle on Monday and is expected to miss the Hawkeyes' final regular-season game at home with Minnesota. Ferentz holds out hope that Stanzi might be able to play in Iowa's bowl game.
That bowl game could still be the Rose if the Hawkeyes find a way to thwart Ohio State's full-bore rush. The winner of the showdown at Ohio Stadium locks up a trip to Pasadena, not to mention at least a share of the Big Ten title.
Iowa has a solid offensive line, led by 6-foot-6, 315-pound left tackle Bryan Bulaga, which has allowed 22 sacks this season. Another mainstay up front for the Hawkeyes, Dace Richardson, will not play. Those who are left will have to block any and all comers to avoid trauma for their young quarterback.
"They're extremely aggressive and it starts up front," Ferentz said. "It's not just their front four, it's their front eight. They roll guys in and out of there. They're very imposing that way. We'll have to be at our absolute best."
The Buckeyes look to get to Vandenberg early and often.
"You know, you don't want to get a quarterback starting (fast). We allowed that against Purdue and he was able to make plays as the game kept going," Heyward said, referring to a 26-18 Boilermakers upset engineered by Joey Elliott. "It's going to be critical for us to get pressure early."
