Farm Poise

At last, we have someone to fill the void left by Mark Sanchez roughly seven interceptions ago. Meet James Vandenberg, Iowa's starting quarterback and America's new avatar of poise.

Vandenberg, a redshirt freshman from Keokuk, Iowa, threw for 233 yards, two touchdowns and three picks in Iowa's 27-24 loss to Ohio State on Saturday. It was his first collegiate start, and he somehow managed not to piddle on the 50-yard line, and that was all anyone needed to bestow upon Vandenberg's competence a favorite bit of light praise.

Headline, Quad-City Times:

... has poise

Headline, ESPN.com:

... showing poise early

Maureen Fulton, Toledo Blade:

... showed poise

Nathan Rush, Athlon Sports:

... showed poise

Kirk Ferentz, Iowa coach, via the Cleveland :

... showed good poise out there

Kirk Ferentz, Iowa coach, via the Cedar Rapids :

... showed good poise and leadership traits and mental and physical toughness

Adam Rittenberg, ESPN.com:

... showed tremendous poise

Max Dible, Examiner.com:

... showed poise beyond his years

Charles Allen, Bleacher Report:

... played with poise and determination far exceeding his level of experience

Des Moines Register:

... poise and preparedness

Mike Hlas, Cedar Rapids :

... eye-opening poise

And what of Mark Sanchez? He seems to have drifted dangerously close to "poise"'s polar opposite, "erratic." One more five-interception game, and he'll be Rex Grossman with a GQ spread. But Sanchez isn't ready to surrender his "poise" crown just yet. From Sunday:

Joe Lapointe and William C. Rhoden, The New York Times:

Sanchez, despite two interceptions, seemed to be gaining poise ...

h/t reader Benjamin J.