QBs Beathard, Cook clash in Big Ten title game

Now the Hawkeyes hope to prove their doubters wrong once again with an upset win in the Big Ten Championship Game against the Michigan State Spartans. Now they face their biggest test of the year in the experienced Michigan State Spartans.

“It’s going to be the same type of game that we’ve played, ” Blythe said. “We’ll do what we do”. “That’s not the direction we’re trying to move right now, and I certainly don’t want a way out”.

The running backs we saw were good-not great.

Ferentz says the last two weeks illustrates the success of the Spartan program.

The Big Ten representative in the Rose Bowl will be either the loser of Michigan State-Iowa or Ohio State. After a three-year dip, Iowa won nine games in 2008 and made a national title run the following year that culminated in their only BCS bowl win.

“We built this program to a point where those are our goals now”, Dantonio said.

Third scenario (this is where it starts to get hairy) – Alabama and the victor of MSU/Iowa are in, and North Carolina pulls off the upset and defeats Clemson in the ACC Championship game, knocking Clemson out of the Top 4. Thank God we have an actual playoff system and are not forced to guess who the best team is anymore. We do not apply that until we think the teams are the same, or equal. “That can only help us”. Meier is one of three defensive linemen for the Hawkeyes who played eight-man football in high school.

The St. Louis native tacked on 19 touchdowns in 12 games, one more than his 15-game total a season ago.

“The insane thing about it is, what Pitt did against them is what we’ve done against them in the past and what they did against Pitt is a lot like what they’ve done against us in the past”, Tressel said.

The Spartans have signature wins against Oregon, Michigan and Ohio State.

The takeaways have come differently for each team. “My feeling is if you have a system and you critique your system, which they do every year, I’m sure, you try and change it and tweak it to make it better, as you go forward, and over the course of time your players – you become a product of your system. I think there are a lot of parallels, a lot of differences too, but a lot of parallels”. The senior captain was a third-team All-Big Ten selection by the media.

“You’re gonna see this pay dividends”, starting left tackle Jack Conklin promised a few days after the November 7 loss at Nebraska, but there was no indication until the Spartans controlled the Buckeyes up front that the payoff could be that big, that fast. Iowa ranked eighth in the Big Ten in pass defense and with quarterback Connor Cook healthy, it could be a big day for Burbridge if he can find some room against King.

There’s nothing terribly complicated about MSU’s mission Saturday in the Big Ten title game in Indianapolis, facing the most physical and balanced offense it has faced. Beathard’s ability to make plays might be needed this week for Iowa to have a chance. The Hawkeyes have been effective running the ball, but teams have been able to get pressure on the quarterback, which could bode well for Calhoun. If Michigan State can get up early and rely on its run D, the Hawkeyes will be in huge trouble. However, Iowa’s notable wins came against the Wisconsin Badgers and Northwestern Wildcats. Lucas Oil Stadium, which will host the conference championship through 2021, drew 41,260 for the 2012 game, 66,002 in 2013, and 60,229 in 2014.