Big Ten Power Rankings: Don’t sleep on the Iowa Hawkeyes

It will not be a shock if Iowa beats Indiana. Iowa will be without standout senior running back Jordan Canzeri (ankle) for the second straight game and the defense will be asked to slow Hoosiers gunslinger Nate Sudfeld.

Let’s take a look at each game on the slate this weekend. Preseason predictions for the Hawkeyes put the ceiling right at about 8 wins with 6 or 7 wins being more likely, so the fact that Iowa is now sitting at 8-0 is pretty remarkable no matter how you try to rationalize it. Without diving in too deep, the short version of why this season has been so successful is a combination of getting the right players in the system, changing the offensive fundamentals that haven’t produced results for 3 years, and having an upswing of players with lots of experience playing in important positions. “I don’t know how good we are, but our guys do play hard and they play together, so that gives you a chance in any ballgame”.

While the matchups determining which teams make it to the conference championship game will draw most of the attention in the Big Ten this month, a few of the less-appealing games will carry a lot of weight for the also-rans trying to achieve bowl eligibility. King will tie the school’s career interceptions record held by Devon Mitchell and Nile Kinnick, while Wadley will rush for more than 100 yards and score a pair of touchdowns.

KR: Give me one thing that should excite Indiana fans – Iowa’s biggest weakness heading into this game.

This Saturday, November 7th, the Indiana Hoosiers will host the undefeated Iowa Hawkeyes at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana.

Ott, the senior defensive end, underwent surgery two weeks ago to fix an ACL torn October 10 in Iowa’s victory over Illinois. He threw for over 300 yards and 3 TD’s at Michigan State in their last game. Blackmon finished with a team-high 15 points as he went 4-for-6 from behind the arc.

For the second consecutive week, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights were blown out at the hands of one of the conference’s top teams. They’ve given up only one rushing touchdown all year, which is kind of a fluky stat, but also a good indicator of how study the defense has been near the goal line. I mean, there are reasons to be concerned about every game Iowa has left on the schedule. Neverthless, the sharps have still bet the line down by going with the Hoosiers.

“I just think that we didn’t come out and perform the way that we wanted to”.

“We haven’t been flawless this year”, said coach Kirk Ferentz.

Iowa is 8-0 on the season, 4-0 in the Big Ten, 5-3 against the spread and 4-3-1 with the over. Their ypc isn’t as gaudy as Ohio State’s 5.88, but a 4.64 ypc isn’t too shabby. Iowa’s offensive game plan will be matched to those limitations and will emphasize their strengths. The key will be whether Iowa’s defense can avoid giving up big plays.

I’d rather have the game be in hand in the 4th quarter, but at least if it’s close, Iowa should have the upper hand.

RossWB of BLACK HEART GOLD trousers joins the show today to talk Hoosiers-Hawkeyes. Indiana won’t throw at Desmond King, so Greg Mabin is going to get another workout along with the safeties. One last thing and I will call the shot here; Iowa runs a fake punt with Marshall Koehn this week.