I am very positive about this game....

[TonyTheTiger.1865]

I think the Hawks win by two scores....
CJ is MVP....
280 yards passing
175 yards rushing
For some reason I am more positive and calm about this game than any of the games this year!

 

[SoMplsHawkI]

I'm optimistic too. (And if by two scores you mean two field goals I would agree. )

 

[Hawkfan5220]

The reason I am not as "nervous" or worked up about this game has nothing to do with Michigan State. They are a very good/solid team, no doubt about it. At least for me I see it this way, Iowa has by far exceeded my expectations for this season, granted I want them to continue winning, but going 12-0 was just awesome, as Ferentz said we are playing with house money now, from here on out it is all gravy in my opinion. If Iowa loses I won't be angry or pissed.....hell nobody (outside of Iowa) expects them to win anyways.

I would love it if Iowa kept winning and frustrating the pundits....

 

[icantfindausernamethatisntused]

I see our running game struggling - or at least struggling to be consistent. Canzeri's two touchdown runs last week masked the fact that we struggled to consistently run the ball against Nebraska. MSU's front 7 are better than Nebraska's, so I don't think we'll be able to rely on our running game like we have the rest of the season.

With that said, I think CJ can make some big plays with his feet, we still can break a few big runs with the right call, and CJ could exploit MSU's secondary if he gets time to throw.

I see a very close game, but this is one of the few games where I don't know Iowa will win in the trenches.

 

[Ray Kinsella]

The reason I am not as "nervous" or worked up about this game has nothing to do with Michigan State. They are a very good/solid team, no doubt about it. At least for me I see it this way, Iowa has by far exceeded my expectations for this season, granted I want them to continue winning, but going 12-0 was just awesome, as Ferentz said we are playing with house money now, from here on out it is all gravy in my opinion. If Iowa loses I won't be angry or pissed.....hell nobody (outside of Iowa) expects them to win anyways.

I would love it if Iowa kept winning and frustrating the pundits....

I feel pretty much the same way. There's no shame in losing to MSU and going 12-1 into a major bowl. I care a great deal about the trophy games and bragging rights with Husker fans in particular; once they got those, I was a happy Hawkeye.

I definitely want this win, but I'm not going to get too down should they lose.

 

[td77]

I see our running game struggling - or at least struggling to be consistent. Canzeri's two touchdown runs last week masked the fact that we struggled to consistently run the ball against Nebraska. MSU's front 7 are better than Nebraska's, so I don't think we'll be able to rely on our running game like we have the rest of the season.

With that said, I think CJ can make some big plays with his feet, we still can break a few big runs with the right call, and CJ could exploit MSU's secondary if he gets time to throw.

I see a very close game, but this is one of the few games where I don't know Iowa will win in the trenches.

I think this is fairly accurate. A couple of points, however. The weather was brutal, Nebraska was able to put more up near the LOS to stop the run, indoors I think the passing game will be up to the challenge. Also, Nebraska is statistically just as stout as MSU at stopping the run and again, to our credit we ran the ball when everyone knew we'd run it.

Bottom line, expect more originality from our playbook, I think this goes without saying (see Pitt game from earlier this year) and I think we see the offense put up their points. I think this will be higher scoring. First team to 30 wins.

I'm super excited about this game, less nervous then I was against Nebraska since that would have been heartbreaking to lose our streak to a no one type of team. This week carries some HUGE season and program implications. Sure would be awesome to win it, but the season will still be a great success should we lose. Go Hawks!

 

[Jonesingforhawkeyes]

There was a couple games that the HAWKEYES played in this year that some referred to as "trap game".
I believe this to be one of those games but for sparty not the HAWKEYES. This is going to be a hard fought game by both teams, but I do believe that our HAWKS will come out on top.Time to shut all these none believers up.

ON TO THE NC!!!! ON IOWA!!!! GOOOO HAWKEYES!!!!!!!!!!

 

[pocha444444]

I think CJ is going to have his best running game of the year

 

[broth87]

There was a couple games that the HAWKEYES played in this year that some referred to as "trap game".
I believe this to be one of those games but for sparty not the HAWKEYES. This is going to be a hard fought game by both teams, but I do believe that our HAWKS will come out on top.Time to shut all these none believers up.

ON TO THE NC!!!! ON IOWA!!!! GOOOO HAWKEYES!!!!!!!!!!

I don't like this house money stuff. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely alleviate being 12-0 and all that's fine into that. But this is a absolutely HUGE game for the Iowa football program. How many times in any of our lives, how many times in any of these players lives, are they gonna have an opportunity like Saturday night? EVERYONE is counting Iowa out just like they have all year. But here's the truth:
We're good enough to win a national championship let alone this game Saturday.
We can not let this opportunity and this moment pass. We need this game Saturday. And frankly, I think we're the better team.

 

[Hawkfan5220]

I disagree, the people who are saying "house money", like me, aren't assuming or even expecting Iowa will lose. It has more to do with the fact nobody, even the most positive Iowa fan, could have predicted this season so far. House money has more to do with fans not getting pissed IF Iowa does lose and being very happy about the season, it doesn't mean we are settling by any means.

 

[FloridaHawk82]

Agree with the consensus here. I oddly feel better about winning this game than the Debby game. Losing to the Fuskers would have been awful, especially for my wife, who is originally from Western Iowa, and has a deep hatred for anything red.

Win or lose, and I have this odd feeling we will win by 10-13 points, this season remains magical!

 

[DrVenkman]

Sweet and gentle Baby Jesus, when does this game start ?!?!?!?!

Longest week ever!

 

[nu2u]

I think CJ is going to have his best running game of the year

I stated the same thing earlier this week - that MSU will be surprised by Beathard's mobility. Why CJB's runs will be important is this: his runs will be at critical junctures and are the type that will keep drives alive....... and keeping drives alive increases the possibility of scoring, also keeping MSU's offense on the sidelines. It's a key for Iowa IMO.

 

[pocha444444]

I stated the same thing earlier this week - that MSU will be surprised by Beathard's mobility. Why CJB's runs will be important is this: his runs will be at critical junctures and are the type that will keep drives alive....... and keeping drives alive increases the possibility of scoring, also keeping MSU's offense on the sidelines. It's a key for Iowa IMO.

That's kind of what I was thinking along with the fact that they like to play a lot of man in the secondary. If Calhoun or their other D-lineman start getting too aggressive rushing up-field I could see CJ taking advantage pulling it down and gaining big chunks on the ground.

 

[cedarvalleykid14]

Until somebody stops him, I'm all in with CJ and his Hawkeyes. Nobody knows what's gonna happen, but I've been expecting Iowa to win a blowout for a while now, but injuries and the weather have stymied that. I just have to believe that this is it. This is the game when CJ both runs and passes Iowa's offense to a huge night. Call me crazy, but I'll take the Hawkeyes 45 to 24. In a dome, Iowa has too many weapons for Sparty.

If only KF and GD will scratch where it itches, MSU won't know what hit 'em.

 

[hawkbleeder]

I am positive about this too...we have options, plus we're damn good. Go Hawks!

 

[Dauminator]

As am I. We can score. The question is, can we keep MSU below our tally? I think we can, because they do not have our balanced offense. We will make them one-dimensional. We do well against one-dimensional teams and QBs. Cook will get numbers, but not enough. Iowa's balance and timely playmaking will see us to victory.

Iowa 35
Michigan St 24

 

[HawktimusPrime]

I think the Hawks win by two scores....
CJ is MVP....
280 yards passing
175 yards rushing
For some reason I am more positive and calm about this game than any of the games this year!

Me too, there's just something about this game that doesn't worry me. Maybe Iowa wins, maybe they don't, but I'm just not as anxious as I was for other games.

 

[NevadaHawk]

Me too, there's just something about this game that doesn't worry me. Maybe Iowa wins, maybe they don't, but I'm just not as anxious as I was for other games.

I am confident as well. I think the lead will go back and forth and it come down to who has the ball last. I would love to see MK hit a long FG at the end of the game for the win.