Yes, the injury situation sucks in many ways, but, it isn't as bad as people are making it out to be. Take a look:
O-line: We didn't lose Scherff and Donnal here, like we did a few years back. Ike and Boone are losses, to be sure...but they are still very young and green themselves. We have spent all year having to game plan around confidence issues at the tackle position. This is nothing new. The true strength of the line all year has been the interior. If we were down any combination of Blythe, Welsh, or Walsh it would be a much, much bigger deal. Plus, Croston has actually played pretty well, and I don't think that Daniels will be a dumpster fire out on the end like he was initially against Illinois. Bottom line, the hit we have taken here is not as big as some think it is. At no time this year has tackle been a strength.
TE: We can moan about not having Duzey...but we haven't had him all year. This isn't a loss...it is a failure to gain.
RB: Again, Daniels started the first game, but since he left early against ISU, he has been a complete non-factor...and yet we still have had a potent rushing attack. We are potentially extremely thin here for sure, and likely cannot afford the loss of Canzeri, but as long as he is in the lineup, the ground game will be effective.
QB: Beathard is beat up. Honestly, he has looked a bit banged up since the Pitt game. We need the bye week. This is probably our most impactful injury, even though it would be a major surprise if he doesn't play most or all of the game. The threat of Beathard running has been a major asset. If he doesn't have that in his arsenal, that would hurt. But, I think he will look much like he has the last few weeks. Diminished somewhat, but still very effective.
WR: Smith being out has hurt, for sure...but our other Smith has shown he can take the top off a defense and win one on one. He doesn't have the hands or rapport with Beathard that T Smith does, but with J Smith stepping up big last week, this loss doesn't loom as large as it did.
D-line: We have essentially been playing with a 70% or less Ott since the ISU game. Hesse has been very solid. So far this year, a 70% Ott and a 100% Hesse have been about a push.
The rest of the defense is intact, and actually Mabin is getting better from his hamstring issues. Ott is a huge loss, but I think that Johnson would actually be a bigger one. And it is a loss that we have been dealing with to a large degree for most of the season.
This is a Hawkeye team that is not particularly different from the one that went in to Madison and won. NW is a good team, but they do not match up against us nearly as well as Wisconsin did. I think people are just sort of still mind-blown by how well the Hawkeyes have done this year, and feel like the piano has to fall on our head at some point...so why not this week, and why not because of the injury situation. But, most of the injuries are really nothing new, and we have already had multiple weeks where we were able to successfully gameplan around them and have other guys step up.
I think this game will go much like the Michigan game did against NW, probably just minus the opening kickoff for TD run back and freakish Pick-6 type plays. I think NW will have about as much trouble running on Iowa as they did against Michigan. Thorson may pick up some passing yards between the 20's, and hurt us with his legs on occasion...but I am seeing a lot of stalled drives and punting in NW's near future. Conversely, I think NW has as much trouble stopping the run against Iowa as they did with Michigan. As good as their defense is, it really isn't all that stout against a strong rushing attack. Beathard doesn't have to win this game. Our O-line and running game is good enough to win it. A hobbled Beathard is not significantly different that a healthy Rudock. He can play game manager for the most part, hit a few nice plays off play action, use the screen game, and run sparingly and the offense should be able to do enough to get the win.
Don't get me wrong...this will be a tough game and NW can certainly beat us...but even as banged up as we are, I still think we are a significantly better team than NW is and we are as likely to beat them tomorrow as we would have been a month ago. Get the win...get the bye...and get on a roll.
O-line: We didn't lose Scherff and Donnal here, like we did a few years back. Ike and Boone are losses, to be sure...but they are still very young and green themselves. We have spent all year having to game plan around confidence issues at the tackle position. This is nothing new. The true strength of the line all year has been the interior. If we were down any combination of Blythe, Welsh, or Walsh it would be a much, much bigger deal. Plus, Croston has actually played pretty well, and I don't think that Daniels will be a dumpster fire out on the end like he was initially against Illinois. Bottom line, the hit we have taken here is not as big as some think it is. At no time this year has tackle been a strength.
TE: We can moan about not having Duzey...but we haven't had him all year. This isn't a loss...it is a failure to gain.
RB: Again, Daniels started the first game, but since he left early against ISU, he has been a complete non-factor...and yet we still have had a potent rushing attack. We are potentially extremely thin here for sure, and likely cannot afford the loss of Canzeri, but as long as he is in the lineup, the ground game will be effective.
QB: Beathard is beat up. Honestly, he has looked a bit banged up since the Pitt game. We need the bye week. This is probably our most impactful injury, even though it would be a major surprise if he doesn't play most or all of the game. The threat of Beathard running has been a major asset. If he doesn't have that in his arsenal, that would hurt. But, I think he will look much like he has the last few weeks. Diminished somewhat, but still very effective.
WR: Smith being out has hurt, for sure...but our other Smith has shown he can take the top off a defense and win one on one. He doesn't have the hands or rapport with Beathard that T Smith does, but with J Smith stepping up big last week, this loss doesn't loom as large as it did.
D-line: We have essentially been playing with a 70% or less Ott since the ISU game. Hesse has been very solid. So far this year, a 70% Ott and a 100% Hesse have been about a push.
The rest of the defense is intact, and actually Mabin is getting better from his hamstring issues. Ott is a huge loss, but I think that Johnson would actually be a bigger one. And it is a loss that we have been dealing with to a large degree for most of the season.
This is a Hawkeye team that is not particularly different from the one that went in to Madison and won. NW is a good team, but they do not match up against us nearly as well as Wisconsin did. I think people are just sort of still mind-blown by how well the Hawkeyes have done this year, and feel like the piano has to fall on our head at some point...so why not this week, and why not because of the injury situation. But, most of the injuries are really nothing new, and we have already had multiple weeks where we were able to successfully gameplan around them and have other guys step up.
I think this game will go much like the Michigan game did against NW, probably just minus the opening kickoff for TD run back and freakish Pick-6 type plays. I think NW will have about as much trouble running on Iowa as they did against Michigan. Thorson may pick up some passing yards between the 20's, and hurt us with his legs on occasion...but I am seeing a lot of stalled drives and punting in NW's near future. Conversely, I think NW has as much trouble stopping the run against Iowa as they did with Michigan. As good as their defense is, it really isn't all that stout against a strong rushing attack. Beathard doesn't have to win this game. Our O-line and running game is good enough to win it. A hobbled Beathard is not significantly different that a healthy Rudock. He can play game manager for the most part, hit a few nice plays off play action, use the screen game, and run sparingly and the offense should be able to do enough to get the win.
Don't get me wrong...this will be a tough game and NW can certainly beat us...but even as banged up as we are, I still think we are a significantly better team than NW is and we are as likely to beat them tomorrow as we would have been a month ago. Get the win...get the bye...and get on a roll.
