Is Brecht going to be back? I thought not. Haven't been paying a lot of attention.I don't think either fanbase feels even remotely confident in the game so there isn't going to be a lot of chatter. Plus, regarding Iowa, I just don't know what else there is to say. But if you want my honest opinion on how both teams win, here we are:
Iowa advantages:
ISU has true freshman at both kicker and punter. We've seen some truly breathtakingly awful punting from ISU in this game under Campbell so that seems certainly possible. New kicker seems to be able to put the ball out of the back of the endzone on kickoffs so he's a fan favorite already but who knows how he performs.
Dekkers has looked pretty good but if Iowa can dial up some pressure I'd be very curious to see if he continues to try to push the ball down the field and make some mistakes.
Will Campbell try to just pound the ball into the line with Brock 20+ times? If so I don't feel good here.
SEMO was not a great team but they had a AA RB from last year gain 8 yards on 6 carries. However, their QB got 74 yards on 12 carries. I don't want Padilla in the game because a QB that can extend plays hurts ISU historically.
Brecht being back will help, he is a big target and I think he can really help the receiving corp. If Petras is a little high on his throws like he typically is that's well within Brecht's wingspan. Hit a couple of deep ones and that might be all it takes.
ISU advantages:
If ISU can stack the box, limit the run, and make Petras try to beat ISU obviously I think that favors ISU.
If the kickers just don't shank balls I feel good about it.
If ISU can get any running game going, including running Dekkers some I'll feel good. That said I want the SEMO first half game plan where they pass like 75% of the time.
I have to think at some point, Iowa makes some mistakes that lead to turnovers that help ISU. If ISU can get any lead in this game I think ISU gets a turnover or two.
As for the lack of hype, I'd say the low point in interest in this game probably occurred in 1998. Iowa had won 15 straight, including 63-20 the previous year at Ames. McCarney had gone 3-8, 2-9 and 1-10 in his three seasons, then opened 1998 by losing at home to TCU, which had gone 1-10 the year before. Everybody knew it was going to be Mac's last year. There was no interest in the game at all.