Looking Ahead: Can We Beat Ohio State?

[iowalaw]

As everyone by now knows, the remainder of our schedule is labeled an "embarrassment" by the national media. We will be favored to win each of our remaining games, and many by double digets. While it is still very possible for us to slip up in one or two of the remaining games, especially with the potential for injuries or bad breaks, there is also a good chance that we wind up in the Big 10 championship game playing for a chance to be in the national playoff? Here is what #1 ranked OSU has done to date. Obviously, they have been slacking off a bit, and can turn it up if the need arises:

Beat NIU by 7
Beat Indiana by 7
Beat Maryland by 21
Most recently, destroyed Rutgers by 41

Given the talent OSU has at every position and maybe the best coach in the country, I'm going to say we would have maybe a 10% chance of beating them on a neutral field.

 

[QChawks]

 

[cedarvalleykid14]

Iowa tied OSU with a QB making his first start in 2009 in Columbus before losing in OT.

Iowa led OSU with 1 minute to play in Iowa City in 2010 before the Buckeye QB scrambled for a first down on 4th and 19, setting up OSU's winning TD.

Iowa was tied with OSU at 24 going into the 4th quarter in Columbus the last time they played before finally losing by 10.

So could Iowa beat Ohio State on a neutral field? Yes. Yes they could.

 

[WWDMHawkeye]

Before the season, I would have said absolutely no way on earth -- as would just about any other Iowa fan, I assume.

After seeing what this Iowa team brings to the table, though, along with tOSU looking human in a number of games this season, I don't think there's any doubt the Hawks can hang with the Bucks. If we stay healthy down the stretch, sure, we have a shot -- and a good bit more than 10%, I'd say. My guess would be a 30-40% chance.

 

[denmar81]

With Jones at QB, yeah we'd have a chance. With Barrett, I don' t think so.

 

[Floyd_Of_Rosedale]

Can Iowa beat Maryland?

 

[icu81222]

Damn it, quit breaking the rules! We have to stay focused on Maryland.

Very irresponsible behavior on the part of the fans. Shame on you.

Now, fans, get back to working on beating Maryland dammit.

 

[GPRHAWK]

With Barrett I give us a 1 in 10 chance. With Jones maybe a 2 or 3 in 10 chance. Not a knock on Iowa. I'm not sure any team in the country has a better than 3 in 10 chance of beating them right now. They are starting to roll and looking like the team they were projected to be.

 

[Suterman]

Yes we can beat OSU. Do they have more talent than we do? Yep. Do they get more press and accolades than we do? Yep. Will everyone pick them to throttle us? Yep. But you never know. If we get there, we can win.....and we can also get thrashed. I hope we get there to find out.

 

[wyldhawk9]

Yes we can beat OSU. Do they have more talent than we do? Yep. Do they get more press and accolades than we do? Yep. Will everyone pick them to throttle us? Yep. But you never know. If we get there, we can win.....and we can also get thrashed. I hope we get there to find out.

Well said. Turnovers can be the real equalizing factor in a game like that. If we are there, we have a chance, and hey, it could happen with a few of the right bounces going our way.

 

[dbrocket]

I think Ohio St. has very much earned their status as an overwhelming favorite in that hypothetical game. Of course we can beat them and of course it doesn't appear to be the most likely outcome.

But, without Drew Ott, I think the formula is to beat their asses up front on offense and just shut down Ezekial Elliot and try to prevent any long plays on defense. Basically, it's "Old Kirk."

We don't have the horses to shut that offense down entirely. We have to slow them. We also don't have the horses to throw it all over the field on that defense.

But we might have the guys to pound the shit out of their defense up front, with three tight ends. And we have the guys to throw out of 3TE, if Duzey gets back all the way. So, pound it and mix it up by throwing out of 3TE sounds like a plan that could work if we can hold their offense to mid-20s or very low 30s.

 

[Herkmeister]

It's a battle of wills. This team has major league will. Let's take care of business & then tee it up. HELL YES WE CAN WIN!!!!!

 

[Hawks_Rock_12]

What happens if Mich St beats Ohio St and that's who we play ? It's kinda like talking about how you'll spend all the money after you win the lottery, complete waste of time.

 

[icu81222]

No, not real iowa fans. just other lowlife douchbags like yourself, who only care about your little feelings and thought all the coaches should be fired and all these kids were talentless and didn't belong in the big10. Just stfu and go crawl into the hole where you belong. I am so glad that they are pleasing you now, because that is what being a fan is all about. Right?

Bi polar or schizophrenic? They have meds for you, I am positive

 

[Stanley75]

No

 

[soybean]

What happens if Mich St beats Ohio St and that's who we play ? It's kinda like talking about how you'll spend all the money after you win the lottery, complete waste of time.

I don't think you understand the concept of a football board.

 

[thewop]

With Barrett I give us a 1 in 10 chance. With Jones maybe a 2 or 3 in 10 chance. Not a knock on Iowa. I'm not sure any team in the country has a better than 3 in 10 chance of beating them right now. They are starting to roll and looking like the team they were projected to be.

Yea, this. When they're on their game, there's nobody better. They've been tinkering with the lineup for the first half of the season and now they're ready to play for real. They're going to roll, but we play the games for a reason. I'd sign up for a 30% chance of beating them right now, and the opportunity to do so.

 

[SDHawkDoc]

IF they run the table over the remainder of the regular season and IF tosu finishes unbeaten as well I'd give the Hawks about a 1 in 5 chance of pulling off the big upset in the B1G champ game. That's a far cry from the beginning of the season when I wouldn't have given them that good a shot at winning the West division.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

Yes, the Hawks can beat tOSU. They can also lose to Maryland. The chances of the latter probably exceed the former.

 

[cedarvalleykid14]

Could Toledo beat Arkansas? Could Memphis beat Ole Miss? Did Appalachian State beat Michigan?

 

[BeepBeepInMyJeep]

2 in 10 tries would be as high as Is go as long as JTB is healthy and starting. In our defense, I'd give Clemson, Stanford, TCU and Baylor about the same odds. I think Bama and LSU would be a toss up with OSU. The Bucks haven't been great run stoppers and these teams could really wear them down. But again, I think they would give OSU a coin flip because of their defense and the kind of offense they run. Not just because SEC.

 

[icantfindausernamethatisntused]

If Iowa were to play the Ohio State team we saw in the first half of the season, I think it would be a very tight game that Iowa would have a good chance (i.e., 40%) of winning.

However, we saw this same Ohio State team improve drastically over the second half of the season last year. They are also returning virtually the same team. And now with JT starting at QB, I would give Iowa about a 15-20% chance of winning. It's still a very real possibility, but I think this OSU team is figuring things out and they are my favorites to win the National Championship.

 

[leodisflowers]

Anybody can be beat!

 

[HerkysDad]

Are you still trying to sell those Cubs World Series tickets at Wrigley?

 

[Gridiron24]

not really

Our best hope is for MSU to beat OSU on 11/21. We can beat MSU. OSU.... not so much.

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

Classy stuff. Fantastic work on the name-calling and fabrication of what I've posted previously.

Many fans have questioned Iowa's recruiting in recent years, and for very good reason. Similarly, many have wondered about the need for a coaching change -- also for good reason. That said, I've never claimed that all of the coaches should be fired.

Keep it classy, there, fella.

Yes the prophet went way too far with his comments, but you are right up there with some of the "doom and gloomers" on here and that crap gets really old, annoying, etc

 

[cedarvalleykid14]

So MSU could beat OSU, and Iowa could beat MSU but not OSU. Interesting logic.

But to be fair, I know what you mean.

 

[bagdropper]

Can? Hell yes they can.

Will? Ask me that week.

My only opinion right now is if Iowa is 12-0 going into that game, I like their chances a lot better than with any losses at all.

Confidence is a funny thing sometimes...

 

[Hawks_Rock_12]

I don't think you understand the concept of a football board.

I love putting people like you on ignore. Soybean

 

[whatsup13579er]

Iowa can absolutely beat OSU. Would they? I doubt it.

The 2009 game tells you that a good defense can keep you in any game. I still have nightmares of OSUs Hartline(?) running around the entire defense from the 2006 game when Gameday came to town.

 

[StatisticsLie]

You're one of these history revisionists. That's not what was being said on this site prior to the season. And nice job of trying to introduce a hypothetical poll in support your revised history. Classic. My 'argument' was dead on and factually correct. My 'means' may have been harsh, but it doesn't change factual history. Go back and read. And I can bring quite a few things back that WWDM (and many others) posted to support my claim. It's interesting when people are wrong how their 'memories' change. It's a self defense mechanism for narcissists and folks with low esteem or even no esteem (people who base their 'worth' and happiness on how well their 'team' is doing, which is becoming rampant in todays world).

And you're not being honest with yourself or anyone on this board by arguing Iowa fans thought they could beat tOSU prior to the season starting.

Let's break down the simplest of facts so you don't have any more asinine arguments:

Iowa had tens of thousands seats available for games before the season opened. Basic common sense says people aren't willing to pay money to see an average team. If anticipation had been there that this team was good enough to beat tOSU prior to the season beginning, seats would not be so readily available. Additionally, you had season ticket sales drop tremendously. That comes from low expectations, not legitimate shot of beating the #1 team expectations.

Iowa was coming off a season that ended poorly and people didn't know what to expect. They certainly didn't expect a great season. Analysts didn't pick Iowa to win the West, let alone the B1G. If analysts don't pick us, do you really expect the rational fans to have picked us to win the West.

Your argument is also revisionist. You are using the great start to call people names because there was a large consensus that did not have faith in Kirk. It's been mentioned multiple times on-air during games this year, on sports talk radio in Des Moines, and littered this board for the 7-8 months people had to wait for the season to start. You don't have a hot seat coach if people generally believe you can beat the #1 team in the country.

You can go back and reread the 8 months of posts of get rid of Kirk, we want Bielema/Stoops/anyone not named Kirk, the 6-6 prediction threads... His idea was that most people would not pick Iowa to beat tOSU prior to the season and that is true.

 

[WWDMHawkeye]

Come on, StatisticsLie -- you're using rational thoughts here. You should know that no true Iowa fan argues rationally.

 

[klemman]

As an OSU fan I'll say Iowa shouldn't beat OSU in a championship game based on the talent difference and experience. Extrapolating how OSU did against Indiana in the early season or how Iowa has done in past years in keeping the game close, really will have very little relevance to the Championship Game if the Hawkeyes and Buckeyes meet.

Having said that, While maybe not as deep, iowa has talent or they wouldn't be where they are right now, and football is a game of momentum, emotion, injuries, and potential mistakes. So, while Iowa shouldn't beat OSU, if both teams remain unbeaten, they could win.