Really breaking down the Maryland game ... what are y'all thinkin'?

[ghostOfHomer777]

We know that Maryland had been recruiting like gang-busters for a good number of years ... so the talent-level is most certainly there. If you watch highlights of their play from this year ... they most certainly have some excellent speed at the skill positions.

Also, their D seems like it can be hit or miss ... when it's hitting ... they look awful tough. They seem better at defending the run than the pass. Thus, I could see the match-ups being pretty similar to what we saw against the Gophers ... at least relating to their D versus our O. In other words, I could definitely see them slowing our running game. However, if they slow our running game ... will it be at the expense of defending the pass?

If you see how Maryland fared against Michigan ... Michigan's TE, Gentry, torched them. I don't think that it is hyperbole to fairly state that Iowa's TEs are not only better ... but there may be a decent margin (which is saying something since Michigan has a high-quality duo).

Maryland's O is obviously centered around its running game. Kasim Hill is a quality QB ... a strong kid (a 230 lb QB!) ... he's only be sacked 9 times. However, he's also a pretty young QB. To me, it seems like a pretty tough situation for a young QB to play well in Kinnick against an Iowa D that seems to be improving by the week.

Maryland's O tends to make their hay via the big play ... and Phil Parkers D tends to make its hay by preventing the big play. Maryland has talented guys running the ball ... and some highly touted guys on their OL ... but their passing game is still more than a little under-developed. We're talking about a passing game that is averaging 120 yards per game ... with a 53.4% completion percentage.

You could point to Maryland's victory over Texas .... but that was also a game where Texas had around 100 yards in penalties, 3 turnovers, AND the game was AT Maryland.

I think that Maryland is capable of giving the Hawks one heck of a tussle ... but if the Hawks can approach the game with a laser-sharp focus ... and play smart, tough, and physical football ... the ball they're known to play ... then I really like Iowa's chances in this game!

 

[grayhair81]

Iowa's D line is going to have to be near-perfect the entire game. Maintain their gaps and not give ground. The back 7 is going to be tested. This will be a game where they either learn and grow to the next level or lose. I have no doubt they have the potential to take that step-looking forward to seeing it happen Saturday.

 

[mthawkeyes]

Iowa's D line is going to have to be near-perfect the entire game. Maintain their gaps and not give ground. The back 7 is going to be tested. This will be a game where they either learn and grow to the next level or lose. I have no doubt they have the potential to take that step-looking forward to seeing it happen Saturday.

That is pretty much what they do every play. They squeeze gaps and play flat about as well as it can be done.

 

[BeepBeepInMyJeep]

The low sack numbers are due to the fact that they just don't throw the ball much. They rely on big plays in the running game to move the ball and this isn't an Iowa defense that's going to get gashed for a bunch of big plays. Having the huge rotation of quality DE's we do is a serious match-up problem for Maryland and what they try to do offensively. Even if they aren't putting up sack numbers, which they probably wont, they should be able to dictate the game by funneling plays inside and forcing them into the phone booth rather than on the edge.

If the offense is anything close to it's recent form and we don't have a ton of turnovers, we'll be just fine. If this game is a struggle until late, it would be because we're struggling to score.

 

[bumpstock]

Hawks win by 12 1/2:

http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-football/odds/las-vegas/

 

[20Hawkeye14]

It will be good to have our linebackers healthy and possibly ojemudia and hankins back to help stop the run. On offense, hopefully the o line continues to improve in the run game.

 

[Harbinger273]

They have good toughness as a team. Mainly looks like we will be defending the run. This should be well within our wheel house and just need to be prepared for the occasional pass. Very important to keep the offense rolling in case there are major defensive issues, but I'm not too worried about a failure there. This Iowa team is well grounded. Beat the Terps!

 

[Gridiron24]

I'm an old-school guy, and while it's nice to have skill position talent and weapons on offense, I believe line play is the deciding factor. Whoever has the better d-line and o-line usually wins.

We show up again next week and try to play manball... we beat them in the trenches, and on the scoreboard.

 

[Jbwest31]

Maryland fan here. This is s run down of our team.

QB: Kasim Hill was a very highly rated 4* quarterback coming out of high school. He showed great promise last year as a true freshman until he tore his ACL early last season. We had big expectations for him this year taking control of team. He played very well against Texas, but seemed to lose his confidence. As you know, people coming off a knee injury usually aren’t right the first year they’re back. He’s performed very poor since the opening week missing wide open guys and he doesn’t seem to have his timing with the receivers yet (he missed most of spring). Still most of us agree he’s vastly underperformed this year.

RB: This is the true strength of the team. Tye Johnson is the lead back. The Sr back has moved into the all time list for many of our categories. He’s a one cut back and has good straight line speed, but isn’t very shifty. Also he’s a homerun threat in the kick return game. Anthony McFarland is probably the most talented back of the group as a RS Freshman. He has elite speed and is a threat out of the backfield and in our motion offense. He may already be better than Tye. The last of the group is Tavon Fleet Davis. He’s a power back who’s good at keeping his legs churning, but with the two in front of him, he doesn’t get as many touches.

WR: very inexperienced group with mostly underclass men. Taivon Jacobs is the senior leader of the group, but is mostly an average player. Biggest homerun threat of the group is freshman Jeshuan Jones. He’s going to be a star, but we haven’t had the passing ability to truly utilize his skills.

OL: on paper our offensive line should be a major strength of the team, but inconsistency and injuries have limited the group. Our two tackles will probably be playing on Sundays, but both have had nagging injuries. The group overall has shown dominance at times and been turnstile at other times. All are mostly healthy at this point and should start getting back on track soon.

DL: Ton of talent, but a lot of inexperience. Bryon Cowart, a former 5* defensive linemen is starting to come into his own. Him and Jessie A make a great tandom on the outside, but Jessie is coming off a season ending injury as well and has limited his effectiveness. DT is talented but young. Tani is a high motor guy but not super talented.

LB: probably the biggest weakness of the group. They’ve over performed so far but have major struggles covering passes. Tre Watson, a grad transfer from Illinois has been invaluable for the team and can be a playmaker. TE have torched our team in the passing game which will be trouble against you guys.

CB: our biggest strength in defense. Darnell Savage is a great cover safety and makes a lot of plays. Antoine Brooks is a jack of all trades safety/backer hybrid. He struggles sometimes in coverage, but is elite against the run and as a pass rusher. I can’t emphasize enough how good and important he is to our defense. He leads the team in TFL. Tino Ellis is devoloping into a true shut down corner, but is very handsy. If refs are calling a close game, then he will draw some DPIs, but if refs are letting him play, he’s a blanket in coverage.

Overall: We are a very undisciplined team and commit a lot of penalties. The jet sweep offensive is good at keeping teams off balance and our team speed is deadly against teams that don’t stay in their gaps. The thing keeping us from being good is our passing game. We have had to become one dimensional and good teams has exploited that. If Kasim can get his head right we should be able to keep it close. If Hill continues to struggle, you guys will run away with this game. Your strengths on defense match out strengths on offense, so I think this matchup favors you guys.

 

[ANYCHawk]

Maryland fan here. This is s run down of our team.

QB: Kasim Hill was a very highly rated 4* quarterback coming out of high school. He showed great promise last year as a true freshman until he tore his ACL early last season. We had big expectations for him this year taking control of team. He played very well against Texas, but seemed to lose his confidence. As you know, people coming off a knee injury usually aren’t right the first year they’re back. He’s performed very poor since the opening week missing wide open guys and he doesn’t seem to have his timing with the receivers yet (he missed most of spring). Still most of us agree he’s vastly underperformed this year.

RB: This is the true strength of the team. Tye Johnson is the lead back. The Sr back has moved into the all time list for many of our categories. He’s a one cut back and has good straight line speed, but isn’t very shifty. Also he’s a homerun threat in the kick return game. Anthony McFarland is probably the most talented back of the group as a RS Freshman. He has elite speed and is a threat out of the backfield and in our motion offense. He may already be better than Tye. The last of the group is Tavon Fleet Davis. He’s a power back who’s good at keeping his legs churning, but with the two in front of him, he doesn’t get as many touches.

WR: very inexperienced group with mostly underclass men. Taivon Jacobs is the senior leader of the group, but is mostly an average player. Biggest homerun threat of the group is freshman Jeshuan Jones. He’s going to be a star, but we haven’t had the passing ability to truly utilize his skills.

OL: on paper our offensive line should be a major strength of the team, but inconsistency and injuries have limited the group. Our two tackles will probably be playing on Sundays, but both have had nagging injuries. The group overall has shown dominance at times and been turnstile at other times. All are mostly healthy at this point and should start getting back on track soon.

DL: Ton of talent, but a lot of inexperience. Bryon Cowart, a former 5* defensive linemen is starting to come into his own. Him and Jessie A make a great tandom on the outside, but Jessie is coming off a season ending injury as well and has limited his effectiveness. DT is talented but young. Tani is a high motor guy but not super talented.

LB: probably the biggest weakness of the group. They’ve over performed so far but have major struggles covering passes. Tre Watson, a grad transfer from Illinois has been invaluable for the team and can be a playmaker. TE have torched our team in the passing game which will be trouble against you guys.

CB: our biggest strength in defense. Darnell Savage is a great cover safety and makes a lot of plays. Antoine Brooks is a jack of all trades safety/backer hybrid. He struggles sometimes in coverage, but is elite against the run and as a pass rusher. He leads the team in TFL. Tino Ellis is devoloping into a true shut down corner, but is very handsy. If refs are calling a close game, then he will draw some DPIs, but if refs are letting him play, he’s a blanket in coverage.

Overall: We are a very undisciplined team and commit a lot of penalties. The jet sweep offensive is good at keeping teams off balance and our team speed is deadly against teams that don’t stay in their gaps. The thing keeping us from being good is our passing game. We have had to become one dimensional and good teams has exploited that. If Kasim can get his head right we should be able to keep it close. If Hill continues to struggle, you guys will run away with this game. Your strengths on defense match out strengths on offense, so I think this matchup favors you guys.

 

[Jbwest31]

IowaShouldWin.

 

[Jbwest31]

But seriously, if you want a quick summary, we’re a super talented team but way too young and undisciplined to take advantage of it. A sound disciplined team like you guys is the perfect foil for our talent and speed. Not a good matchup for Maryland.


Also screw Fran. We mostly care about basketball anyway (tongue in cheek)

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

Maryland fan here. This is s run down of our team.

QB: Kasim Hill was a very highly rated 4* quarterback coming out of high school. He showed great promise last year as a true freshman until he tore his ACL early last season. We had big expectations for him this year taking control of team. He played very well against Texas, but seemed to lose his confidence. As you know, people coming off a knee injury usually aren’t right the first year they’re back. He’s performed very poor since the opening week missing wide open guys and he doesn’t seem to have his timing with the receivers yet (he missed most of spring). Still most of us agree he’s vastly underperformed this year.

RB: This is the true strength of the team. Tye Johnson is the lead back. The Sr back has moved into the all time list for many of our categories. He’s a one cut back and has good straight line speed, but isn’t very shifty. Also he’s a homerun threat in the kick return game. Anthony McFarland is probably the most talented back of the group as a RS Freshman. He has elite speed and is a threat out of the backfield and in our motion offense. He may already be better than Tye. The last of the group is Tavon Fleet Davis. He’s a power back who’s good at keeping his legs churning, but with the two in front of him, he doesn’t get as many touches.

WR: very inexperienced group with mostly underclass men. Taivon Jacobs is the senior leader of the group, but is mostly an average player. Biggest homerun threat of the group is freshman Jeshuan Jones. He’s going to be a star, but we haven’t had the passing ability to truly utilize his skills.

OL: on paper our offensive line should be a major strength of the team, but inconsistency and injuries have limited the group. Our two tackles will probably be playing on Sundays, but both have had nagging injuries. The group overall has shown dominance at times and been turnstile at other times. All are mostly healthy at this point and should start getting back on track soon.

DL: Ton of talent, but a lot of inexperience. Bryon Cowart, a former 5* defensive linemen is starting to come into his own. Him and Jessie A make a great tandom on the outside, but Jessie is coming off a season ending injury as well and has limited his effectiveness. DT is talented but young. Tani is a high motor guy but not super talented.

LB: probably the biggest weakness of the group. They’ve over performed so far but have major struggles covering passes. Tre Watson, a grad transfer from Illinois has been invaluable for the team and can be a playmaker. TE have torched our team in the passing game which will be trouble against you guys.

CB: our biggest strength in defense. Darnell Savage is a great cover safety and makes a lot of plays. Antoine Brooks is a jack of all trades safety/backer hybrid. He struggles sometimes in coverage, but is elite against the run and as a pass rusher. I can’t emphasize enough how good and important he is to our defense. He leads the team in TFL. Tino Ellis is devoloping into a true shut down corner, but is very handsy. If refs are calling a close game, then he will draw some DPIs, but if refs are letting him play, he’s a blanket in coverage.

Overall: We are a very undisciplined team and commit a lot of penalties. The jet sweep offensive is good at keeping teams off balance and our team speed is deadly against teams that don’t stay in their gaps. The thing keeping us from being good is our passing game. We have had to become one dimensional and good teams has exploited that. If Kasim can get his head right we should be able to keep it close. If Hill continues to struggle, you guys will run away with this game. Your strengths on defense match out strengths on offense, so I think this matchup favors you guys.

Thanks so much for the break-down!

I was checking out the experience on your OL ... I was floored by how much experience they have. You're totally right! On paper ... that OL looks like it ought to be a very dominant unit!

Anyhow, the Iowa DL better bring their A-game ... because they're playing against one of the better OLs they'll face this year.

The last time the Hawks played against a high-caliber OL (Wisconsin's OL) ... the Hawks couldn't consistently slow the run. The Hawks have to put things together ... or have to face the same difficulties.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

Maryland fan here. This is s run down of our team.

QB: Kasim Hill was a very highly rated 4* quarterback coming out of high school. He showed great promise last year as a true freshman until he tore his ACL early last season. We had big expectations for him this year taking control of team. He played very well against Texas, but seemed to lose his confidence. As you know, people coming off a knee injury usually aren’t right the first year they’re back. He’s performed very poor since the opening week missing wide open guys and he doesn’t seem to have his timing with the receivers yet (he missed most of spring). Still most of us agree he’s vastly underperformed this year.

Another thing worth mentioning ... the Hawks have a tendency of playing soft coverage because we play more of a bend-but-not-break style of D. The bad thing for the Hawks and the good thing for the Terps is that Iowa's soft coverage might be able to let Kasim find a rhythm ... and if that happens, then the strength of the Terp running game might really be able to get going.

However, just as you said ... Kasim is still a young guy. And, as you point out ... young guys still often need to develop confidence and they need to get to the point where the game slows down for them.

While the Terps make me plenty nervous ... I have trouble seeing a young QB beat the Hawks at Kinnick. However, if the Hawks are dumb enough to look past Maryland ... then that definitely could open the door for the Terps to pull off the upset.

 

[Jbwest31]

Thanks so much for the break-down!

I was checking out the experience on your OL ... I was floored by how much experience they have. You're totally right! On paper ... that OL looks like it ought to be a very dominant unit!

Anyhow, the Iowa DL better bring their A-game ... because they're playing against one of the better OLs they'll face this year.

The last time the Hawks played against a high-caliber OL (Wisconsin's OL) ... the Hawks couldn't consistently slow the run. The Hawks have to put things together ... or have to face the same difficulties.

Don’t worry about it too much. Like I said before, if you guys play disciplined football staying in your gaps, you can load the box and stop us. We’re built around big play offense. After doing some research into you guys, it seems that’s what you excel at preventing. If this is a something’s gotta give situation, I’d much rather be on your end.

 

[Jbwest31]

Another thing worth mentioning ... the Hawks have a tendency of playing soft coverage because we play more of a bend-but-not-break style of D. The bad thing for the Hawks and the good thing for the Terps is that Iowa's soft coverage might be able to let Kasim find a rhythm ... and if that happens, then the strength of the Terp running game might really be able to get going.

However, just as you said ... Kasim is still a young guy. And, as you point out ... young guys still often need to develop confidence and they need to get to the point where the game slows down for them.

While the Terps make me plenty nervous ... I have trouble seeing a young QB beat the Hawks at Kinnick. However, if the Hawks are dumb enough to look past Maryland ... then that definitely could open the door for the Terps to pull off the upset.

I think that’s a good thing for you though. We only pass the ball about 20 times a game. Given Kasim’s limited chances, he tends to go for home run throws, rather than methodically moving the ball. Since he’s a freshman, he also has a tendency to stare down receivers which should play into your soft coverage. If your secondary is aggressive in their zone coverage, I don’t think it’s a good matchup for Hill.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

Don’t worry about it too much. Like I said before, if you guys play disciplined football staying in your gaps, you can load the box and stop us. We’re built around big play offense. After doing some research into you guys, it seems that’s what you excel at preventing. If this is a something’s gotta give situation, I’d much rather be on your end.

The Maryland stats are more than a little strange on the offensive end. You guys are one of the top rushing teams in the B1G ... and yet you have the fewest first downs per game AND you have the fewest redzone appearances in the B1G. Those are completely baffling numbers. I understand that the implication is that you guys keep on hitting on big runs ... and hence rarely get stuck in the redzone ... but those numbers are still quite bizarre!

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

I think that’s a good thing for you though. We only pass the ball about 20 times a game. Given Kasim’s limited chances, he tends to go for home run throws, rather than methodically moving the ball. Since he’s a freshman, he also has a tendency to stare down receivers which should play into your soft coverage. If your secondary is aggressive in their zone coverage, I don’t think it’s a good matchup for Hill.

Through the last two game the Hawks have had to start 2 TR FR at corner due to injuries to the regular starters. Of course, rumor has it that one of the TR FR has passed one of the regular starters anyhow.

The Hawkeyes do have some pretty decent ball-hawking safeties however.

 

[Jbwest31]

The Maryland stats are more than a little strange on the offensive end. You guys are one of the top rushing teams in the B1G ... and yet you have the fewest first downs per game AND you have the fewest redzone appearances in the B1G. Those are completely baffling numbers. I understand that the implication is that you guys keep on hitting on big runs ... and hence rarely get stuck in the redzone ... but those numbers are still quite bizarre!

If you care to do it, go look at Maryland’s rushing stats against Minny minus the “rushing long”. The numbers aren’t great. We had 315 yards rushing, but 193 came on 4 carries. The remaining came on 33 rushes.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

DL: Ton of talent, but a lot of inexperience. Bryon Cowart, a former 5* defensive linemen is starting to come into his own. Him and Jessie A make a great tandom on the outside, but Jessie is coming off a season ending injury as well and has limited his effectiveness. DT is talented but young. Tani is a high motor guy but not super talented.

LB: probably the biggest weakness of the group. They’ve over performed so far but have major struggles covering passes. Tre Watson, a grad transfer from Illinois has been invaluable for the team and can be a playmaker. TE have torched our team in the passing game which will be trouble against you guys.

CB: our biggest strength in defense. Darnell Savage is a great cover safety and makes a lot of plays. Antoine Brooks is a jack of all trades safety/backer hybrid. He struggles sometimes in coverage, but is elite against the run and as a pass rusher. I can’t emphasize enough how good and important he is to our defense. He leads the team in TFL. Tino Ellis is devoloping into a true shut down corner, but is very handsy. If refs are calling a close game, then he will draw some DPIs, but if refs are letting him play, he’s a blanket in coverage.

What's intriguing is that the Maryland D has only been giving up, on average, around 310 yards per game. Statistically speaking, that qualifies as one of the best Ds that the Hawks have faced this year.

The Hawkeye WRs are still somewhat young (our most dynamic WRs are true sophs). Thus, it sounds like your DBs will own a marked advantage against them in coverage. Last year, our WRs had a lot of trouble consistently getting separation.

The hallmark of Iowa's O is the play-action pass. Thus, the Hawks will try to take their shots on your secondary anyhow ... hoping that they'll be cheating up against the run.

What you've said about the LBs gives me some hope. The Iowa TEs are truly excellent ... and Noah Fant essentially demands bracket coverage. That leaves our other TE open all the time ... and consequently TJ Hockenson already has around 400 yards receiving and 3 TDs. If opposing Ds try to give both TEs extra attention ... with match-up zones or the like ... then that often forces some DBs onto islands.

Iowa's QB is a big guy ... pretty hard to bring down ... but he's not a threat in terms of running the ball. He's a guy who's always looking downfield ... looking for a guy to break open.

Iowa is "supposedly" known for its OL play and its running game ... but the Hawkeye running game has been pretty pedestrian both in '17 and '18. The Hawks have pretty good RBs ... but the run blocking isn't yet where it needs to be.

Sounds like it could be a pretty interesting match-up!

 

[Jbwest31]

What's intriguing is that the Maryland D has only been giving up, on average, around 310 yards per game. Statistically speaking, that qualifies as one of the best Ds that the Hawks have faced this year.

The Hawkeye WRs are still somewhat young (our most dynamic WRs are true sophs). Thus, it sounds like your DBs will own a marked advantage against them in coverage. Last year, our WRs had a lot of trouble consistently getting separation.

The hallmark of Iowa's O is the play-action pass. Thus, the Hawks will try to take their shots on your secondary anyhow ... hoping that they'll be cheating up against the run.

What you've said about the LBs gives me some hope. The Iowa TEs are truly excellent ... and Noah Fant essentially demands bracket coverage. That leaves our other TE open all the time ... and consequently TJ Hockenson already has around 400 yards receiving and 3 TDs. If opposing Ds try to give both TEs extra attention ... with match-up zones or the like ... then that often forces some DBs onto islands.

Iowa's QB is a big guy ... pretty hard to bring down ... but he's not a threat in terms of running the ball. He's a guy who's always looking downfield ... looking for a guy to break open.

Iowa is "supposedly" known for its OL play and its running game ... but the Hawkeye running game has been pretty pedestrian both in '17 and '18. The Hawks have pretty good RBs ... but the run blocking isn't yet where it needs to be.

Sounds like it could be a pretty interesting match-up!

Yeah that has been the topic of conversation on our board. We are terrible between the hashes in coverage. We have great outside and over the top coverage, but between the hashes, we’re terrible. I have a feeling that you guys are going to gash us over the middle in the passing game.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

If you care to do it, go look at Maryland’s rushing stats against Minny minus the “rushing long”. The numbers aren’t great. We had 315 yards rushing, but 193 came on 4 carries. The remaining came on 33 rushes.

Is the Maryland D as good as their stats? Giving up only 311 yards per game is an awfully solid number ... but I don't know if it's fools gold. I cannot help but notice that the Terps played Bowling Green ... a team that was so bad that they've already fired their coach ... and they also had success against 2 true freshman starting at QB (in Minnesota and Rutgers).

At this juncture, Iowa's Nate Stanley is a pretty experienced JR who is in his 2nd year starting. Will the Terps bring a lot of pressure ... or will they rely mostly upon their DL to pressure the QB?

 

[Jbwest31]

Is the Maryland D as good as their stats? Giving up only 311 yards per game is an awfully solid number ... but I don't know if it's fools gold. I cannot help but notice that the Terps played Bowling Green ... a team that was so bad that they've already fired their coach ... and they also had success against 2 true freshman starting at QB (in Minnesota and Rutgers).

At this juncture, Iowa's Nate Stanley is a pretty experienced JR who is in his 2nd year starting. Will the Terps bring a lot of pressure ... or will they rely mostly upon their DL to pressure the QB?

Their D is very good. The two times they got gashed (temple and mich) was because their offense couldn’t put a drive together and the D got work out being on the field for most of the game. Like I said earlier, where you’ll beat us is the short middle passing game. If you try to stretch the field, then we’ll make you pay.

 

[Jbwest31]

Thanks so much for the break-down!

I was checking out the experience on your OL ... I was floored by how much experience they have. You're totally right! On paper ... that OL looks like it ought to be a very dominant unit!

This is the most frustrating part of our offense, outside of QB play. We have the talent and experience to be one of the best Olines in the nation. However, injuries have prevented that from happening. Both OT have been playing through nagging injuries which has hurt their effectiveness. When healthy, the oline is a force.

 

[Hawkfan5220]

I like our chances at home. Are they horrible? No. Iowa will have to play relatively mistake free football but should win. Maybe not handily, but comfortably if Iowa plays to their potential.

If Iowa stops the run and doesn't give up big plays, then I like our chances. Stop their run game, which is Iowa's strength, and make them beat us thru the air. Just my opinion.

 

[Jbwest31]

I like our chances at home. Are they horrible? No. Iowa will have to play relatively mistake free football but should win. Maybe not handily, but comfortably if Iowa plays to their potential.

If Iowa stops the run and doesn't give up big plays, then I like our chances. Stop their run game, which is Iowa's strength, and make them beat us thru the air. Just my opinion.

This is spot on. As long as you guys stay in your gaps on defense, you should win. The wildcard is our QB Kasim Hill. He’s shown some NFL type passes, but for every one of those he’s shown 2-3 horrible passes. Rutgers was the perfect set up for him to get his confidence back, but he hasn’t shown anything against good competition like Iowa. If Hill is above average, we may have a chance to upset you, but given his play through the first half of games, you’ll probably win fairly easily.

 

[chuck285]

Hawks win by 12 1/2:

http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-football/odds/las-vegas/

This seems way too high for Hawks but we're not the 2017 version. If we pass the damn ball we'll cover this spread. Butttt if we revert to run, run, pass then I'd take Maryland. PASS the damn ball....

 

[Hawkfan5220]

Hill seems awfully good with his feet, passing isn't horrendous but i wouldn't or don't see him lighting is up for 200+yds passing.

I know it goes against our identity of "run/pound the ball", but I did like all the passing against Indiana and felt it opened up the run. I guess I like the pass to open the run versus run to open the pass....

 

[Jbwest31]

As I said before, we live and die by the big play. If you can shut down that, then we’re inept on offense. Most of our fans see you as almost an auto loss, just behind OSU and Penn State. Our path to bowl eligibility runs through IU and Rutgers West (Illinois).

 

[mazda1]

The key to me is the penalties stat. With the bend but don’t break Hawk defense it may be difficult to sustain drives against them. Nebraska has less penalties to put things in perspective.

The Terps seem to have the talent to provide a significant test for the Hawks Each year we come out flat and drop a game where we were favored. At home I like our chances, but this should be a close game.

Thanks for the information on the Terps. It’s rare to have real discussion about football on this board. I sense the Terps you describe may be under promised. I just hope you don’t over deliver

 

[icwesthawk]

Iowa always has to play mistake free. We are so conservative that we keep almost every team in the game. My confidence in KF is pretty much 0 but he is winning the games he's supposed to so far this season. We win but by less than 10, cue the kiss of death meme.

 

[HawkinMN]

I plan on going, just hoping for a Hawks win!

 

[amahawk]

Iowa's D line is going to have to be near-perfect the entire game. Maintain their gaps and not give ground. The back 7 is going to be tested. This will be a game where they either learn and grow to the next level or lose. I have no doubt they have the potential to take that step-looking forward to seeing it happen Saturday.

I think this will be a much tougher game than most people would think it was going to be earlier.

 

[BlazinHawk]

I think we will kick the shit out of them.

 

[Pepperman]

If you care to do it, go look at Maryland’s rushing stats against Minny minus the “rushing long”. The numbers aren’t great. We had 315 yards rushing, but 193 came on 4 carries. The remaining came on 33 rushes.

I think regarding the bold sentence, that's almost always the case for teams that run the ball well. Even if you throw out those four carries, this indicates 33 rush plays went for 122 yards? That's an average of 3.7 YPC on those carries alone.

Granted, Iowa's running game hasn't been much of a threat this season but I'd take those numbers for a full game.

 

[David1979]

They have some legit RBs but it doesn't appear their QB is much of a passing threat which plays into Iowa's hands.

 

[Pepperman]

They have some legit RBs but it doesn't appear their QB is much of a passing threat which plays into Iowa's hands.

Flip side of that coin - how many times has the Iowa BBDB defense made a QB look great?

 

[bdcolt45er]

Iowa always has to play mistake free. We are so conservative that we keep almost every team in the game. My confidence in KF is pretty much 0 but he is winning the games he's supposed to so far this season. We win but by less than 10, cue the kiss of death meme.

Have you been around the last couple of weeks?

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

The key to me is the penalties stat. With the bend but don’t break Hawk defense it may be difficult to sustain drives against them. Nebraska has less penalties to put things in perspective.

The Terps seem to have the talent to provide a significant test for the Hawks Each year we come out flat and drop a game where we were favored. At home I like our chances, but this should be a close game.

Thanks for the information on the Terps. It’s rare to have real discussion about football on this board. I sense the Terps you describe may be under promised. I just hope you don’t over deliver

Some of the set-up here reminds me a little bit of the Purdue game last year .... however, a key difference is that the Achilles heel of Iowa's D has always been against the pass. Even if the match-up of Iowa's run D versus Maryland's run O were to favor Maryland ... the Hawks would still most likely force the Terps to patiently drive the whole field. Given the youth and lack of discipline of Maryland ... how many times would they stub their own toe?

I like the match-up for a lot of reasons. While I like the Hawks chances ... I also think that the Terps will force the Hawks to improve in a number of facets in their game. That's huge ... particularly given that we have a few run-heavy teams that are on the back-side of our schedule.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

Flip side of that coin - how many times has the Iowa BBDB defense made a QB look great?

It's happened quite a bit. The fact that we failed to get extra pressure on Hornibrook ... and he passed with excellent efficiency against us ... and that was another factor that ultimately gave them the game.