We have ISU as our game 2 @ Kinnick ... but with reduced fan-presence ... the fans are less likely to be the 12 man. We also have the Gophers as our game 3 @ Minneapolis. The weather traditionally seems to be the Gopher's best home advantage ... so an early season game might play less to their advantage.
Both the Cyclones and the Gophers will likely prove to be formidable foes ... but both ought to have issues going into the game. Will Iowa own enough match-up advantages to be able to win each game?
vs ISU: The biggest knock on the Cyclones COULD be their line play ... particularly on the offensive line. The fact that they get Bailey back as a starter at DE could potentially give their D a little more octane on the edges. However, they did lose quite a bit of depth on the DL (particularly in the middle).
Obviously Purdy is a talented QB - and he managed to slice and dice the Hawks apart last year. I have some concerns about containing the Cyclone passing game. However, on the flip side, the Hawks were hurting a little bit in the secondary entering that game. We had already scrapped the CASH at that juncture, Niemann was a bit inconsistent through the first half of the season, and the game marked one of Koerner's first starts. I'm thinking that Iowa's current secondary - if healthy, ought to be able to match up much better against ISU's receivers.
However, ultimately, the biggest question for the game will be Petras. The Hawks ought to have plenty of weapons on O ... however, how effective will Petras be in wielding them? I agree with Ihmir - the Hawk O has the potential to be pretty tough match-up for many of the Ds we'll face this year. However, as I mentioned before - that is contingent upon Iowa's starting QB being an effective "trigger-man."
vs Minnesota: While schematically ISU and Minnesota are a bit different - they're both similar insofar that they both like to use run-pass options and they both like to remain balanced on O. With Johnson finally gone ... will the Hawks be able to slow down Bateman? More importantly, the Gophers really value running the ball. Can we continue to slow down their run-game? The bad news is that the Gophers should continue to be improved on the OL ... and their QB will likely only continue to improve too. Thus, their O really could be pretty formidable.
However, two of the ingredients that really fueled a lot of the success that the Gophers enjoyed last season were 1) a favorable schedule and 2) very veteran defense. The Gopher schedule will likely not impact their performance against the Hawks in '20. However, having to replace so many guys on defense ... that could be the toughest challenges facing the Gophers. As I recall ... they lost all their top guys on their front 7 ... and they also lost their top DB.
It isn't often when a team can win based on the merits of their O alone.
Anyhow - if the Hawks can get past BOTH ISU and the Gophers ... then I'd predict that the Hawks enter the game against the Buckeyes owning a 5-0 record. While I don't view Michigan State as being a pushover - I expect that it will likely be a transition year for the Spartans as they break in their new coach. I'll be curious to see if Rocky Lombardi can win the Spartan QB job for '20. He obviously has the most returning experience ... but he's also been wildly inconsistent when he's received meaningful snaps.
Not that I'd mean to be a Debbie-downer ... but even should the Hawks enter the OSU game with a 5-0 record ... I'm hard-pressed to believe that a first-year starter (presumably in Petras) would be able to pull off victories in away-games against either OSU or PSU. However, if fan-presence is limited ... then I'll be curious how much that impacts home-field advantage!
Both the Cyclones and the Gophers will likely prove to be formidable foes ... but both ought to have issues going into the game. Will Iowa own enough match-up advantages to be able to win each game?
vs ISU: The biggest knock on the Cyclones COULD be their line play ... particularly on the offensive line. The fact that they get Bailey back as a starter at DE could potentially give their D a little more octane on the edges. However, they did lose quite a bit of depth on the DL (particularly in the middle).
Obviously Purdy is a talented QB - and he managed to slice and dice the Hawks apart last year. I have some concerns about containing the Cyclone passing game. However, on the flip side, the Hawks were hurting a little bit in the secondary entering that game. We had already scrapped the CASH at that juncture, Niemann was a bit inconsistent through the first half of the season, and the game marked one of Koerner's first starts. I'm thinking that Iowa's current secondary - if healthy, ought to be able to match up much better against ISU's receivers.
However, ultimately, the biggest question for the game will be Petras. The Hawks ought to have plenty of weapons on O ... however, how effective will Petras be in wielding them? I agree with Ihmir - the Hawk O has the potential to be pretty tough match-up for many of the Ds we'll face this year. However, as I mentioned before - that is contingent upon Iowa's starting QB being an effective "trigger-man."
vs Minnesota: While schematically ISU and Minnesota are a bit different - they're both similar insofar that they both like to use run-pass options and they both like to remain balanced on O. With Johnson finally gone ... will the Hawks be able to slow down Bateman? More importantly, the Gophers really value running the ball. Can we continue to slow down their run-game? The bad news is that the Gophers should continue to be improved on the OL ... and their QB will likely only continue to improve too. Thus, their O really could be pretty formidable.
However, two of the ingredients that really fueled a lot of the success that the Gophers enjoyed last season were 1) a favorable schedule and 2) very veteran defense. The Gopher schedule will likely not impact their performance against the Hawks in '20. However, having to replace so many guys on defense ... that could be the toughest challenges facing the Gophers. As I recall ... they lost all their top guys on their front 7 ... and they also lost their top DB.
It isn't often when a team can win based on the merits of their O alone.
Anyhow - if the Hawks can get past BOTH ISU and the Gophers ... then I'd predict that the Hawks enter the game against the Buckeyes owning a 5-0 record. While I don't view Michigan State as being a pushover - I expect that it will likely be a transition year for the Spartans as they break in their new coach. I'll be curious to see if Rocky Lombardi can win the Spartan QB job for '20. He obviously has the most returning experience ... but he's also been wildly inconsistent when he's received meaningful snaps.
Not that I'd mean to be a Debbie-downer ... but even should the Hawks enter the OSU game with a 5-0 record ... I'm hard-pressed to believe that a first-year starter (presumably in Petras) would be able to pull off victories in away-games against either OSU or PSU. However, if fan-presence is limited ... then I'll be curious how much that impacts home-field advantage!
