The Iowa Hawkeyes open Big Ten play at home against Penn State. The Nittany Lions are 0-2 but Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says that record is deceiving.Iowa won last year’s game in Happy Valley in overtime and Ferentz expects another close, hard fought game.Iowa’s offensive line has shown improvement this season but Ferentz says that group faces a difficult task.The Iowa State Cyclones open the Big-12 season at home against Baylor in a battle of unbeatens. The Cyclone defense will take on a Baylor no-huddle offense that coach Dan McCarney says can cause confusion.McCarney says the Cyclones fans could be a factor in this game, as he hopes a big crowd will make a lot of noise to foil the Bear’s attempts to call plays at the line of scrimmage.McCarney says the Cyclones must play better up front, defensively.The Northern Iowa Panthers open Gateway Conference action at home against Youngstown State. The Panthers are coming off an impressive victory at Ball State but coach Mark Farley says the biggest challenge begins tomorrow with conference play.Farley says the Panthers have to take advantage of the dome. He says the tradition of the dome should give them a 7-point advantage at the start.Farley says that advantage will be needed against an unbeaten Youngstown squad.
