After showing they can bounce back from a tough loss the Iowa Hawkeyes will now try to avoid a letdown after a big victory when the visit Indiana this weekend The Hawks are 6-2 overall after handing Michigan State its first loss 37-6 in Iowa City.
The Hoosiers opened 4-0 but have now dropped all four Big Ten games. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says the Hoosiers have a high powered offense with an excellent quarterback. He says last year they were fortunate to get a win against them and needed a miracle play to turn things around.
Ferentz says the Hawkeyes’ linebacking corps continues to get younger and thinner. Tyler Nielsen will be sidelined several weeks with a neck injury. He says a lot of people took it for granted that they graduated three NFL players and they would just fill in. Ferentz says Nielsen has done a great job and it is a tough loss.
The Hawks are one of four teams with one loss in what has become a wide open Big Ten race. Ferentz says anything can happen in the last few weeks and that makes it interesting. He says it will be a good month for fans to be paying attention.
Ferentz says the Hawks are looking forward to the stretch run, as he says if you are going to have a good team and good season, you ahve to play well in November.
Ferentz says Indiana has been a tough matchup for the Hawks and points to last year’s 42-24 Iowa win in which they scored 28 points in the fourth quarter. He says they were clearly on the ropes and in 2007 they got knocked out right away, so they’d better be ready to go. He says that’s what happens in the conference every week.
Ferentz says Indiana has a talented corps of receivers with size and a quarterback who can get them the ball.