Iowa at Indiana (What to expect)
Posted on 02. Nov, 2012 by admin in Iowa Football
By Brendan Stiles
HawkeyeDrive.com
To get you all ready for Saturday’s game between Iowa and Indiana, I put together a list of things you ought to know before these two face off at Memorial Stadium.
At the end, I’ll provide what I think are three keys to an Iowa victory.
Iowa Hawkeyes (4-4, 2-2) at Indiana Hoosiers (3-5, 1-3)
Memorial Stadium; Bloomington, Ind.
Nov. 3, 2012
2:30 p.m. Central
TV: BTN (Eric Collins, Derek Rackley, J Leman)
Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network (Gary Dolphin, Ed Podolak, Rob Brooks)
Weather: 47 degrees; cloudy skies, 30 percent chance of rain
Brendan’s Three Keys to the Game:
1. Get defense off the field
Plain and simple, the defense has to get stops Saturday. The longer it’s on the field, the more points Indiana’s offense is going to rack up. The Hoosiers have scored at least 24 points in every contest this season. It is worth noting that Indiana was only 1-of-14 on third down against Illinois last week, so if the Hawkeye defense can force 3-and-outs (which it didn’t do at all against Northwestern), then Iowa could have a decent shot at getting out of Bloomington with a win.
2. Run the ball
Right now, the Hoosiers surrender more yards on the ground than any Big Ten team and Iowa has a healthy Damon Bullock at its disposal once again. The Hawkeyes have won four straight against Indiana thanks in large part to their running game being successful. Four different Iowa running backs have gone over 100 yards rushing against the Hoosiers in each of those contests (Shonn Greene and Jewel Hampton both did in 2008). Also, by controlling the clock, the Hawkeyes are also keeping Indiana’s offense on the sidelines as opposed to marching up and down the field on Iowa’s defense.
3. Keep Indiana offense out of the red zone
One of the reasons why Indiana has been so good offensively this season has been because of its success inside the opponents’ 20-yard line. Through eight games, the Hoosiers have made 36 red zone trips and come away with points on 34 of those occasions, which is the best of any team in the Big Ten. If and when Indiana has the ball in Iowa territory, this is when the Hawkeyes have to be able to get stops defensively, whether it’s by forcing turnovers or making the Hoosiers stall on third down. It’s pretty much a guarantee that any red zone trips Indiana has Saturday will result in points.
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