Homecoming Game Day Primer (Indiana vs. Iowa)
/
The Hoosiers take on the Hawkeyes for homecoming Saturday Image: Sarah Miller Hoosier Huddle
Written By T.J. Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)
Week Seven Primer – Iowa Hawkeyes
What: Indiana Hoosiers (4-2) vs. Iowa Hawkeyes (4-1)
Where: Memorial Stadium
When: Saturday, October 13, Noon
How to Watch: The game will be broadcast on ESPN2. You can also listen to the legendary Don Fischer on the radio on any IU Radio Network station.
What’s at Stake: This clash is the 106th Homecoming for the Indiana Hoosiers and it is a massive contest with much at stake. IU sits at 4-2 (1-2), needing two more wins to reach bowl eligibility. Next week, the Hoosiers will host Penn State and that will be followed by a Friday night road-trip to Minnesota. Being 5-2 would feel a whole lot better than being 4-3. Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz is in his 20th season at the helm and his Hawkeyes are 4-1 and firmly in position for another very solid bowl game. A victory in Bloomington would keep the Hawkeyes on schedule for a eight or nine win campaign and might see them vault into the top 25.
Game Day Bingo Presented by Vintage Brand
GAME RULES
Print the bingo card, pick from any three below
Any horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines win!
First five winners will get entries into a raffle for a vintage IU Football canvas
After the game screen shot or send your winning bingo ticket to @Hoosier_Huddle on twitter or theHoosierHuddle@gmail.com
Vintage Brand is an online retailer specializing in authentic sports art for the modern fan. We have a collection of over 10,000 sporting tickets, programs and schedules that have been digitally produced and rendered on a number of every day products.
Our goal is to help Hoosier fans relive their favorite sports memories while highlighting some of the great artwork and photography distributed over the decades. Cards will be released on Twitter prior to game time.
Things to Watch
1. The Takeaway Battle
An offseason of making takeaways a priority has paid off thus far for the Hoosiers. They have 13 takeaways on the season, tops in the Big Ten and tied for seventh nationally. The Iowa Hawkeyes gave the ball away twice last Saturday in a surprisingly high-scoring game against Minnesota (both Nathan Stanley interceptions) but they forced the Gophers into four interceptions of their own. Iowa has an active and stout defense and they will test the Hoosiers defense. It would be quite surprising if this were a shootout so winning the turnover battle could be critical in turning the outcome one way or the other.
2. Finding Offense Against A Top-10 Defense
The Indiana Hoosiers did surprisingly well on the offensive side of the ball against the Ohio State Buckeyes last week in Columbus. They face another stiff test this Saturday as the Iowa Hawkeyes are currently ranked eight in S&P+. The Hawkeyes are not exceptional at any one thing but they also don’t have a discernible weakness to be exploited. Last Saturday, for the first time all season, Indiana showed a willingness to stretch the field vertically. That will need to continue as a failure to do so will allow Iowa to stuff the box and overwhelm Indiana’s offensive line. Peyton Ramsey is going to have opportunities to connect on some deep throws and he is going to make the most of them. Last week was an improvement and it was great to see the Indiana offense open up and involve players like Nick Westbrook and Donavan Hale. Those guys are mismatches for nearly every secondary on IU’s schedule and the aggressive playcalling must continue for the Hoosiers to put points up on Iowa’s defense. A vertical passing game that keeps Iowa on its heels will help Stevie Scott and the running game and allow IU to stay balanced as well.
3. Stopping the Tight End
Saturday presents a new kind of test for the Indiana defense. While the Iowa Hawkeyes certainly don’t have the same caliber of weapons that Ohio State or even Michigan State showed the Hoosiers, they do have an elite group of tight ends. Noah Fant is likely to be the first tight end selected in the 2019 NFL Draft and he is a matchup issue for every defense the Hawkeyes face. He has 19 catches for nearly 200 yards but he is best in the red zone and has five touchdowns already this season. T.J. Hockenson is their second tight end and has 18 catches for a team-high 277 yards. Iowa doesn’t have top-end receivers and their running game has really struggled but both tight ends are capable of burning the Hoosiers for big plays. The Indiana defense is going to need to keep the Iowa running game from getting on track, pressure Nate Stanley to force him into mistakes and then find a way to limit the damage done by Fant and Hockenson. Versatile defenders like Marcelino Ball or Cam Jones could be used to match their speed or IU could go with bigger players like Raekwon Jones or TD Roof to match their size. However they do it, the tight ends are the biggest issue for the Hoosiers to contend with on Saturday.
What the Sharps Say
According to Sascha Paruk from SportsBettingDime.com, the Hawkeyes come to Bloomington as 4.5-point road favorites and the sharp money is mostly on the road team. Iowa's only loss on the year was a 28-17 setback to Big Ten West-favorite Wisconsin, a game Iowa was leading until the last minute of the fourth quarter. The Hoosier offense, ranked 81st in the S&P, is going to struggle to move the ball against Iowa's 8th-ranked D, and the Hawkeyes are likely to leave Indiana with a six or seven-point win.