It’s the nature of the college football conference slate; one big win in the books for Indiana and no time to celebrate because the next big test is coming down the pike. The Hoosiers will head to Iowa City to face off against the Hawkeyes for the first time since 2021, when a ranked Indiana kicked off the season on the road and stumbled to a 34-6 defeat. The Hoosiers will look to earn their first victory in Iowa since 2007 and their first victory in the series since 2012.
There are plenty of storylines heading into the game, but ultimately I believe the matchup to watch will come down to the best versus best battle we should see in the trenches: the Iowa offensive line versus the Indiana defensive line. According to PFF, Iowa currently has the #1 ranked offensive lineman at left tackle, left guard, center, and right guard. The right tackle is a slouch, however, only grading out as the 2nd best nationally. The Indiana defensive line looked strong against Illinois last weekend and currently lead the country in tackles for loss (43), but they will have a tougher test this weekend.
“We’re going to make it the most physical game you’ll ever play,” said Iowa center Logan Jones. “That’s our goal, and that’s the way we want to do things. Whether you’re ranked or not, we’re going to make it a tough game.”
The Hawkeyes have lost their last ten games against ranked opponents under Kirk Ferentz, however.
Trying to make it 11 straight and bring a level of physicality of their own will be the Indiana defensive line, who is coming off their best performance of the season. The Hoosiers had 10 TFLs and seven sacks on Saturday, led by Tyrique Tucker and Mario Landino along the defensive line.
The worry for Curt Cignetti and his defensive staff, though, is this dominant performance along the line was able to hide some defensive inefficiencies on the backend. If the Iowa offensive line is able to give Mark Gronowski time, these errors could cost them.
“Look, we had some egregious mistakes on the back end, particularly at safety,” said Curt Cignetti on Monday. “We had about five of them in that game. And we only got exposed once because of them. If we don’t clean those up, we’re going to get fractured. And you can’t put that stuff on tape.”
It is never easy going into Iowa City and stealing a win, especially on homecoming after an emotional win this past weekend. If the Indiana defensive line is once again able to stifle any offensive progress, however, the Hoosiers should head to the bye week undefeated.
The Hoosiers kick off against the Hawkeyes Saturday at Kinnick Stadium at 3:30 EST.