Iowa @ Minnesota Preview

            Hey Hawk fans the BIG TEN season starts in two days as they travel to Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers. It's the battle for the Floyd of Rosedale Iowa won last season 31 to 14 in probably the best game they played all season. Iowa Finished up the non conference portion of the schedule 3-1 and the Gophers finished up 4-0. Looking at both teams wins I'm not sure what to expect from either team in the game the three teams Iowa has beaten are a combined 0-9. Although the Gophers are 4-0 they haven't played another BCS conference team. The best team they beat is probably San Jose State who has a potential NFL quarterback which is why Minnesota ran the ball 67 times last week to keep the ball away from him. I haven't seen the Gophers play a lot but the games that I did get to see they weren't all that impressive. This is an interesting way to start out conference play on the road, the good thing is Iowa already went into a hostile environment in Ames to defeat the Cyclones. So lets look take a look at what Minnesota will be bringing to the table on Saturday. 

          The Gophers will try to run the football, they have only completed 33 passes in 4 games this season. The Gophers are 13th in the nation in rushing averaging 282 yards a game on the ground. Minnesota's main ball carriers will be David Cobb who has 53 carries for 332 yards, Rodney Williams Jr. is a bigger back who has had 45 carries for 277 yards. The thing about Minnesota is their quarterbacks like to run the football Mitch Leidner and Phillip Nelson have combined to rush 79 times for 472 yards. So looking at the stats we know what the Gophers are going to try to do run the ball. The thing is they have such a terrible passing game that Iowa should be able to run blitz all day. Like I said earlier they have completed 33 passes in 4 games and they only have one touchdown pass this season. One of the big questions will be who starts at quarterback for Minnesota as Phillip Nelson has been resting a hamstring probably the more elusive quarterback. Leidner more of power running Tim Tebow type quarterback played last week and ran for a school record 4 touchdowns. If Iowa shuts down the run they should win this game. Minnesota is not a team that can take advantage of Iowa's weaknesses which is the space we give them on the outside. 

   The Gophers will try to run the football a lot on Saturday using spread formations to try and open up some running lanes. The good news for Iowa fans is that the Hawkeyes have played 3 teams already this season that play a similar style of offense and for the most part they shut down the opposing teams running attack. At the Receiver position they have two main guys that they will look to throw to Max Williams who has 5 catches for 99 yards and Derrick Engle 7 catches for 93 yards. They have one other guy KJ Maye who has 6 catches for 70 yards on the season. On Saturday expect to see a team that tries to run the ball right at Iowa if the Hawks stop the run we should win this game. Iowa is 12th in the nation only allowing 366 yards rushing in the 4 games an average of 3.36 yards per carry. Now that I've previewed what we will see from Minnesota's offense here is what to look for on defense. 

            Iowa is 24th in the nation in rushing yards per game averaging 244 yards per game. We all know what Iowa will try to do vs the Gophers that is run the football to set up the playaction passing game. The Gophers have played pretty good run defense so far this season ranking 21st in the nation and only allowing 3.37 yards per carry. This could be a very interesting game if neither team is able to run the football like they want to. As we know giving up big plays has plagued the Hawkeyes this season but I'm not so sure the Gophers have the players to make the plays Northern Illinois made in week one. Looking at Minnesota's defense they are lead by Rashed'e Hageman who is a very good defensive lineman. 

         Minnesota likes to spread out there defensive line to get a good pass rush so they could be vulnerable to Iowa's power running game on Saturday. On passing downs they will pin their ears back and rush the quarterback so pass blocking will be a big key for Iowa on Saturday. Minnesota has 6 sacks so far in 4 games so they have been able to get to the quarterback a little. Minnesota has only turned the ball over 3 times all season losing one fumble and throwing 2 interceptions. Iowa on the other hand has turned the ball over 7 times so this could be a key in the game on Saturday. Since the Gophers defense is pretty good Iowa will need Jake Rudock to make more plays with his arm this week if Iowa is going to win this game. Looking at the turnovers Iowa's defense has forced 9 turnovers so far this season where as Minnesota's defense has forced only 6 turnovers. Now that we have looked at Minnesota's defense what does Iowa have to do to win this game.

           Offensively both teams are going to try and run the football on Saturday. The team that controls both sides of the line of scrimmage will be the team that takes control of this game. This is a very interesting match up with both teams that are top 24 in rushing and top 22 in rushing defense. The key for an Iowa victory is to run the football strong to set up the playaction pass but with the Gophers defense it may be tough to do that. I think the team that throws the ball better will win this game and bring home the Pig. I believe Iowa has a much better passing game even though they aren't great at passing the football either Jake Rudock will make more plays with his arm than the Gophers quarterbacks whether that be Nelson or Leidner. The receivers are going to be critical for Iowa on Saturday we can't have the drops we have had in other games. The good things is the receivers are improving but will need to continue to improve to for a Hawkeye victory. Now that we have broken down this game here's my prediction on what will happen on Saturday. 

           This will be a close game for three quarters with Iowa wearing down Minnesota's defense in the 4th quarter. I see a close game final score will be 28 to 10 with Iowa getting the victory. I think Iowa will win the game in the trenches but the Gophers will be able to keep this game close in front of their home crowd. Minnesota has has this game circled just like Iowa State did the problem for the Gophers is Iowa has the better quarterback and I believe Rudocks ability to make plays with his arm will be the difference in this game. I don't see Minnesota being able to run the ball very well which could turn this game into a blowout in Iowa's favor but I'm not ready to make that prediction yet. Honestly Iowa is just a little bit better but as we know strange things happen up at Minnesota so Iowa will have to play well if they are going to win. 

      I see Iowa controlling this game with Gophers right there till the 4th quarter but Iowa will score a late touchdown to make the game look more out of reach than it was. I've seen a lot of teams try to run it right at Iowa and most of the time these types of teams don't have a whole lot of success running the football. Now special teams could make an impact Iowa ran two punts back last weekend and Minnesota has ran one punt and one kick back for a touchdown this season. Iowa needs to cover the kicks better as there have been a number of times they got out of their lanes to almost give up a big play. If Iowa turns the ball over they can lose this game but I feel Iowa moves to 4-1 and 1-0 in Conference setting up a big game next week at home with the Spartans. That is my prediction I'll have a review of the game coming up in the next few days. The talk is over now it's time to settle it on the field as the Hawks will retain the Pig winning 28 to 10 thanks for reading.

Go Hawks.