Iowa @ Ohio State Preview

      Hey Hawk Fans we are just a few days away from a trip to the horse shoe to take on number 4 ranked Ohio State. Both teams are coming off a bye week so having the bye week doesn't help as much as it will later on this year before the Michigan game. Now Iowa is coming off a tough loss to a very physical Michigan State team so hopefully the bye week allowed the team to get healthy for this weekend. The Hawkeyes haven't won at the Horse Shoe since November 2nd of 1991 so if any team is due to pull of the shocker it would be Iowa. Ohio State owns the longest active win streak in College Football having won 18 straight games under the leadership of Urban Meyer. The Buckeyes come in to this game with a record of 6-0, 2-0 in the Big Ten with wins over Wisconsin 31 to 24, and on the road at Northwestern 40 to 31. Iowa on the other hand comes in with a record of 4-2 1-1 in the Big Ten with a win at Minnesota and a loss at home against Michigan State. Ohio State has won 12 of the last 13 meetings in this series and 4 in a row this will also be the last time Iowa plays Ohio State until the year 2017 which will be at Kinnick. That is some of the background information on the game so lets jump into the X's and Os's to see who should win this game.

       I'm going to start with the Iowa Offense against the Ohio State defense, all season long Iowa has been able to run the football except for the Michigan State game 2 weeks ago where they were forced to pass. Iowa is 32nd in the nation rushing for 207.1 yards per game, that took a big hit last week when they only rushed for 30 yards against the Spartans. Everybody knows what Iowa wants to do that is run the football and for the most part this season they have been able too. This will be critical on Saturday as Iowa's best defense of an explosive Ohio State offense may just be to keep them off the field which means the offense needs to move the ball. Ohio State is number 6 in the nation in rushing defense only allowing 86 yards per game so this will come down to the battle in the trenches. The Buckeyes have been tested on the ground and passed that test vs Wisconsin only allowing 104 rushing yards on 27 carries in their win a few weeks ago. We need Weisman healthy for this game he was banged up vs Michigan State so hopefully he is healed up. I also want to see more passing to Damon Bullock out of the backfield he is a very good receiver and matched up on a linebacker has the ability to make a play with the ball in his hands.

      Iowa's pass offense is ranked 85th in the nation only averaging 209 yards passing per game so getting some type of running game is critical for an Iowa victory. Ohio State is a little bit vulnerable in the secondary allowing 239 yards passing a game good enough for 77th in the nation. For Iowa to have a chance to win this game the offense needs to make some plays in the passing game to open up the running game. Usually Iowa is the opposite of that running to set up the play action pass but vs a defense like Ohio State we will have more success if we can throw the ball to set up the run. Iowa averages 29.7 points per game so controlling the time of possession will be very important if Iowa is able to come out with a victory. Iowa needs Keyvonte Martin Manley to be healthy this week, their are still some questions on whether he will be or not as we saw last week the Iowa offense struggled when he came out of the game. One thing that we may look back on as a good thing when they couldn't run the football they did throw the ball pretty well on a few of the drives the two in the second quarter and the one at the end of the game. I believe Iowa will be able to throw the football on this Buckeye defense Northwestern who probably has better skill position players than Iowa was able to go up and down the field with the pass but other teams have thrown on them too. Wisconsin who really isn't a great passing team destroyed Ohio State with the pass.

       This game could rest on Jake Rudocks shoulders, I have a lot of confidence he can get the job done but we need the receivers to step up this weekend. Also with Ohio State's pass rush I would like to see more screens and passes to our backs out of the backfield this weekend. Powell needs to be on the field a lot this game he is a legit threat that can do some damage, Tevaun Smith seems to be more consistent and we really need to get the tight ends involved this weekend. For the offense to be successful Iowa needs to be able to gain positive yardage so they aren't stuck with 3rd and longs all game. I also think passing down the field on first down should be a big part of the game plan, Ohio State has athletes in that secondary but they are young a couple of double moves could get Iowa off on the right foot. This year Iowa has been very good on the play action pass on 1st down so hopefully they continue to run these plays early in the game. I will be very interested to see who comes out to start at receiver on Saturday. The Iowa defense will make plays but for Iowa to win this game they must move the chains and keep the Buckeyes offense off the field they don't have to put up a touchdown every drive but being able to put some drives together so the defense can rest will be critical.

        Looking at the Ohio State offense they are so explosive scoring on one play is something they do a lot so tackling will be huge in this game. They have a number of guys on this offense that are threats to take it the distance and this starts with Braxton Miller who has rushed for 233 yards and thrown for 609 yards 6 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. They also just got Carlo Hyde back and he is a big physical back that had a very good game against Northwestern. Ohio States offense is averaging 46.1 points per game so getting in a shootout with the Buckeyes is not a good idea. Ohio State is 11th in the nation in rushing averaging 280 yards per game on the ground. They are 77th in passing only throwing for 212 yards per game so Ohio State is going to want to run the football but they do have some skill guys on the outside that we can't allow behind the defense. This is going to be a pick your poison type of game Iowa's run defense is ranked 8th in the nation only allowing 88.5 yards per game and 0 rushing touchdowns this season. Even though Iowa's pass defense has given up some big plays they are still ranked 28th in the country allowing 201 yards passing per game.

     Besides Wisconsin Ohio Stats has not faced the type of defense they will see on Saturday so if we can stop the run I think Iowa will have a chance to win this game. Ohio State will be running almost exclusively out of shotgun so the defensive ends staying at home will be huge so Braxton Miller can't beat us with his legs. The Buckeyes want to play a physical brand of football on offense so this will come down to who can win the war in the trenches. Iowa has given up big plays in the passing game so eliminating those will be huge as the Buckeyes have guys on the outside to make the Hawks pay if they mess up the coverage. Northwestern just sat in a zone against the Ohio State which did keep them in the game but Ohio State still ran the ball for a lot of yards. Iowa will be aggressive like they have been all season but when they blitz they must contain Miller so he can't get outside and make a play. The key for the defense is shutting down the run and making Ohio State try to beat us throwing the ball. Although Braxton Miller is a very talented player he does take risks making bad reads and he has been known to fumble so getting 11 guys to the ball could force some mistakes from him. On the outside the main guys to watch out for are Philly Brown who has 30 catches for 382 yards 5 touchdowns and Devin Smith who has 23 catches for 362 yards 5 touchdowns. The Ohio State offense is very explosive which is why this game I believe will be on the offense to not only score points but keep the high powered Buckeye offense off the field.

     This week I decided to give turnovers it's own paragraph because as always it is an extremely critical factor to determining the outcome of this game. Both Iowa and Ohio State have forced 12 turnovers on the season so the team that wins the turnover battle should win the game. Jake Rudock threw 3 interceptions last weekend so he will have to be very careful with the football as Ohio State has the athletes in the secondary to jump some of those short routes. Ohio State has 7 interceptions on the season forcing 5 fumbles while Iowa has forced 3 fumbles and has 9 interceptions. Neither team really has the edge Iowa is undefeated on the road with wins over Iowa State and Minnesota so they will be ready for what they are going to see at Ohio State.

     Special Teams which has been a huge factor in both of Iowa's losses this season giving up first downs on fake punts to Northern Illinois and Michigan State. Kickoff coverage has been a problem at times this season for the Hawks so they need to get that straightened out as Ohio State averages 23 yards per kick return with 0 touchdowns. Jordan Cotton has done a pretty good job when he has been able to run the kick back and remember the last time we played Ohio State it was a kick return by DJK that almost allowed us to win the game. Mike Meyer is a very good kicker so I trust him to make big kicks hopefully we only see him a kicking PAT's this weekend but if he is needed scoring points will be critical whether thats 3 or 7. Punt Returns I'm not sure who will be back for the punts this weekend Keyvonte Martin Manley is banged up so we could see Riley McCarron back their again. Punting although it isn't what most fans think of can be very important for Iowa to win this game they need to win the field position battle. No Fakes this week Iowa can't give up another fake punt especially that changes the game and Urban Meyer is definitely known to try these so the return team needs to be ready.

      My keys to an Iowa victory are to win the field position battle if we can turn the Buckeyes over a couple of times we should have a shot to win this football game. Iowa must run the ball over 100 yards if they can't get over 100 as a team that puts a whole lot of pressure on our developing passing game. Jake Rudock must complete at least 5 passes over 20 yards to open up the running game if Iowa can't throw the ball down the field it could be a long day. My prediction is Iowa pulling off a shocker winning at Ohio State for the first time since November 2nd of 1991 my score is Iowa 28 Ohio State 24. Iowa played the best defense in the Big Ten in their last game Ohio State is vulnerable on the outside so if Iowa can get Powell in some one on one situations he can win those battles. This is more of my heart prediction my brain is telling me Ohio Sate 34 to 24 but I don't believe Ohio State will blow the Hawkeyes out I think if Iowa can be in this game in the 4th quarter that is all you can ask for. I mean if you just look at 2 numbers Ohio State has won 18 games in a row and Iowa hasn't won in Columbus since 1991 eventually that streak is going to break. I think Iowa is due for a big win on the road 28 to 24. I'll have the review of this game next week so be sure to check back thanks for reading.

GO Hawks.