NU Iowa Opening line
- Thread starter trumpytheballcarrier
- Start date
NU clearly looked like the better team this week, but travel, limited fans, and pumped in crowd noise are still a factor of being on the road in 2020. Seems like we have a run game at least on par with Iowa, and a QB and defense that I will take against anyone in the West. I'll go with Cats -2 but not so sure... any way to leave Iowa City 2-0 is fine with me.
I could see the books overreacting but not by much.
If the Cats are favored by more than 4-5, I’d be surprised. So I’ll go Cats by 3.5.
If the Cats are favored by more than 4-5, I’d be surprised. So I’ll go Cats by 3.5.
Iowa is a very good team. Their 1st time starter at QB was inconsistent yesterday but he showed some glimpses of being a good player in the parts I saw. As usual, they have an excellent OL, a very good TE, solid skill position players as well as a fundamentally sound defense. It will be a dog fight.
I am just glad that Bowser’s ankle appeared to be just fine. As much as I liked to see all the RBs get in on the action this week (Brown, Hull, etc.), NU is going to need some tough running from him against a team like Iowa. He was crucial to NU’s win there in 2018.
I think this season more than any other it is important to win early. Emotionally, it will be difficult to keep losing teams engaged in the covid environment. It would be easy for players to write the season off as non standard or otherwise flawed.
I was not impressed with the Hawkeyes after watching the UI-PU replay. Sloppy, not explosive and timid. Also, the home environment in Iowa City is a disadvantage (for the Hawkeyes) going into this week, given the criticism of both the first game and Ferentz generally. The table is set for a big win for NU going into this game.
Minnesota opened as 18 pt favorites over Maryland, now it's 19 pts.
Vegas is saying: Maryland is bad, don't know about NU yet.
Vegas is saying: Maryland is bad, don't know about NU yet.
Which has seemed to be the X factor in getting Northwestern ranked in early season play even when we are not playing against a ranked team.
I predict it will be a nail-biter. Iowa will clean up the mistakes. Expect the usual physical game between these two.
Bleacher Report says:
- Northwestern (1-0) at Iowa (0-1), 3:30 p.m. ET
The Big Ten was full of surprises in its opening week of action, including Iowa's 24-20 loss to Purdue. The Hawkeyes were No. 24 in the first AP Poll and viewed by many as the clear No. 3 team in the West Division behind Wisconsin and Minnesota. Meanwhile, Northwestern rushed for 325 yards in a 43-3 thrashing of Maryland and looks poised to make a jump into the rankings with another win.
Prediction: Northwestern 27, Iowa 21
Northwestern-Iowa games are generally tough, but I think this year we should be able to pound them. I don't think it'll be close, something like 31-20.
I don't know No Chores. Lot's of Iowa self inflicted wounds suggests Iowa beat Iowa with Purdue the benefactor. Did you see the penalties and turnovers? How about when the Iowa OLM stripped his own RB of the ball and Purdue recovered? I don't see all that happening 2 weeks in a row.
I would feel a lot better if we had Kent and Gold playing at DT. Advantage Iowa in the running game and the red zone.
Expect the worse (Hawks 27 - Cats 23) and hope for the best (Cats 27 - Hawks 23)
GOUNUII
Genuine question: Did you see any troubling signs from the DT play against Maryland?
Yes and No. No in that we got ahead so fast Md. wasn't going to attack us up the middle with the running game. Iowa is a much different animal. If we don't hold the middle of the LOS they will run and play action us with success to their TEs and WRs.
Yes in that I noticed we got very little push up the middle when Md. passed the ball.
GOUNUII
Below is what I wrote on the Iowa board yesterday about the game this weekend. As I said, really hope I'm wrong. I have optimism, but as I said, I really worry about our lack of d-line depth in this one. If Gold and Kent were available, I'd be feeling much better. Here is what I said over there...
Wildcat fan here. Hate to agree with my fellow Wildcat fan, GOUNUII, but the NU injuries up front on the defensive line, especially in the middle, are very real. Not something I want coming into a game in Iowa City.
We played a fantastic game on Saturday night (I truly couldn't have drawn up a better game if I tried), but as mentioned, Maryland is really bad. They have some top end talent in a few places, but way too many holes in their starting 22, and lack depth at most position groups. Iowa is WAY better than Maryland. Not even close. I also saw most of the Iowa/Purdue game, and thought Iowa was clearly the better team, but had way too many self inflicted mistakes (penalties and turnovers) and paid for it at the end. I can't expect the same sloppiness from the Hawkeyes on Saturday. Iowa also had, as they did last year, big problems with David Bell. I like some of the Wildcat receivers, but we don't have anyone like him on our roster.
I expect a good game on Saturday, but our D-line injuries are likely going to be a problem as the game goes on. It would help a lot if Greg Newsome, our best CB who didn't play on Saturday vs. Maryland was back, but we won't know if that is the case until game time. Would love to be wrong, but I'm going Iowa 27-17. Go Cats.
Wildcat fan here. Hate to agree with my fellow Wildcat fan, GOUNUII, but the NU injuries up front on the defensive line, especially in the middle, are very real. Not something I want coming into a game in Iowa City.
We played a fantastic game on Saturday night (I truly couldn't have drawn up a better game if I tried), but as mentioned, Maryland is really bad. They have some top end talent in a few places, but way too many holes in their starting 22, and lack depth at most position groups. Iowa is WAY better than Maryland. Not even close. I also saw most of the Iowa/Purdue game, and thought Iowa was clearly the better team, but had way too many self inflicted mistakes (penalties and turnovers) and paid for it at the end. I can't expect the same sloppiness from the Hawkeyes on Saturday. Iowa also had, as they did last year, big problems with David Bell. I like some of the Wildcat receivers, but we don't have anyone like him on our roster.
I expect a good game on Saturday, but our D-line injuries are likely going to be a problem as the game goes on. It would help a lot if Greg Newsome, our best CB who didn't play on Saturday vs. Maryland was back, but we won't know if that is the case until game time. Would love to be wrong, but I'm going Iowa 27-17. Go Cats.
Boo.
Our D line will be just fine. Cats will plug the middle adequately, and our linebackers will do the rest in the run game. For the pass rush, we usually rely on our DE's and blitzes to pressure the QB. I presume we'll see a lot of blitzing on Saturday.
Our D line will be just fine. Cats will plug the middle adequately, and our linebackers will do the rest in the run game. For the pass rush, we usually rely on our DE's and blitzes to pressure the QB. I presume we'll see a lot of blitzing on Saturday.
In my recollection, a blitz heavy package is something I haven‘t seen too often. That said, I agree that unless the DL can get healthy quickly and our DTs can start to quickly collapse the pocket, Coach Hank will need to dial up more blitzes against good OLs this year ( and the B1G West has a few good OLs ). Sorrel’s decommit does sting for this reason.
Hank seemed to blitz more than usual against MD but that's just my impression. Ruiz got his sack from the edge with Gallagher coming up the middle on that play.
Looked like he used more blitzes to try to force earlier decisions from Tagovoiloa so our CBS didn’t have to cover their fast WRs for 5+ seconds.
He put up 17 points with a good first half at Purdue. Question is, how soon can he put it together for 60 minutes?
Can’t disagree here. Hard to imagine that Iowa can clean up so many mistakes in one week. Too bad, because there’s a lot of talent there.