Iowa vs Northwestern Preview

Will the magical season that Iowa is having continue against Northwestern? If so, Iowa will have to snap the Wildcats two game winning streak at Kinnick Stadium.

When Iowa has the ball-
Northwestern's defense is a very talented and fundamentally sound unit. That being said, they have been bit by the injury bug in their secondary and haven't had the same starters for several weeks. They have a talented DE in Cory Wooten, but he has been contained this season compared to last season. His season doesn't get any easier this week going against the skilled tackles of Iowa. Look for Northwestern to play the same sort of defense as Indiana and load the box, forcing Iowa to pass to win. On paper, Iowa has superior talent to Northwestern, however, Northwestern feeds off of the emotion of their head coach. The way that Iowa has come out of the gate the last several weeks that could pose some problems in the area of momentum. Northwestern's secondary isn't very good and as previously mentioned, they are banged up. Look for Iowa to have the same sort of offense they did last week, run the ball and then go to a play action passing attack.

When Northwestern has the ball-
Northwestern is yet another spread offense team that Iowa will play this season. They have a very talented QB in Kafka, however he left last week's game against Penn State early with a hamstring injury. Part of his effectiveness is his ability to move in and outside of the pocket. When Northwestern gets into the red zone, they rely a lot of their quarterback as their running backs aren't the most skilled. If Kafka can't go, it is a huge advantage for the Hawks. You probably will see some nickel and dime defense out of Iowa this week as the Wildcats will deploy 4 and 5 wide sets quite often.

What will happen-
Northwestern will start of strong and more than likely score on their first possession. The Iowa defense will begin to impose their will on a young offensive line. Iowa fans will again become impatient with the Hawkeye offense in the first half as O'Keefe will be setting things up for the second half. In the end the Iowa team will prove to be too physical on both sides of the line for Northwestern and eventually wear them down.

Score Prediction:
Iowa 31
Northwestern 20

Predictions:
Stanzi will throw for 250+ yards
Rick will throw 3 TD's and 1 INT
Wegher will go for 80+ yards and a score
DJK will have a big game with 100+ yards and a touch
Stross will have the other TD and 3 catches
Moeaki will once again be bottled up with 2 catches for 25 yards
Reisner will catch a TD
The defense allows less than 80 yards rushing
Iowa forces 4 TO's
Kafka doesn't finish the game
The defensive line gets three sacks and a fumble recovery
Sash, Prater, and Lowe get INT's
Iowa finishes with 375 yards of total offense