Iowa State game preview

This is a rivalry game, so you might as well throw out all the trends, tendencies, and stats from last week. Both teams come in after non-impressive victories in their first games.

ISU on offense: How well do the Clones know this offense, the no-huddle semi-hurry up style? They looked good at times last week and bad at others. They have opened up their line splits which spreads the defense out more and gives the OL a better chance, I think they did this because they know they don't have a very good OL and needed to find an advantage. Robinson is a good back playing behind an average OL, so it really depends on their sets as to whether he has success against Iowa, if they spread out the Hawks he will have a better game than if they allow Iowa to keep 7 in the box. Arnaud will have a big game yardage wise, much like he did last year, so long as he takes what the Iowa defense gives him. Usually that means 8 yard outs and slants. Where he could really be a weapon is in the run game, if ISU goes 4-5 wide and then runs a QB draw they could have some success ala Brett Meyer a couple of years ago.

ISU on defense: The Cyclone defense was awful last year and at least in the first game this season didn't look much better. They are undersized up front and their back 7 missed a lot of tackles. They are opportunistic creating 2 turnovers, one of which was in their own end zone. They gave up over 200 yards rushing and almost that much passing against a inferior team. Johnson is a solid corner, but their defense has some work to do.

Iowa on offense: Last week was an awful performance for the Iowa offense, Stanzi was off on a majority of his throws and the line failed to open up many holes. Look for Iowa to stick with the run first pass second plan and hope that the OL gels more than it did last week.

Iowa on defense: The defense will be the key to this game, if Parker sticks to his base defense Arnaud will be licking his chops. Iowa showed more blitzes last week than any game in recent memory and could do that again, forcing Arnaud to make quick decisions. Look for the linebackers to perform better and the front seven to control the line of scrimmage.

ISU wins if: They stick to the wide open hurry up spread offense and not allow Iowa to substitute. Use the misdirection runs to help out the OL and give Robinson more running lanes. QB draw, Iowa has shown in past match ups that they don't defend it well. Their defense blitzes early and often, with Bulaga not playing, Iowa will have a makeshift OL that underperformed against UNI. If they can confuse the OL and Stanzi they have a chance to win this game. If ISU gets a lead early they force Iowa away from its bread and butter smash mouth clock eating style of football and it plays well for ISU.

Iowa wins if: They punch ISU in the mouth early. ISU will come out with a lot of emotion, they saw Iowa almost lose last week and this is Coach Rhoades first time as a head coach against Iowa. If Iowa comes out and scores early and gets a defensive stop, they emotion will be gone and it could be a long game for ISU. The OL plays up to its potential, they will have the benefit of Robinson in the backfield, who plays better than Paki, and ISU looked shakey at best last week against the run. If Iowa can get the running game going, that opens up their play action pass attack which is one of the things Iowa always does well. Defensively, Iowa needs to stop the run, if they can make ISU one dimensional it allows Iowa to focus on shutting down the pass. Look for ISU to move the ball between the 20's but have to settle for FG attempts.

Predictions:
Arnaud will pass for over 300 yards, but have 2 INT's
Iowa will record 4+ sacks
Adam Robinson has 125+ yards rushing
McNutt will have 100+ yards as ISU will focus on Moeaki
Both teams will have 2+ turnovers
Iowa will take the ball first and put points on the board on their first possession
ISU will miss at least 1 FG
A special teams play will be the difference in the game

Iowa 24
ISU 13