2011 Schedule

As the calendar continues to turn and the year inches closer and closer to the beginning of the college football season, let’s take a look at the schedule for the reigning Orange Bowl Champion, Iowa Hawkeyes.

Bold denotes 2009 Bowl Team
(Game location, 2009 record, returning starters, before and after game)

Eastern Illinois (Home, 8-4, 7 Off, 8 Def, -,Central Arkansas)- Should be nothing more than a tune up game to get quality reps and timing down in the offensive line, but after last seasons dramatic opener, better just get through the game with a win.

Iowa State (Home, 7-6, 8 Off, 4 Def, Northern Illinois, KSU @Kansas City)- The annual rivalry game will once again be a good game, even though ISU has not scored a touchdown in 14 quarters. The Cyclones know that if they want to make a bowl with the Big 12 schedule, they need to sneak out of Iowa City with a win.

Arizona (Away, 8-5, 7 Off, 4 Def, Citadel/California)- Every Iowa fan remembers the last time that the Hawkeyes were in Arizona to play a night game, pretty sure that Andrew Walter still watches that game replay as a personal highlight reel. Similar to the 2003 Orange Bowl, look for Kirk Ferentz to learn from his mistakes and have his team ready to go in the Arizona heat.

Ball State (Home, 2-10, 9 Off, 7 Def, @Purdue/@Central Michigan- This should be a game that the Hawks can lick their wounds from the duel in the desert and prepare for their Big Ten title run.

Penn State (Home, 11-2, 7 Off, 5 Def, Temple/Illinois)- Penn State will be taking their second road trip of the season to their personal house of horrors. Iowa is 7-1 in their last 8 games with Penn State including three straight wins inside Kinnick Stadium. Penn State will have this game circled on their schedule and look for a similar finish to the 2008 thriller.

Michigan (Away, 5-7, 7 Off, 7 Def, Michigan State/@ Penn State)- Classic trap game, Penn State the week before and Wisconsin the week after for the Hawks, however Michigan will be coming off their rivalry game with Michigan State and looking down the barrel of a trip to Happy Valley. The Big House isn’t what it used to be, but Rich Rodriguez has talent on the roster and if they can put it together on the field they will be tough.

Wisconsin (Home, 10-3, 10 Off, 5 Def, Ohio State/@ Purdue)- This game will be old-school Big Ten football, the battle in the trenches could be epic. Wisconsin will come to Iowa City with possibly the best offensive line in the nation to go up against possibly the nation’s best defensive line in the Iowa front four. Iowa is 6-2 in the last 8 against Wisconsin and this game could play a huge role in what team is playing in Pasadena.

Michigan State (Home, 6-7, 5 Off, 7 Def, @Northwestern/Minnesota)- Don’t think for a minute that the Spartans have forgotten how Iowa snatched victory out of the hands of defeat last year. Their defensive back seven will be one of the better in the Big Ten, but with most of the offensive skilled positions being new, they will have to keep opponents’ scores down.

Indiana (Away, 4-8, 7 Off, 3 Def, Northwestern/@Wisconsin)- The “pistol” offense will be prolific this season as Indiana has a bevy of talented receivers and a quarterback, Ben Chappell, to get them the ball. They will have to score a lot of points to win games however as they will replace 8 starters on defense, six of which are in the back seven.

Northwestern (Away, 8-5, 6 Off, 6 Def, @Penn State/Illinois @ Chicago)- Iowa will have to exercise their own demons as they have lost four of the last five to the Wildcats. Even though they will be replacing almost all of their starting skilled position players, coach Pat Fitzgerald will have his team ready for the Hawkeyes.

Ohio State (Home, 11-2, 8 Off, 6 Def, Penn State/Michigan)- The Klash at Kinnick or whatever witty name that the talking heads will dub this game could be the biggest game ever at Kinnick Stadium or it could just be another game, the first 10 games of the season will determine that. Iowa won too many close games last year to count on being undefeated for this game. If both teams are unscathed at this point, this game will pit two top 5 teams and have National Championship implications.

Minnesota (Away, 6-7, 9 Off, 2 Def, @Illinois/-)- Will the new TCF Bank Stadium prove to be Kinnick North like its predecessor did? Iowa has won three of the last four in Minnesota and 8 of the last 9 overall against the Gophers. Nobody knows what kind of team Brewster will put on the field as they have changed their offense twice in his three years at the helm.