10 Things to look for - Arizona

Iowa's first real road game will take them west to Tuscon to do battle with the Arizona Wildcats.  Last year the Hawks defeated the Wildcats, 27-17 and it wasn't even that close.  This will be a great measuring stick for Iowa to know where they are at.  Last year, Iowa proved that they could win big road games, and this will be one of their toughest road games of the season.  Ten things to look for on Saturday:

1.  There will be a battle in the trenches.  Arizona's offensive line boasts four seniors and a junior, while Iowa's defensive line has three seniors and a junior.  On the outside, Iowa's all everything defensive end has started the season slowly, mostly due to opposing teams running away from him and having quick pass routes, negating his ability to get sacks.  This week Arizona's strength on the offensive line is tackle, Adam Grant, who was picked as a first team Pac Ten teamer in the preseason.  Last year, Iowa's defensive line dominated the line of scrimmage and that stymied Nic Grigsby, who at the time was second in the nation in rushing.  Who wins this battle will go a long ways in the final outcome of the game.

2.  How patient will Nick Foles be?  Every Iowa fan knows that Iowa will play a cover two zone on Saturday.  The weak points in the zone are underneath the linebackers and short out patterns.  If Foles can be patient and nickle and dime his way down the field he will be successful.  On the season he has completed an astounding 83% of his passes, going 49 for 59.  He spreads the ball around as well, completing more than 5 passes to seven different receivers.

3.  Arizona's rebuilt front seven.  All that returns from Arizona's 2009 front 7 are their two defensive ends.  They have a lot of speed up front and have a formation that they call "Cheetah" where they bring in the backup defensive ends as tackles.  Against an offensive line that isn't based on mis-direction and angles won't help the Wildcat front 7 as Iowa will come out and inflict punishment on the defensive line.

4.  Will the Iowa offense stall?  Through two games, Iowa has attempted a whopping zero field goals.  Daniel Murray has been out for both of those games and Trent Mossbrucker only had to kick 20 yard extra points.  The fact that Mossbrucker redshirted last year and hasn't really kicked since the end of the 2008 season and even then he was overlooked for one of the biggest kick in Iowa history against Penn State.  If the Iowa offense stalls in the red zone, it will be interesting to see how Trent does and what kind of confidence he has.

5.  Will Ricky go Ricky?  So far this season Stanzi has shown some maturity than he did last year.  He seems to have finally put his "gun slinger" mentality behind him.  However so far this season, Iowa has not asked him to do too much.  If Iowa finds themselves behind in this game it will be interesting to see how Stanzi reacts.  If he starts forcing things, Arizona has good enough corners in, Wade and Golden, to make Stanzi pay.  Last year it was Wade who put Arizona first score on the board with a pick six.

6.  Wild Wild West.  How will the Iowa player's fare going from the central time to a pacific time zone?  The last time that Iowa went to the state of Arizona, they were embarrassed by Arizona State in 2004.  Everyone likes to point to that game saying that Iowa doesn't play well out west, but they also said that about Iowa playing in the Orange Bowl.  Kirk Ferentz learns from his mistakes and he will change things around compared to what happened in 2004, they have already had several night practices in the pre-season, so the players are used to gearing up at that time of night.

7.  Linebacker's in space.  Arizona will not line up like Iowa with double tight ends and I backs at any point of this game outside of the goal line.  They will have three or four wideouts deployed most of the game.  The key for Iowa will be their linebackers making open field tackles on running backs and wideouts.  You will see a lot of running backs on the edge and wide receiver screens, which neutralizes the dominant Iowa defensive line and puts a ton of pressure on Hunter, Tarpanian, and Nielsen to make plays.

8.  Iowa kick coverage.  If there was one thing that you could take out of the Iowa State game negatively, it would be the kick coverage.  This week it was announced that backup linebackers Bruce Davis and Troy Johnson will be on the squad, they have to make an immediate impact as well.  The Arizona Wildcats so far this season have averaged 25 yards per return in limited action.  The returners that they have back are shifty quick guys that can get the edge if allowed.

9.  No Norm.  With no Norm Parker calling defensive plays, it will be interesting to see if there is a change in the calls.  Last week you didn't see any blitzes, but you also didn't need them when you are up early.  If Arizona starts marching down the field with short passes, it will be interesting to see if Iowa goes to a nickel or dime defense or even brings some blitzes to rattle Foles.  Without Norm could also prove to be a plus as the Iowa coaches will probably stress winning it for Norm in pre-game.

10.  Heat  How will the Iowa players react to the serious heat that will be on the field on Saturday night.  The forecast calls for a high of 103, now at 7:30 local time, it won't be that hot, but it will still be hotter than normal.  Will there be some leg cramps on the Iowa squad?  One would think that the trainers will have them loaded with potassium and liquids prior to the game to try and combat that.  On the other hand, with the heat and continuous pounding of the offensive line, will the Wildcat defense wear down?