Ten Things to Watch for - Iowa State

1.  Will the streak continue?  If you have picked up the newspaper, turned on the Internet, listened to the radio, or watched the news this week, chances are you have heard about the streak.  Iowa State hasn't scored a touchdown on Iowa in 14 quarters of game play.  The streak would seem a lot better if the Cyclones hadn't squeaked out a victory with 5 field goals in 2007.  Let's take a closer look at some things that have happened during the streak, Iowa State has had three coaches, two color changes, and and logo change.  The total amount of game time in the streak is 210 minutes and in terms of days it will have been 1456 days since the Cyclones crossed the goal line against the Hawkeyes.  You would think that there would be a broken coverage, a special teams play, or something like that in three games.  It really is a testament to how great Norm Parker's defense has been.

2.  Did the Iowa State coaches give Austin Arnaud a box of crayons to practice?  The last two years against Iowa he has thrown for 303 yards and 6 interceptions.  More remarkable when you know that Iowa State was outscored 52-8 in those games and needed to pass to try and come back.  If he cannot connect with players wearing the same jersey as him, it will spell doom for Iowa State on Saturday.  The biggest problem he has had is getting too greedy.  Everyone in the stadium knows that Iowa will run a cover 2 zone defense 90% of the game.  The way that you beat a zone like that is by utilizing the sidelines and the tight end.  Where Austin has run into trouble is when he gets greedy and tries to go deep, where the Iowa safeties are lurking and waiting for the ball.

3.  The streak of kickers continues at Iowa State.  For years the Iowa State program has been plagued by poor kickers and punters.  The sample size is small, but ISU's punter, Daniel Kuehl, has one punt for 18 yards.  This week he will be playing a team that blocked a punt last week, combining with a hostile crowd to create a less than ideal situation for the punter.  For your information, his backup is listed as true freshman, Kirby Van Der Kamp from West Des Moines Valley, see above for not a good spot for your first college punt.  As far as kickers go, Iowa State has had a run of guys that cracked under pressure, their current one, Grant Mahoney has his own personal house of horrors, going 1-4 two years ago in Kinnick Stadium.  If Iowa State has a chance at all, they have to get great performances out of their kicking game.

4.  Turnovers are crucial in this game.  The last two years, Iowa is +5 in turnover margin, coincidentally, Iowa is 2-0 in those games.  If Iowa is positive in the turnover margin, they win the game hands down.  Iowa State created 3 turnovers in their first game, but gave it away three times as well. 

5.  Jewel returns.  After a year away from football nursing a knee injury and missing the first game this season for a suspension, Jewel Hampton returns to carry the ball for the Hawks.  It remains to be seen how Iowa will divide up the running back carries this season, last year, they went series for series with the two primary ball carriers.  In my opinion that was a bad move, each back runs different and to switch out as much as they did last year hurt the running game more than it helped it.  Adam Robinson played well enough in week 1 to get the start, but how many carries each will get will be interesting to see.

6.  The Iowa offensive line.  Last week they didn't get much of a test, but they gave Ricky Stanzi plenty of time to throw the ball and created nice running lanes for Robinson to go through.  This week they play against a front 7 that is much better than Eastern Illinois.  The key to Iowa's offensive line success will be the running game, if they can get the running game working, it opens up the playbook for the play-action that Iowa runs so well.  With all signs pointing to Josh Koeppel and Adam Gettis being healthy enough to play, it will be interesting to see if they get reps right away or if Reece Morgan sticks with James Ferentz and Nolan MacMillon.

7.  The back four of Iowa's defense will be tested.  Last week the lone touchdown Iowa gave up came on a fake punt run and long pass play.  This week Iowa's defensive backs will see four and five wide sets and be challenged to cover the bigger Iowa State receivers.  If Iowa State is successful in the passing game and gets Iowa to go to a nickel or dime set regularly, it will open up ISU's zone read running plays.

8.  If last week was a glimpse into how Ricky Stanzi will play this season, Iowa fans can breath a little bit easier.  He made good decisions last week, checking down and even running instead of forcing passes into coverage.  If he can minimize his mistakes, he could have a field day with the suspect at best Cyclone defensive backfield.  If Iowa gets the run game working, it will cause the Iowa State defense to fast flow and open up bootlegs where Ricky will find his talented receivers in single coverage against the secondary. 

9.  Can Clayborn and company rebound from a poor performance last year in Ames.  To a man the defensive line will tell you that they were pushed around last year by the offensive line of the Cyclones.  This year, they should have a chip on their shoulder and if they cannot own the line of scrimmage, it spells trouble for the Hawkeyes.  It also remains to be seen if they will get too much pressure.  If they begin to get up field with ease, it opens up creases for Alexander Robinson to run through.  Look for Iowa State to control the defensive pressure with screens and draws.

10.  Will Norm Parker be in attendance?  No football fan can deny the fact that Norm Parker is one of the better defensive coordinators in the nation.  He has a knack for being able to take away what the other team wants to do offensively.  He is able to do this without setting his team up for failure with blitzes and risky man coverages.  He was in the hospital today and his absence from the stadium tomorrow would be felt.