Michigan St. - 10 Things to watch

1. Iowa's run defense needs to step up big time.  With the assumption that Jeff Tarpanian and Jerimiah Hunter are both not playing, Iowa will probably have a true freshman playing the middle linebacker position.  Against a team that runs the ball as well as Michigan State, the defensive line is going to have to have a great game to give Iowa a shot at winning.  The Spartans' primary backs, Baker and Bell, both average over six yards a carry.
2. Iowa's offensive line improving.  The last four games, the line has given up a total of three sacks and two of those came on plays where Stanzi left the pocket.  Besides keeping Ricky upright, they have been doing a very good job at opening up holes for Adam Robinson to run for just short of 117 yards per game the last four games.  After the Arizona game, there was a lot of talk about the line not being that good, but they have proven over the last four weeks that they are more than adequate.
3. Turnovers  Both teams are solid in the turnover game, both are positive over a turnover a game.  It has been since the first quarter of the Penn State game that Iowa has turned the ball over, a streak that has covered 11 quarters.  Michigan State has fumbled the ball 10 times this season, losing 7 of them.  Whichever team wins the turnover margin has a good shot at winning the game.
4. Norm will be in the house.  He has not been into the office, so he will probably not be making calls and wasn't involved with the game plan, but he is one of the best if not the best at making adjustments.  That is something that he will be able to do on the fly from the press box.  Along with making adjustments, don't underestimate the emotional boost his presence will give the defense.
5. Michigan State 2010 = Iowa 2009  Michigan State was a team that was thought to be able to challenge for the Big Ten title this year, but very few people would have predicted them being 8-0.  The way that they have gotten there is even more unorthodox, they had to have a furious rally last week against Northwestern and used a fake field goal in overtime to beat Notre Dame.  The other thing to watch is how Michigan State reacts to having the target on their back as opposed to usually being the underdog.
6. Iowa has to start winning the close ones.  Over the last three seasons, Iowa has lost a total of 8 games, each and every one of them were by 7 points or less.  The last three years, the Michigan State versus Iowa game has been decided by a total of 12 points.  Odds are in favor of this also being a close game.
7. Field Goal kickers. Michigan State has one of the better kickers in the game in Dan Conroy who is 13 of 14 on the season.  Iowa has a young kicker in Mike Meyer, who has made his last four field goal attempts.  If this game comes down to a field goal, look for either kicker to make the kick.
8. Chris L. Rucker  Rucker was part of the brew ha ha at the end of last season at a residence hall.  After being reinstated from that incident, head coach Mark D'Antonio stated that he would have "zero tolerance," in regards to Rucker.  While he was on probation, Rucker got pinched for driving under the influence.  He was sentenced to eight days in jail and was reinstated to the program the same day that he was released from jail.  Make no doubt about it, D'Antonio didn't reinstate him to not play him this weekend and Rucker is probably MSU's best defensive back.  What kind of shape he will be in will be interesting, not being involved with the program for 8 days is a lot of time.
9. Pressure on the Defensive backs.  Iowa's defensive backs have had a solid season to date, but they haven't faced a passing attack like the one they will face this weekend.  Kirk Cousins is a poor man's Ricky Stanzi, makes good decisions and has weapons on the outside.  Mark Dell and BJ Cunningham are the first two receivers and each have over 30 catches on the season and are the primary targets in the red zone.  Keshawn Martin and Keith Nichol operate out of the slot when MSU goes three wide.  Martin is their speedster that they will use on fly sweeps.  Iowa has to be able to make open field tackles as MSU loves the slot screen and "smoke" routes putting their wide outs one on one with defensive backs.  If Iowa's front seven cannot stop the run and the safeties have to step into the box to help, the Spartan receivers are good enough to burn Iowa deep on play action.
10. Special Teams.  Obviously if you have watched Iowa at all this season, you know that special teams have been anything but special.  It isn't just one team either, the kickoff and field goal teams have been awful this season.  Michigan State on the other hand used a fake punt last week to win and a fake field goal against Notre Dame to win.