Indiana - Projections

When Indiana has the ball:
Get ready for the "Pistol" offense, Ben Chappell runs it to perfection.  He has weapons on the outside in Damarlo Belcher, Tandon Doss, and Terrance Turner.  These three receivers are very talented and each of them have the ability to take the ball to the house on each catch.  The Hoosier offense will run a lot of receiver screens and stop patterns forcing the defensive backs to make one on one tackles.  Inside the red zone, Chappell loves to go to his tight end Ted Bolser, who has caught 5 touchdowns this season.  While the passing game is very good, the running game is on the opposite end of the spectrum.  They are not good on the ground, averaging under a hundred yards per game as a team.  The offensive line isn't very good, but they are helped greatly by Chappell making quick decisions and short routes.

When Iowa has the ball:
Iowa will roll into Bloomington with their backup running back looking to get his first collegiate start for the second straight time.  In 2008 Jewel Hampton got his first start and answered with a 114 yards 3 touchdown performance.  Look for Iowa to run the ball with Coker and bring in Brad Rodgers or Brett Morse on known passing situations for pass protection.  The passing attack for Iowa should find plenty of room to operate as Indiana's defense is not good.

What will happen:
Iowa will come out and move the ball at will against the Indiana offense.  Indiana will have a big play early to give their fans hope of an upset.  Look for Iowa to be up 14+ at halftime.  Indiana's offense has some big numbers, but against their toughest defenses they have faced this season they have struggled, throwing 7 interceptions against Illinois and Ohio State.  In the second half, Indiana will find the yardage tough to come by and when they are down, Iowa's defensive will be able to sit on the pass and cause turnover problems.

Predictions:
Iowa - 45
Indiana - 20

Stanzi has a 300+ yard game and 4 TD's
Chappel throws 4 interceptions
Coker runs for more than 150 and 1 TD
Iowa creates 6 turnovers
Coker busts a run of more than 50 yards
DJK gets the receptions record and has 2 TD's
Meyer extends his FG streak to 6 straight
Indiana is held to negative yards rushing

Indiana - Things to watch

The Iowa Hawkeyes will hit the road for only the third time this season, traveling to Bloomington, Indiana.  While the Hoosiers are still win less within the conference, their record is deceiving.  They have played very well at home and besides a blowout loss to Ohio State, they have been in every game.  Here are eight things to watch for on Saturday:

1. Marcus Coker - News broke today that Adam Robinson is going to miss the game on Saturday after suffering a concussion last week.  Marcus Coker figures to start the game at running back since he was listed as the backup on this week's depth chart.  Coker has seen action in two games, rushing for 100 total yards.  What is unknown is how he will perform when the game is still in question.  We haven't really seen how he does in pass protection, so you could see Brett Morse or Brad Rodgers get some playing time as well.
2. Linebacker - Iowa will be without Tyler Nielsen for the remainder of the season for sure and might be without the services of Jermiah Hunter and Jeff Tarpanian.  That leaves some holes to fill and Iowa is facing a team this week that is more of a spread team than last week when the young Iowa linebackers played so well.  How they match up against all the receivers Indiana will put on the field will be a major question.
3. 3-4 - As mentioned, Iowa has some injured linebackers and when the opponent gets into a sure passing situation, the coaches like to bring in a 3-4 defense.  When you are down so many linebackers that becomes a little bit tougher to do.  What we might see is Iowa bringing in more defensive backs at the linebacker position.
4. Offensive line - Iowa's offensive line has performed great the last five weeks, only allowing three sacks in that time.  On top of keeping Stanzi upright, they will be opening up holes for a true freshman running back.  Indiana's defense isn't very good, but when you have nothing to lose, you see teams pulling out all the stops and when you have a true freshman running backs, look for some blitzing.  The offensive line has probably known about A-Rob's injury all week and realizes they need to step their game up this week.
5. Defense - Iowa's defense finally put together a game last week that fans had been waiting for all season.  They dominated the Spartans offense and were really able to do about anything they wanted to.  This week, they are easily more talented than the Indiana offense, but Indiana has some great receivers and a solid quarterback.  Don't look for the 110th ranked rushing attack to have much success against Iowa, but their passing attack is 8th nationally.  The Indiana offense will put a lot of pressure on the Iowa secondary, who performed really good last week.
6. The century mark - Either Kirk Ferentz or Bill Lynch will end Saturday with their 100th career victory. Both coaches enter the game with 99 career victories and their teams will be playing hard to get their coach to the century mark.
7. Ben Chappell's foot - Chappell is one of the better passers in the Big Ten, but this week he was spotted with a walking boot on his foot to help his foot/ankle heal.  That isn't a good sign when you have one of the best defensive lines in the nation coming to town. Iowa figures to be able to stop the run and force Chappell to the air, where the talented front can take aim on a injured Chappell.
8. Stanzi - The season that Ricky is having is starting to garner some interest nationally in terms of Heisman buzz.  In five of the eight games this season he has thrown three or more touchdowns and on Saturday he will be facing a defense that is 105th nationally in pass efficiency defense.  With Adam Robinson being down look for Iowa to rely even more on the right arm or Stanzi to carry the offense.  Indiana's starting corners are not good, one was a receiver last year, the other one got his first career start last week.

Indiana - Notes

• Iowa is second in the nation with only 5 turnovers
• DJK had 0 catches last week
• Kirk Ferentz has 99 career coaching wins
• Iowa defense is 12th nationally in total defense
• Iowa has won 5 of the last 7 against the Hoosiers
• DJK's 8 touchdowns this season are tied for 4th best in Iowa history
• Iowa is second nationally with a +1.5/game turnover margin
• Stanzi and Ben Chappel are both semifinalists for the Davey O'Brien award
• Iowa has won 8 of their last 10 games away from Kinnick Stadium
• Points off turnover this season Iowa-85 Opp-7

Michigan St. - What we learned

Kinnick stadium was rocking and the football team responded with its most complete football game of the season to date.  Here are five things that we learned on Saturday:

1. The offensive line - Since the Arizona game where they gave up 6 sacks, the offensive line has given up three sacks in five games.  Not only that, but Ricky Stanzi hasn't really been bothered in the pocket, he has had plenty of time to find open receivers.  They have also been able to open holes for Adam Robinson to be able to average over 100 yards per game.  After the Arizona game, many fans were thinking that the offensive line was a liability, but they have come together to be a very solid unit.
2. Ricky Stanzi - Iowa fans should sit back and enjoy this guy.  Not only is he an elite collegiate quarterback, he is genuinely a good guy.  The numerous bracelets that he wears have been written about several times, he collects the bracelets from children that he visits at the hospital.  Now outside of the hospital, not many people know how often Stanzi is at the hospital, but know that he spends a lot of free time there. On top of being a great human being, Rick is also putting together one of the greatest single seasons by a Hawkeye quarterback that we have ever seen.
3. A new Kirk Ferentz - In the past we have all witnessed the conservatism Kirk displays, but on Saturday he burned timeouts with seconds to go in the first half forcing Michigan State to punt, ran a reverse pass when he was up big, and was still playing starters late into the game.  Nobody knows if there is a reason for his agressive moves, but don't dismiss the fact that Michigan State played Chris L. Rucker just days after he was released from prison.
4. Youth movement - Going into the season linebacker was one of the more experienced positions on the field, last Saturday Iowa relyed a great deal on two freshman, one true and one redshirt.  James Morris and Shane DiBona both performed great and have helped ease the fact that Iowa will be losing two starters from this unit as seniors.

Michigan St. - Predictions Recap

Predictions:

Iowa - 31 37

MSU - 24 6

Stanzi gets his second ever 300 yard game with 3 TD's (190 yards 3 TD)

Robinson totes the ball 25+ times for 100+ and a TD (69 yards 1 TD)

DJK sets the receptions record and gets closer to the TD record with 2 (0 catches 0 TD)

Iowa nets 5 sacks (1)

MSU scores on special teams (no)

Cousins throws three INT's (3)

Iowa holds MSU under 175 yard rushing (31)