The first playoff rankings came out this week, and the Hawkeyes get a chance to win back Floyd next week.
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The Hawkeyes are looking for just their second 9-0 start in school history on Saturday. A bowl game is still a possibility, especially with Maryland and Purdue left on the schedule. The gameplan has had to change a little bit in the last few weeks because of a hip injury that has slowed down CJ Beathard and Iowa is still shuffling players around on the offensive line, but as far as injuries go Iowa is in much better shape than they were after the Northwestern game. Big Ten play has been a completely different – and disappointingly familiar – story for Kevin Wilson’s team, which has dropped all five of its league contests. Beathard led two consecutive touchdown drives after a Hoosiers field goal sliced the lead to a point, and the defense did enough to hold on. The Indiana quarterback is great at keeping the team in the game, throwing seven touchdown passes and 872 yards over the last two games. Since that time he’s gone 10-0 as Iowa’s starting quarterback. He rushed for 38 yards, including an 11-yard scamper in the final two minutes as the Hawkeyes were trying to kill the clock. “I’ve said this before, I don’t know how fast he is, but he runs fast when he is running after the ball; he gets there fast and tries to do damage when he gets there, which is what a good linebacker does”.
“That last run the coaches were iffy wondering if I could get out there and get the first down”. They “should” win them all, but Minnesota has a solid defense and might be playing the rest of the season with “win one for the Killer!” “If it is a shootout, we definitely have the tools and the people who can make explosive plays”. There wasn’t a single Spartan shooter who shot the ball more than three times during the whole game.
And then there was his leap. We’re good enough to win these games.
“I just think that we didn’t come out and perform the way that we wanted to”.
TD pass record: “I mean I feel like it’s a team record”.
In the second half, Howard was introduced to the Iowa defense.
They had closed within 21-20 early in the fourth quarter when Griffin Oakes made a 28-yard field goal.
Nate Sudfeld hit Michael Cooper for a late touchdown to get within a score with two and a half minutes left, but Indiana’s onside-kick attempt failed, ending all ideas of a comeback.
1, the number of touchdown passes Nate needs to throw to become IU’s all-time career leader (he is now tied at the top with Kellen Lewis).
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HOWARD’S HEALTH: Indiana RB Jordan Howard started the season with four straight games of 140-plus yards rushing. The Iowa attack will find a way by grinding out the ground game and with Beathard coming up with one of his best passing games of the season. The Hawkeyes ran for 234 yards and passed for 233. “Games like this show how we’re still a young and naive team and we need to mature a lot before we go somewhere, but hopefully we can pick our game up before heading to the Big Ten Tournament”.
