Now that the Hawkeyes (11-0, 7-0 Big Ten) have moved up to No. 4 in the College Football Playoff rankings, destiny is in their hands.
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Call it cliché or call it fact, but successful football teams have a knack for focusing one game at a time.
Iowa linebacker Parker Hesse (40) scores a touchdown after intercepting a throw by Nebraska quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. To me what sports and athletics teach is giving your best, and you do it, and if you’re involved in a team sport, every guy in the room is counting on you, coaches, players. It was Kittle’s sixth touchdown of the season on just his 17th reception.
“He’s created a toughness and chemistry on this football team”, Long said.
The Huskers finished with 433 yards, but those four interceptions were killers. It needed a minor-miracle to beat Michigan State, and it’s going to need a late field goal to stun the Hawkeyes.
Iowa’s average yield is a six-point-per-game jump from last season, eight points over 2013 and 15 more than 2012, when Ferentz’s seat was at its hottest.
The stakes for Friday’s Iowa-Nebraska game has all the ingredients to punch up this young border rivalry. In other words, it’s a team that’s laying in the weeds waiting to attack while trying to salvage its first season under coach Mike Riley.
Even though the Hawkeyes pulled out the win, it didn’t come without some very nervous moments along the way.
“When we have a good team, typically we find a way to win close games”, Ferentz said.
Iowa is ranked number four in the nation thanks to a ideal 11-0 record for the season. It culminated with a 45-28 defeat to Tennessee in the TaxSlayer Bowl in a game where the Volunteers led 42-7 heading into the fourth quarter. But when you’re winning and having a magical year you can’t wait to get to the next meeting, the next function or whatever the case may be. Jewell leads the team in tackles with 102 total tackles, and he has 6.5 tackles for loss this season. While this style of play has Iowa flying under the radar – and very likely an underdog against the Spartans, let alone Clemson, Alabama or another in the Playoff – it also has Iowa unbeaten. With Iowa in the mid-50’s in recruiting, they are just a slight bit off from top 10. One is reflexively conditioned to assume under when Penn State plays, but the over has hit in the last two games, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it does again. “They’re a good football team, good offensively, good defensively, two excellent specialists, and good core guys on the special teams”. The HyVee Heroes Game is the annual trophy game between Nebraska and Iowa. Just win and the next week in Indianapolis more than the B1G title will be on the line. “For me, I feel like that’s showing leadership, showing my coaches trust me and believe in what kind of player that I am”.
Turns out, the Yellowjackets put a damper on a few homecomings that year, Collins recalled earlier this week.
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– MI coach Jim Harbaugh doesn’t discount the possibility of Jabrill Peppers playing offense exclusively next season. “That’s something I’ve got to fix and something I’m going to fix”. You’d like to continue to be able to pop it to Cethan and get a first down.
