The need to know
What: Iowa at Indiana
Where: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington
When: 11:00 AM
TV: BTN (Game Finder)
Iowa injury report
Injuries have gotten out of hand with the Iowa football team. It's too hard to tell who's coming off of injury, who's still injured, etc... There are lots of rumors flying around too. The big one, though, is Adam Robinson. He is not going to play today after suffering a concussion last week. The linebackers are the other big question. I think Nielsen is the only one definitely out, but Tarpinian, Hunter, and Johnson all may be limited.
Keys to the game
Overcome the injuries: It will be interesting to see what Iowa does to try compensating for Robinson's absence. I imagine Coker and Rogers will handle most of the carries, but we may see Paki or Jason White (who both have played very little due to injuries this year). In obvious passing situations, Morse may stay in as a blocker. We saw that some last year and most notably at Michigan State on the final drive. KOK might even call a draw play for Morse, who has had 3 carries in the past 2 weeks, just to keep Indiana off balance. So, it'll probably be some kind of runningback by committee today. Also, Iowa may utilize Stanzi and the receivers to open up the run with the passing game.
Linebacker could be more interesting. Morris will start at MLB, but the rest is a guess. Tarpinian (usually the MLB) may play OLB in place of Nielsen, and Johnson (also a MLB) may play WLB in place of Hunter. Or it could flip-flop. Or Hunter could start. Or we could have more freshmen, Kirksey and DiBona, starting. To combat Indiana's short passing game, the defense may use a 3-4 in which case another linebacker has to come in. That would likely be Lance Tillison. Iowa may go to a nickel to get a DB on the field over another LB. That may help.
Interceptions: They story of last year's game was interceptions...Stanzi threw 5 and looked absolutely awful throwing into the wind. Then there was the pinball interception by Sash that was returned for a TD and started Iowa's come-from-behind rally. This year it could be a similar story with both teams thin at runningback. Stanzi has been phenomenal this year taking care of the ball. He only have 2 INTs and one wasn't really his fault. It has been around 100 passes since he last had a throw picked off. Chappell started off the season very strong, but in Big Ten play he has thrown just 5 TDs to 7 INTs. Iowa should be able to get 1 or 2 today.
No letdown: After a huge win last weekend in which Iowa put a consistent pressure on MSU (even when the game was well out of hand), the Hawkeyes can't afford a letdown. They need to have a similar tenacity this weekend, even with a lead. With the inexperience Iowa may have at some key positions, they can't take any plays off.
Prediction
Iowa will come out firing with Stanzi and ease Coker/Rogers/Paki/White into the game. Iowa will throw it a lot until they have a 2 TD lead and then start going to a more balanced attack. The defense will play conservative with the question marks at linebacker and let Indiana move the ball some between the 20s. But like last week, force errors at critical times and keep Indiana from putting up many points.
- DJK will break the reception record on the first Iowa possession
- Morris will have his first career interception
- Stanzi will go over 300 yards for the first time this year and just the second time in his career (the only time was against Indiana last year).
Final Score: Iowa 38 - Indiana 17