Iowa Football: 5 Bold Predictions for September

September is always a crucial month for the Iowa Football program as the first month of the season historically tells us how the Hawks will fare.

Throughout Kirk Ferentz’s tenure at Iowa, the first month of the season is usually a measuring stick for the success that particular team will have. While Iowa’s non-conference teams are not nearly as talented as the Hawkeyes themselves, Iowa has been known to drop games to teams they have no business losing to. Most of the time it is an Iowa State team that has inferior talent to Iowa, but this year is not the case.

Ferentz has always likened the month of September and the non-conference schedule to the NFL’s preseason. He uses this month to fine tune his team and find combinations that work in order to be ready for a usually tough Big Ten slate. Historically, if Iowa finds a way to avoid the historical “September Dump”, the Hawkeyes always fair well and usually end up having a very successful season, but there are outliers.

This September, the Hawkeyes have a schedule that may not look tough to the casual observer. However, when you dig deeper, Iowa has the target on their back for the first three games against Northern Illinois, Iowa State, and UNI, all three teams are somewhat geographical rivals with Iowa. With that said, here is the bold predictions I think will come to fruition.