Iowa Football: 3 Bold predictions for Hawkeyes and Wisconsin Badgers
Iowa football will host Wisconsin football Saturday in a Big Ten West matchup with key bowl implications.
Over the years, the Iowa football team has generally finished strong and in recent years that has meant wins over Nebraska in late November.
And while the Hawkeyes did beat the Cornhuskers in November, it’s a little different having the final regular season game against Wisconsin football.
However, the two Big Ten West rivals should play a competitive game as the 2-2 Badgers are trying to rebound from a loss to Indiana, while the Hawkeyes are looking for their sixth straight win.
There is talk that Iowa could host Michigan next week according to Chris Balas of Rivals, which doesn’t make any sense other than the Big Ten would probably enjoy having those teams play for TV purposes.
Big Ten sources tell us U-M at Iowa next Friday is a "very real, if not the most likely" possibility if the Wolverines can play on Champions Weekend (still up in the air with COVID and all). More in our ITF: #GoBlue https://t.co/qVcOWHQDhI
— Chris Balas (@Balas_Wolverine) December 11, 2020
At any rate, if that report proves to be true, Iowa football would have a strong chance of finishing 7-2 with a win this week and Iowa is already No. 16 in the College Football Playoff rankings, meaning a solid bowl game could be the reward for the win.
Getting to the New Year’s Six might be a stretch and would probably require some other teams to lose but the Citrus Bowl could certainly be possible. Beyond that, how good does a seven-game win streak sound Hawkeye fans?
Will they get it? Let’s take a look with three predictions for Iowa and Wisconsin:
Spencer Petras and Iowa will keep rolling on offense
For years, it has been easy to see what Iowa football is going to do on offense. The Hawkeyes like to run the ball and use the play-action pass to throw down field.
It’s not complicated, but when you have quality offensive lineman, solid quarterbacks and skill guys who can execute, it’s effective and over the last five weeks like Hawkeyes have averaged 37.5 points per game.
Now, that production hasn’t exactly come against a bunch of dominating defenses but still, the Hawkeyes are doing what they typically do — play their best football late in the season.
Wisconsin’s defense will be a big challenge for the Hawkeyes and Spencer Petras, who has thrown an interception in three of seven games might make a mistake, but he will throw for 200 yards and two touchdowns, as the Hawkeyes have another good day on offense.