[ColoradoTree]

According to the numbers, wim, you're right: Iowa's run defense is indeed very good (10th in the country at 114.9 yards/game) while its pass defense isn't as good (60th at 219.3 yards/game).  But as I noted earlier in the thread, their secondary gets a lot of interceptions, so Hogan will have to be careful with the football.  That said, they haven't faced quarterbacks of the caliber we find in this conference.  Nor has their run defense faced a player as dynamic as Christian McCaffrey.  They can shut down opposing power backs pretty well (the ol' 3 yards and a cloud of dust), but our offense will present a challenge they haven't seen yet. 

My guess is that Iowa gets a steady dose of McCaffrey from various positions, combined with a lot of targets for Hooper, Schultz, and Cajuste in the middle of the field.  Running McCaffrey right up the middle might not be the most effective way of doing it, but if we can manufacture some runs out wide for him, I'm not sure Iowa has the speed at LB to keep up with him. 

And CornFed, I'd actually be surprised if it turned out that way.  Given the potential mismatch between our TEs and Iowa's LBs in coverage, I'm hoping we see a season-high in Hogan pass attempts, with lots of 5- to 10-yard gains.

Man alive, I wish this game were tomorrow.  Not sure how my heart will get through the rest of the month!

[ColoradoTree]

According to the numbers, wim, you're right: Iowa's run defense is indeed very good (10th in the country at 114.9 yards/game) while its pass defense isn't as good (60th at 219.3 yards/game).  But as I noted earlier in the thread, their secondary gets a lot of interceptions, so Hogan will have to be careful with the football.  That said, they haven't faced quarterbacks of the caliber we find in this conference.  Nor has their run defense faced a player as dynamic as Christian McCaffrey.  They can shut down opposing power backs pretty well (the ol' 3 yards and a cloud of dust), but our offense will present a challenge they haven't seen yet. 

My guess is that Iowa gets a steady dose of McCaffrey from various positions, combined with a lot of targets for Hooper, Schultz, and Cajuste in the middle of the field.  Running McCaffrey right up the middle might not be the most effective way of doing it, but if we can manufacture some runs out wide for him, I'm not sure Iowa has the speed at LB to keep up with him. 

And CornFed, I'd actually be surprised if it turned out that way.  Given the potential mismatch between our TEs and Iowa's LBs in coverage, I'm hoping we see a season-high in Hogan pass attempts, with lots of 5- to 10-yard gains.

Man alive, I wish this game were tomorrow.  Not sure how my heart will get through the rest of the month!