Last Updated on November 3, 2010 3:16 am by Anthony Rome
Iowa vs. Indiana Preview
BLOOMINGTON, IN – Any talk of a national championship for Iowa was silenced last month with a one-point home loss, but a dominating victory last week put the Hawkeyes back in the Rose Bowl conversation.
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Looking to build on the program’s most lopsided win over a ranked team under coach Kirk Ferentz, the No. 15 Hawkeyes continue their push for the Big Ten title Saturday at Indiana.
Oddsmakers from online sports book SBGGLOBAL.com have made Iowa –17 point spread favorites for Saturday’s game against Indiana. Current NCAA Public Betting Information shows that 82% of more than 2,436 bets for this game have been placed on Iowa -17.
Iowa (6-2, 3-1) suffered a 31-30 defeat to then-No. 10 Wisconsin on Oct. 23 that all but ended its national title hopes. The Hawkeyes appeared to take out their frustrations Saturday, pounding then-No. 5 Michigan State 37-6.
Ricky Stanzi had three TDs and no interceptions for the third straight week, Adam Robinson rushed for a TD and caught one and the Hawkeyes matched a season high with three interceptions.
“I thought the guys came out ready at kickoff, certainly, and for the first time we really put it together in all three phases,” said Ferentz, who along with Indiana coach Bill Lynch is one win shy of his 100th victory.
One-half game behind first-place Ohio State and the Spartans in the Big Ten – and tied with the Badgers – the Hawkeyes will look for a better start against Indiana than they had in a 42-24 home victory Oct. 31, 2009.
After falling behind 21-7, Iowa scored 28 unanswered points in the final 13:03 to improve to 9-0 for the first time in history.
The Hawkeyes turned the ball over a season-worst six times in that game – five coming on Stanzi’s career-high interception total – but have been taking care of the ball in 2010, with a conference-low five turnovers.
The main reason for that turnaround has been the newfound accuracy of Stanzi, who is second in the Big Ten with 19 touchdown passes and has only two interceptions. Last season, he had 17 TDs but was tied for the conference lead with 15 INTs.
“Offensively, Stanzi is having one of those kind of years,” said Lynch, whose team has dropped two straight and four of five after a 20-17 home loss to Northwestern on Saturday. ” … Robinson is a very good back and they’ve got good outside receivers. They don’t turn the ball over, and I think that’s one of the things that has made them very effective is they lead the Big Ten in turnover margin.”
Slowing down Stanzi, Robinson and receivers Derrell Johnson-Koulianos and Marvin McNutt – who had fourth-quarter TD receptions last season against Indiana – presents a major challenge for the Hoosiers, who allow 29.4 points and 384.1 yards per game.
Indiana also faces a tall order in attacking Iowa’s formidable defense.
“They are one of the best in the country against the rush – they don’t give up many points from scoring defense,” Lynch said. “They are sound, outstanding football players.”
Iowa is eighth in the FBS at 14.5 points allowed per game and 12th in total defense at 292.3 yards a contest. That could force Indiana (4-4, 0-4), which is without leading rusher Darius Willis and ranks last in the Big Ten in rushing at 97.9 yards per game, to rely even more on Ben Chappell.
The fifth-year senior, who leads the conference in completions (214), attempts (332) and passing yards (2,445), had two TDs but a career-high three interceptions in last season’s loss in Iowa City. With a sputtering running game, Chappell will likely face a heavy Hawkeyes pass rush that’s led by Mike Daniels, Adrian Clayborn and Jeff Tarpinian.
“They’ve got excellent receivers, good scheme, very well-conceived scheme,” Ferentz said of the Hoosiers. “They were a good offensive football team a year ago, they’re building on that. When you have a fifth year quarterback like that, that helps. … That’s been a problem for us matching up with those guys.”
Iowa’s defensive backfield has taken advantage of the team’s ability to pressure the quarterback, as the Hawkeyes’ three interceptions last week gave them 13 on the season. Tyler Sash, who had one of the picks against Michigan State, returned an INT 86 yards for a score versus Indiana last year.
Iowa, which leads the series 40-27-4, won 45-9 in its most recent visit to Bloomington on Oct. 11, 2008. The Hawkeyes play three of their final four games on the road.
Indiana will be trying to snap a nine-game conference losing streak in its final contest at Memorial Stadium this season.
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