You have to hand it to the Iowa Hawkeyes (7-4) – they are a resilient bunch. Iowa’s offense was the laughing stock of the FBS when they punted 10 times in a 7-3 win over South Dakota State and then going on to start off Big Ten play 1-3. The Hawkeyes have rattled off four wins in a row and now find themselves a victory away from a berth in the Big Ten Championship Game. the Nebraska Cornhuskers (3-8) would love to play spoiler in their annual day-after-Thanksgiving rivalry game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You kind of have to wonder where Iowa would be on the national stage had they gotten any offense in a 10-7 loss to Iowa State or the 9-6 defeat to Illinois? That would put the Hawkeyes to 9-2 on the season – with their only losses coming against Michigan (27-14) and Ohio State (54-10), the #2 and #3 teams in the country. Iowa could be a top 10 team looking at a New Year’s Six Bowl Game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iowa has always had the defense to be one of the top 15 teams in the country<\/a>. They rank 6th in yards allowed, 6th vs. the pass, and 5th in points given up (13.5) but had a historically bad offense earlier in the season. There’s been improvement on that front with three straight games of 24+ points and then getting just enough in a 13-10 win over Minnesota last week on a cold day in the Twin Cities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n