The Iowa Hawkeyes head to Chicago where they will take part in having transformed Wrigley Field into a football venue this afternoon.
Iowa (6-2, 3-2 Big Ten) battles Northwestern (4-4, 2-3 Big Ten) following a 12-10 loss to Minnesota and a bye week. The Hawkeyes are looking to keep stride with fellow Big Ten West leaders Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
With kickoff rapidly approaching, the Hawkeyes released their Week 10 availability report.
Today's Availability Report ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/SQ55kion2d
— HawkeyeFBNotes (@HawkeyeFBNotes) November 4, 2023
Sophomore cornerback TJ Hall, freshman running back TJ Washington, redshirt freshman wide receiver Reese Osgood, sophomore linebacker Zach Twedt and junior tight end Luke Lachey were all listed as out.
Dating back two weeks ago against the Gophers, redshirt freshman wide receiver Jacob Bostick, redshirt freshman cornerback Deshaun Lee, sophomore linebacker Karson Sharar, sophomore tight end Johnny Pascuzzi, sophomore tight end Addison Ostrenga and junior defensive lineman Yahya Black were all listed as questionable.
This afternoon figures to be a pivotal game for Iowa for the rest of the season. Northwestern enters having upset Maryland last week, 33-27. The Wildcats are fighting to achieve bowl eligibility.
For Iowa, there’s plenty of questions in terms of how they will respond to the news of the week.
As game day approached this week, news broke that interim Iowa athletics director Beth Goetz made the call to inform Hawkeye offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz that he would not return to the role in 2024. In the meantime, it doesn’t sound like much is changing.
Brian Ferentz will continue to serve as the Hawkeyes’ offensive coordinator for the remainder of the 2023 season and will continue to call plays. Iowa knows it needs more offense than the meager 127 yards of total offense, including only 12 yards after halftime, that it mustered up in its last contest versus Minnesota.
How can Iowa help out its sophomore quarterback Deacon Hill to provide more offensively?
All of those answers begin getting answered today as the Hawkeyes start their stretch run of the season out of the bye week. After this afternoon versus Northwestern, Iowa has dates versus Rutgers, versus Illinois and at Nebraska.
Kickoff against Northwestern is at 2:30 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed on Peacock.
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