This weekend sees one of the more unique matchups taking place in Kinnick Stadium when the Washington Huskies come to Iowa City to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes.
This Big Ten matchup of the Hawkeyes and Huskies is Iowa’s first look at one of the newcomers from the Pacific Northwest. Iowa is looking to move to 4-2 and win their Big Ten home opener while Washington is trying to build on their win over Michigan.
With the matchup looming, ESPN dove into this game and examined some oddities, such as the time change in play and some statistical intricacies.
Washington at Iowa (noon, Fox). I really thought we’d be more body-clock observant in our Big Ten kickoff times, but nope! UCLA kicked off at 9 a.m. PT last week, and Washington is doing it this week. This game has one of the oddest matchups you’ll see: Washington’s otherwise efficient offense ranks 107th in red zone TD rate, and Iowa’s otherwise awesome defense ranks 134th in red zone TD rate allowed. If the Huskies score TDs when they get the chance, an upset is quite feasible. – Bill Connelly, ESPN
Iowa does have the advantage of this game being early in the day and potentially throwing off Washington’s body clock. That said, 11 a.m. CT is also still early for an Iowa team that has started rather slow in the first half more often than not this year.
Defensively, Iowa is allowing success in the red zone which is a contrast from the norm as they usually bend but don’t break. If the Hawkeyes can solely bend in this one, the Huskies may slow down near the red zone and Iowa simply has to outplay them in scoring field goals and playing a field position game.
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