The Iowa Hawkeyes are playing back-to-back weeks in prime time.
Of course, the Hawkeyes head to No. 7 Penn State for a massive showdown this Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on CBS.
Iowa was waiting to find out about next week, though. Now, the Hawkeyes know their Week 5 kickoff fate.
Iowa will play host to Michigan State on Saturday, Sept. 30 under the lights at Kinnick Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. with the game set to broadcast on NBC.
🚨 KICK TIME 🚨
Under the lights at Kinnick next Saturday. #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/iiLvvCqQ5B
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) September 18, 2023
It’s a Michigan State program that is reeling from the Mel Tucker scandal. A little more than a week ago, news broke that Tucker was facing sexual harassment accusations from prominent rape survivor and sexual violence activist Brenda Tracy. Tucker was then suspended without pay.
On Monday, MSU athletics director Alan Haller announced that it had begun the process to terminate Tucker’s contract with cause.
Michigan State started the season with a 31-7 win over Central Michigan and a 45-14 win over Richmond. Then, after the news with Tucker broke, MSU was blown out by Washington in East Lansing, 41-7.
The Huskies are the nation’s No. 8 team, so there’s no shame in losing to Washington. But, the fashion in which that game played out indicates that the Spartans’ 2023 season might be spiraling away.
MSU hosts Maryland this week before traveling to Iowa City next week.
Offensively, the Spartans are led by redshirt junior quarterback Noah Kim, redshirt sophomore running back Nate Carter, redshirt junior wide receiver Christian Fitzpatrick, redshirt freshman wide receiver Jaron Glover and redshirt senior wide receiver Tre Mosley.
Defensively, redshirt junior linebacker Cal Haladay and sophomore defensive back Malik Spencer are Michigan State’s two leading tacklers thus far in 2023.
Iowa’s last meeting against Michigan State came on Nov. 7, 2020, when the Hawkeyes trounced the Spartans, 49-7. Former Hawkeye running backs Tyler Goodson and Mekhi Sargent each rushed for a pair of touchdowns that day and Iowa intercepted three passes from MSU quarterback Rocky Lombardi.
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