This weekend sees a first for the Iowa Hawkeyes. It is the first time they will welcome the Washington Huskies into Kinnick Stadium in what is now a conference game. In the newly expanded Big Ten, this matchup has conference implications on the line.
One thing that comes with a new team in the conference is preparing for a new scheme, new plays, and new players that you haven’t seen before, a stark contrast from preparing for some players and teams you have seen two, three, or even four times before.
Jay Higgins, the Hawkeyes’ All-American linebacker and one of Iowa’s best at preparing for teams, discussed what it is like preparing for a new team coming into Kinnick Stadium.
“Yeah, it’s different. Luckily it’s in Iowa so I just treat it like a normal home game. I’m sure we’re going to see a whole new group of guys that you’ve probably never played against. Just watching the offense, think it’s your normal offense. I don’t think it’s anything crazy or anything that we haven’t seen before.”
“I expect those guys to come in here ready to play, excited to play Iowa for the first time and just get the matchup going and start us off on the right side of it,” Higgins said about the Huskies coming to Kinnick.
Jay Higgins will be ready and he will need his defense to stand tall this weekend. The Huskies are coming in with a 4-2 record after knocking off the Michigan Wolverines.
On the year, Higgins has totaled 48 tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles. He comes into the game off one of the best of his career last week which saw him have 14 tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.
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