Tag: Big Ten Football Schedules

Iowa Hawkeyes focusing on recovery ahead of Big Ten opener at Rutgers

Ahead of its Big Ten opener at Rutgers, Iowa’s players discussed adjusting their schedules following a late night against Nevada.

It is not very often that we see Big Ten football after midnight. The players in Kinnick Stadium certainly did not expect to receive their first taste of Sunday football against Nevada, especially with a 6:30 CST kickoff on Saturday night.

Mother Nature though had her own plans, hitting the Hawkeyes with multiple lightning delays. The pauses in the action pushed the finish of the game back hours later than anticipated, further postponing the Hawkeyes road to recovery ahead of their Big Ten clash against Rutgers.

Quarterback Spencer Petras, who didn’t get to sleep after the game until 3:30 a.m. and probably had a “couple cups” of coffee to push through the Sunday team meeting, spoke during media availability about the road to recovery after such a late game.

“Recovery is always critical, even more so now. Our opponents did get a jump on us. I think all of our sleep schedules are a little screwed up still. Again (though), no one cares. We’re still playing the game at 7:10 or whatever time it is. It’s our job to make up that ground and really recover and rest the best we can,” Petras said.

One of Iowa’s primary defensive leaders elaborated on how the Hawkeyes tried to catch back up on the rest clock.

“Coach slid the times (for the team meeting) back about an hour or two on Sunday, just to give us a little bit more sleep. But, obviously it doesn’t happen in one night. It’s going to be important that we stay on top of that this whole week, being able to go to bed on time, eat and drink the right things to fuel our bodies, I feel like it all starts with that,” Campbell said.

Campbell reiterated that this week is no different than any other week. A different road to recovery or not, “the little things are going to lead to Saturday.”

While still getting back into the groove of his sleep cycle, Petras reaffirmed to fans that he should be “very well rested” for the game against Rutgers, before restating that the goal for Iowa has not changed despite a tad rockier start to the season than expected.

“We have four team goals, and the last one is to win the Big Ten West and to win the Big Ten. You can’t win the Big Ten West without winning Big Ten games. Every game’s critical, every game’s important, but our end goal is to win the Big Ten and this is when we really start playing for that,” Petras said.

Iowa opens up their Big Ten Conference play at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, N.J., against the 3-0 Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

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Wisconsin, Nevada join list of Iowa Hawkeyes’ 2022 home sellouts

With Nevada and Wisconsin joining the list, four of Iowa’s seven-game home slate are now officially sellouts.

It’s now looking like just a matter of time before the entirety of Iowa’s 2022 home slate turns into sellouts. Two more home dates inside Kinnick Stadium were added to the list of preseason sellouts for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

The official Iowa football account announced on Friday that both the Wisconsin and Nevada home games were officially sellouts. Iowa welcomes in Nevada on Sept. 17 for a night game during the Hawkeyes’ “Gold Game & Family Weekend.” The final nonconference tilt of 2022 for the Hawkeyes is set for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff on the Big Ten Network.

Meanwhile, Iowa’s second-to-last home game is against Wisconsin on Nov. 12 for the Hawkeyes’ “Military Appreciation Black Out Game.” At least going in, the date against the Badgers appears to be one of the most important games all season long in the Big Ten West.

Iowa lost last season in Madison, Wis., 27-7, losing three fumbles and registering just 156 total yards of offense. The last time the Badgers were in Iowa City, though, Iowa handed Wisconsin a 28-7 setback as Hawkeyes quarterback Spencer Petras had 211 passing yards and a pair of touchdown passes.

Earlier this week, Iowa announced that both the Iowa State home game on Sept. 10 at 3 p.m. on the Big Ten Network and the Michigan home game on Oct. 1 were sellouts.

With Nevada and Wisconsin joining the group of 2022 Iowa sellouts, that means that now four of Iowa’s seven-game 2022 home schedule is officially sold out.

If you’re interested in getting a single-game ticket to one of the Hawkeyes’ other home games, you may be running out of time. Hawk Central’s Chad Leistikow noted that Iowa is awfully close to selling out the remainder of its home games, too.

According to Leistikow, there’s just 2,500 tickets left for the South Dakota State home opener on Sept. 3, 500 tickets for homecoming versus Northwestern on Oct. 29 and 1,100 tickets for Senior Day versus Nebraska on Nov. 25.

The South Dakota State home opener is set for an 11 a.m. kickoff on FS1, Northwestern will be a 2 p.m. kickoff and Nebraska will kickoff at 3 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

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Michigan’s Oct. 1 trip to Iowa pegged by Athlon Sports as the Wolverines’ biggest trap game

Michigan has lost four straight in Iowa City. Athlon Sports listed the Wolverines’ trip to Kinnick Stadium as their biggest 2022 trap game.

Kinnick Stadium has been a house of horrors for Michigan as of late. Dating back to the 2009 season, Iowa has handed the Wolverines four consecutive losses in Iowa City.

Athlon Sports’ Steven Lassan isn’t outright picking more of the same just yet, but he’s at least on red alert. Lassan listed Michigan’s trip to Iowa as the Wolverines’ biggest trap game in 2022.

The Wolverines have lost four in a row at Iowa. With Michigan State and Penn State visiting Ann Arbor, a road trek to play the Hawkeyes might be all that stands between 11-0 going into the finale against Ohio State. – Lassan, Athlon Sports.

While the Hawkeyes have won four straight over Michigan at Kinnick, there’s also the revenge factor at play for Iowa. The Hawkeyes were embarrassed by the Wolverines in the 2021 Big Ten Championship game, 42-3.

Michigan rushed for 211 yards and four rushing scores as the Wolverines outgained Iowa in total offensive yards 461 to 279. Donovan Edwards even threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to Roman Wilson on a trick play. It was a night to forget for Iowa, and it’s safe to say the Oct. 1 date versus the Wolverines will be one that’s circled on the Hawkeyes’ calendars.

Maybe a return to Iowa City will be just what the doctor ordered to completely flip the script in 2022.

The longest streak of home wins for Iowa over Michigan in program history began in 2009 with a 30-28 triumph. Hawkeyes quarterback Ricky Stanzi tossed a pair of touchdown passes to tight end Tony Moeaki of 34 and 42 yards. Meanwhile, Iowa’s defense forced five Michigan turnovers.

Then, in 2011, a late defensive stand secured a 24-16 victory. On four consecutive snaps over the game’s final 16 seconds, Iowa kept Michigan out of the end zone from the 3-yard line.

Iowa running back Marcus Coker rushed 29 times for 132 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while quarterback James Vandenberg passed for 171 yards and a touchdown to tight end Brad Herman to help the Hawkeyes to that 2011 win.

In 2013, Iowa overcame four turnovers, including three interceptions from then-Hawkeyes quarterback Jake Rudock, to top Michigan, 24-21. The Hawkeyes erased a 21-7 halftime deficit as they held the Wolverines to just 158 yards of total offense. Mike Meyer had what proved to be the game-winning, 34-yard field goal with 6:02 remaining.

Iowa wide receiver Tevaun Smith and tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz both had touchdown grabs and running back Mark Weisman added a rushing touchdown.

Finally, in 2016, Keith Duncan delivered a game-winning, walk-off, 33-yard field goal to down No. 2 Michigan, 14-13. That win catapulted Iowa to bowl eligibility and represented the Hawkeyes’ first victory over a top-five opponent since 2010. While Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard passed for just 66 yards, Hawkeyes running back Akrum Wadley rushed for 115 yards and had the game’s only touchdown reception from Beathard.

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Iowa-UCLA tabbed a top-10 ‘must-see’ matchup in new-look Big Ten

The contrast of Iowa and UCLA could not be greater, and that is exactly why their future matchup is a top-10 “must-see” in the new Big Ten.

Field position. Clock management. Defense. Smart plays on offense. Limited turnovers. Punting. These are all things that the Iowa Hawkeyes do well and rely on to slowly constrict teams into victory by submission.

Going for it on fourth down. High-scoring shootouts. Aggressive play calls. Data and analytics. All of these could be relatively synonymous for how Chip Kelly operates the UCLA Bruins.

The stark contrast of these two teams is so vast that it brings an excitement level to it when we eventually see Iowa and UCLA take the field against each other in the next few years now that the Big Ten is expanding and adding UCLA and USC.

Athlon Sports’ Ben Weinrib put this future Big Ten matchup in his top 10 for new matchups fans will get once the move is complete in the 2024 college football season.

Talk about a contrast in styles, Iowa and UCLA should also make for a fascinating matchup. And if the conference’s divisions remain split east-west, these two could face each other quite often. – Weinrib, Athlon Sports.

The difference in these coaching styles and how these teams operate really sums up quite well in one statistic. UCLA nearly doubled up Iowa on their fourth down attempts in 2021. UCLA attempted 31 fourth down conversions while Iowa went for it just 16 times.

To go with that, Iowa punted the ball 82 times last season while UCLA only booted it away 34 times. These two teams playing is going to be similar to watching a run-and-gun, up-tempo basketball team play against a half-court system. Whoever can control the tempo in these future matchups will gain an advantage with their defenses being well-rested and playing their game.

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CBS Sports’ Big Ten strength of schedule rankings

How difficult is each team’s path to a Big Ten championship? CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli ranked the respective programs’ schedules.

Nobody gets an easy schedule in the Big Ten conference.

The Ohio State Buckeyes enter 2022 as a trendy College Football Playoff and national championship contender, the Michigan Wolverines are the defending Big Ten champions and Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker seemingly has his Spartans on the rise.

Then, there’s also Penn State head coach James Franklin and his Nittany Lions that have plenty of talent and expectations of their own to meet in the Big Ten East.

What about the Big Ten West? Iowa is the defending Big Ten West champion and boasts one of the league’s best defenses. If they can find a way to improve offensively, it won’t be a surprise to see the Hawkeyes make a return trip to the Big Ten championship game.

Aside from the Buckeyes’ TreVeyon Henderson, Wisconsin has the Big Ten’s most explosive running back in Braelon Allen and—similarly to Iowa—the Badgers routinely have one of the Big Ten’s most frustrating defenses to match up against. Then, there’s Tanner Morgan who is back to quarterback Minnesota and Aidan O’Connell who’s generating some Heisman Trophy darkhorse consideration at Purdue.

You get the picture. It’ll be a challenging slate for everybody once more in 2022. Still, it’s a fun exercise to break down and debate who has it the most difficult, and who caught a couple of scheduling breaks?

CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli attempted to clear up that picture, ranking all of the Big Ten’s 2022 schedules from most difficult to easiest. Let’s take a look at how he sees the conference teams’ schedules.

Iowa Hawkeyes’ 2022 Big Ten schedule ranked ninth-most difficult among league’s teams

The Iowa Hawkeyes have been ranked with the ninth-hardest schedule out of the Big Ten’s 14 teams. The Hawkeyes have a very manageable slate.

The Iowa Hawkeyes drew a manageable slate going into the 2022 season. As always, the Big Ten can be a treacherous road to navigate week in and week out, but sometimes a few breaks are nice to catch.

It is always daunting to take on the Big Ten with its hard-nosed mentality, the bad weather, intense fan atmospheres on the road, and “no weeks off” mantra. It gets a little harder for the Hawkeyes as they have a new target on their backs as defending Big Ten West champs.

All of that said, their schedule allows them the opportunity to handle some of the big games at home in Kinnick. CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli has ranked the Hawkeyes with just the ninth-hardest schedule out of 14 in the Big Ten conference.

Iowa’s nonconference schedule isn’t a bear, but it’s not to be ignored, either. South Dakota State is one of the better FCS programs, and there’s the annual rivalry game with Iowa State. However, Nevada shouldn’t be too difficult. The Big Ten schedule starts with Rutgers, which is the conference’s way of saying, “we’re sorry we’re making you play both Michigan and Ohio State this season,” because that’s what it’s done. The good news for Iowa is that it gets Wisconsin at Kinnick Stadium late in the year, but road games against Purdue and Minnesota will be tricky. – Fornelli, CBS Sports.

The Hawkeyes open up with a nice slate. There is no reason to believe they can’t start 4-0 against South Dakota State, Iowa State (wonder boy Matt Campbell couldn’t even beat Iowa with NFL talent and lost all of that), Nevada, and Rutgers.

Like Fornelli said, the draws of Michigan and Ohio State are arguably the two toughest teams in the conference to play. It just happens Iowa gets both this season in their cross-division games in a matter of three weeks. While Michigan has to come to Kinnick, Iowa has a road trip to Ohio State which is about as tough as a road game gets. Illinois sandwiched between these two is a little tougher than one may think, but Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz doesn’t overlook teams.

The rest of the road includes road tests against Minnesota and Purdue, which both look to be anything but automatic. Luckily, home games against Wisconsin, Northwestern, and Nebraska await the Hawkeyes.

While each week carries a new mountain to climb, the Hawkeyes have landed a reasonable schedule of hosting some key matchups. As always, tough road trips loom in the Big Ten. It is just a matter of being able to steal one they may not be expected to. If any team can win anywhere, why not Iowa?

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