Tag: Nevada Wolfpack

Mountain West Wire predicts comfortable win for the Iowa Hawkeyes over Nevada

Mountain West Wire likes the Iowa Hawkeyes to beat Nevada handily in week three of the college football season.

This could be a long day at the office for the Wolfpack. It seems everybody has the Iowa Hawkeyes handily defeating the Nevada Wolfpack to finish out their out-of-conference schedule. All of us at Hawkeyes Wire have Iowa winning by blowout proportions, and in Matthew Kenerley’s recent opponent breakdown for Mountain West Wire, he has the Hawkeyes taking down Nevada with ease 24-9.

It doesn’t seem likely that the Wolf Pack will be overrun by an Iowa team that’s more than happy to sit and wait for breaks to come their way, but it also doesn’t seem clear that they’ll have enough answers on offense to get the best of what looks like, on paper, one of college football’s best defenses. – Kenerley, Mountain West Wire.

A bulk of the preview does focus on the defensive strength the Hawkeyes possess, both linebacker Jack Campbell and cornerback Riley Moss featured as key players. Kenerley acknowledges the level Iowa played at last year, seventh in the country by allowing just 4.72 yards per play, ninth in points per drive allowed, and fourth in available yards percentage allowed, and points out the big pieces they bring back.

Behind them, Campbell and Seth Benson (105 tackles, 5.5 TFLs, two sacks) will patrol the middle with help from Jestin Jacobs.

In the secondary, Moss is the veteran leader but the unit isn’t without experience otherwise. Strong safety Kaevon Merriweather (42 tackles, four passes defended) made seven stars last year while cornerback Jermari Harris (34 tackles, four INTs) made six. – Kenerley, Mountain West Wire.

On the offensive side of the ball, it’s pretty much the standard preview. Iowa’s offense disappointed last year on all accounts. Spencer Petras needs to step it up a notch at the quarterback position, Iowa needs to figure out how to replace Tyler Goodson’s rushing production, and the line needs a bounce-back year in 2022. Kenerley makes a comparison of Iowa to Mountain West contender San Diego State, a team who also struggled on the offensive side of the ball but were more than able to make it up with their defense.

Overall, 24-9 is a pretty simple victory for the Hawkeyes. The Wolfpack are kind of a mess, losing pretty much their entire offense in the span of one offseason. From coaching to personnel, this is an almost entirely new Nevada offense. They are facing one of the best defenses in the country, and will struggle to score points.

That matches with our predictions. Nobody is projecting the Wolfpack to score over two touchdowns. There is a difference of faith in the Iowa offense for this season, though. All three of the Hawkeyes Wire crew predict the Hawkeyes to score over 31 points, making it even more of a lopsided win.

[listicle id=7740]

[listicle id=7845]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01fvdcxf97xrgg1awc player_id=none image=https://hawkeyeswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Jacob on Twitter: @Jacobkeppen

Let us know your thoughts, and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

Why the Iowa Hawkeyes have sold out every home football game in 2022

The Iowa Hawkeyes have sold out all seven home games for 2022. But why? What caused that this year? A look into the draw of 2022 for fans.

All seven of the Iowa Hawkeyes home games have officially sold out for the 2022 college football season. The sellouts became a note of interest over the last few weeks as hype and news began to circulate more and more amongst Hawkeyes fans. This led to a rapid buying of whatever single-game tickets were left and, ultimately, to the Iowa Hawkeyes with a prideful slate of sold out home games.

There is a little bit of everything as a draw for Iowa fans to file their way into Kinnick this fall. There are big games, high-profile players, interesting circumstances, and much more.

One interesting tidbit of the home slate is that each of the seven games has its own special event and occasion tied to it. Giving each game its own designated event can certainly entice fans to snatch up tickets for something that piques their interest.

With the first home game at Kinnick to kick off on Sept. 3 as the Hawkeyes welcome in the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, there is one question to be asked. And that is simply, “why?”

We see that the games have been sold out. We hear that. But why? What caused the home games for the Hawkeyes to rapidly sell out and set up for a raucous 2022 season inside the walls of Kinnick Stadium? There are a few reasons behind this and all of them get fans excited in very different ways. Let’s look at why the 2022 home slate for the Iowa Hawkeyes has led to a clean sweep of sellouts.

Iowa’s 2022 importance rankings: Breaking down the schedule’s games with the most significance

Every college football game is important, but which games are the most important for the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2022?

Let’s establish this from the start. Every single game in college football is important. You cannot afford to take a game off. That one loss could make or break your season.

The Hawkeyes have to view every game as a must-win. That being said, there certainly are games with more at stake, or with more of a narrative in play than others. Games hold a special significance. About a month before the season, here is my ranking of every Iowa 2022 football game from least important to most important.

Iowa Hawkeyes’ season opener versus South Dakota State joins the 2022 home sellout list

Iowa’s season opener versus South Dakota State is officially sold out, meaning six of seven 2022 Hawkeye home dates are now sellouts.

Iowa fans can’t wait to watch their squad heading into the 2022 season. The Hawkeye faithful keep snatching up home tickets and now the UI Athletics Department is reporting a sixth home sellout.

The season opener at 11 a.m. CST on Sept. 3 versus the South Dakota State Jackrabbits from inside Kinnick Stadium is the latest home sellout. Now, only the regular season finale versus Nebraska for Senior Day still has tickets for sale. Early on Monday, just a little more than 600 tickets remained for that final home date versus the Huskers.

All of the other home dates are also sold out. That includes the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series versus Iowa State on Sept. 10 at 3 p.m., Nevada for the “Gold Game and Family Weekend” at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 17, Michigan on Oct. 1 for the “ANF Black and Gold Spirit Game,” Northwestern at 2 p.m. for homecoming on Oct. 29, Wisconsin on Nov. 12 for the “Military Appreciation Black Out Game” and Nebraska on Nov. 25 at 3 p.m. for the “Heroes Game” and Senior Day.

After a Big Ten West championship in 2021, it makes sense why Iowa fans can’t wait to see the encore act from these Hawkeyes. There’s all sorts of preseason thoughts about Iowa out there, but the prevailing consensus seems to be that Iowa will once again be one of the primary challengers in the Big Ten West.

In the preseason Big Ten media poll, Iowa was picked second in the West. According to Phil Steele, Iowa enters 2022 as the nation’s No. 20 team. The Hawkeyes should once again feature one of the country’s best defenses. College Football News pegged it as the No. 6 defensive group nationally.

[listicle id=6884]

[listicle id=6845]

Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Josh on Twitter: @JoshOnREF

Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

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.

[listicle id=6760]

[listicle id=6757]

Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Josh on Twitter: @JoshOnREF

Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

Iowa Hawkeyes’ game-by-game FPI chances to win in 2022 season

How does ESPN’s Football Power Index rate the Iowa Hawkeyes’ percentage chances to win each game in the 2022 college football season?

Now that ESPN has its updated Football Power Index rankings, it also means that there’s game-by-game percentage chances for each of Iowa’s 2022 football schedule.

If you missed it, the Hawkeyes weren’t among the top 25 teams in ESPN’s updated FPI. Instead, Ohio State at No. 2, Michigan at No. 6, Michigan State at No. 15, Penn State at No. 16 and Wisconsin at No. 21 comprised the five Big Ten teams that made the top 25 in the latest FPI from ESPN.

It’s of no concern to Hawkeye fans. ESPN’s FPI rankings don’t determine results on the field. However, it does give at least one indication of how a predictive model views the various teams.

In case you’re unfamiliar with what FPI is, here’s ESPN’s description on what the model is.

The Football Power Index (FPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team’s performance going forward for the rest of the season. FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule. Ratings and projections update daily. – ESPN.

So, there you have it. Let’s take a look at what percentages ESPN’s FPI gives the Hawkeyes to win each of its games throughout the 2022 season.

247Sports’ Nick Kosko’s game-by-game predictions for the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2022

247Sports’ Nick Kosko mapped out the results for Iowa in 2022, picking the Hawkeyes to finish the regular season 8-4.

As the reigning Big Ten West champion, any conversation about who will be in the mix from the West to get to Indianapolis has to include Iowa.

The Hawkeyes return a number of key players that helped Iowa start off 6-0 last season and then finish with four consecutive wins to end the 2021 regular season en route to a 10-win campaign and a trip to the Big Ten championship game.

Iowa brings back the nation’s leading tackler in linebacker Jack Campbell and he’s joined by a pair of talented linebackers in Seth Benson and Jestin Jacobs. Pro Football Focus just tabbed Campbell and Jacobs as two of its top-10 linebackers in their early 2023 NFL draft outlook.

On the back end of the defense, the Hawkeyes bring back the Tatum-Woodson Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year in cornerback Riley Moss. Jermari Harris was listed atop the spring depth chart opposite Moss, but look for Cooper DeJean and Terry Roberts to also make contributions at corner.

Iowa can feel comfortable about its options at safety, too. Kaevon Merriweather and Quinn Schulte were listed as the spring starters there with Sebastian Castro and Jaxon Rexroth the other two safeties listed on the Hawkeyes’ two-deep.

Up front defensively, Yahya Black, Joe Evans, Logan Lee, Lukas Van Ness, Noah Shannon and John Waggoner gives Iowa a group it’s excited about.

Flipping to the offensive side of the football, there’s optimism that the Hawkeyes’ offensive line will take a collective stride forward despite the loss of first-round 2022 NFL draft pick Tyler Linderbaum at center.

How the center position plays out will be one of the keys to watch there, but Iowa has guards Justin Britt and Connor Colby and tackles Nick DeJong, Jack Plumb and Mason Richman all returning with prior starting experience.

Iowa returns its top receptions and receiving yardage leader in tight end Sam LaPorta to go along with wide receivers Arland Bruce IV, Keagan Johnson, Nico Ragaini and Jackson Ritter.

The lion’s share of attention with Iowa will be on how the quarterback situation shakes out. If Spencer Petras remains the starter, what’s his ceiling in 2022? He’s been busy working to improve this offseason with quarterback trainer Tony Racioppi. Joe Labas and Alex Padilla will look to give him a run for his money at earning the starting gig throughout fall camp, but the wide belief is that it’s still Petras’ job to lose.

With all of that said, there’s some wide-ranging opinions on exactly how good Iowa will be in 2022. At least one writer is willing to serve up some game-by-game predictions for the Hawkeyes. 247Sports’ Nick Kosko took a crack at predicting results for Iowa’s 2022 season and he has the Hawkeyes finishing 8-4.

Take a look below at his score predictions and some of his thoughts.

What type of challenge does the Iowa Hawkeyes’ nonconference football slate present?

How challenging is Iowa’s nonconference slate? Let’s take a look at the Hawkeyes’ dates against South Dakota State, Iowa State and Nevada.

Nonconference games are massive for a Big Ten team’s bowl hopes. With both teams knowing each other well and the fans bringing an extra layer of emotional charge, nearly every conference game is a tough one. There are no gimme games in the Big Ten.

Teams in the conference usually take one of two approaches to their nonconference schedule. Either they throw in some big games to help boost their stock for a College Football Playoff push, or they throw in some games to give them a tune-up for the season. See Ohio State opening up their season at Notre Dame for the former and Michigan against Connecticut for the latter approach.

Recently, Andrew Harbaugh of Nittany Lions Wire took a look at every nonconference game for Big Ten teams, and Iowa is sort of in the middle of those two approaches.

While South Dakota State is an FCS school, usually an easy tune-up for a team that just made the Big Ten championship game, they are a unique test. A routine contender for the FCS national championship, their offense will be a great test for the experienced Hawkeyes defense.

Iowa State always presents a challenge. While not a conference opponent, this will be one of the most emotionally charged games of the season with the Cy-Hawk Trophy on the line. These two fanbases do not like each other, and many Hawkeye fans believe Iowa State head football coach Matt Campbell undeservedly gets more credit than Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz. It will certainly be a new-look Iowa State squad in 2022.

Speaking of a new look, Nevada pretty much lost everybody. We’re not just talking about a few key pieces, we really mean everybody. With the exit of former head coach Jay Norvell to Colorado State, Nevada saw some of their top returning talent transfer. The team also lost some of its best players to the draft as well.

Iowa certainly doesn’t face the most daunting nonconference schedule across the Big Ten or nationally, but it’s no cakewalk either. It’s a good three-game test prior to league play where the Hawkeyes will presumably be favored in each.

[listicle id=4652]

Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Jacob on Twitter: @Jacobkeppen

Let us know your thoughts, and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

Iowa Hawkeyes 2022 schedule breakdown: Nevada

Nevada will be a very different looking team when they travel to play Iowa in 2022. Here is a breakdown of the new-look Wolfpack.

It’s week three and the (hopefully) 2-0 Iowa Hawkeyes just took care of business against a new-look Iowa State squad at home! Now, they have a team in a very similar situation in Nevada. At least on the surface, the 2022 season has the appearance of a bit of a rebuild for the Wolfpack.

For the first time in three years, it will not be Carson Strong throwing the passes for the Mountain West contenders. Strong graduated this year and is now fighting for a roster spot on the Philadelphia Eagles.

Top receiver Romeo Doubs was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round of this year’s draft, and tight end and secondary pass catcher Cole Turner was a fifth-round pick as well.

By the way, the other two notable starting pass catchers, Melquan Stovall and Tory Holton, both transferred to Colorado State this offseason. Not only are the Wolfpack losing one of the best Mountain West quarterbacks in recent years, but they also have to find a way to replace 3,088 receiving yards and 27 receiving touchdowns. Oh, and they have to replace head coach Jay Norvell who went to guess who, Colorado State.

While they lost a lot of pieces on offense, no team should ever be counted out from rebounding in college football. Here are five players to watch on a new-look Nevada when they travel to Iowa City in week three.

Danger in trading star players

The Vikings should tread lightly if they’re eyeing a big trade.

As the Vikings look to move forward, there will be numerous questions about the roster. There are multiple stars on both sides of the ball that are creeping up in age and are paid large percentages of the cap. With a team like the Vikings that is in flux, you can go in a myriad of directions.

When you start to consider trading star players, a lot of things need to be considered, mainly what the return is for those players. If they are older, it is much easier to justify moving on without worrying about whether the capital you receive will be worth the star you are giving up. In this piece, I will be taking a look at trading star players and the danger in doing so.

[listicle id=59162]