The Daily Iowan’s Saturday Exams: Iowa-Iowa State

September 12, 2015

Iowa defensive lineman Drew Ott tackles Iowa State quarterback Sam Richardson in Kinnick Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014. Iowa State defeated Iowa, 20-17. (The Daily Iowan/Valerie Burke)

Football reporters Danny Payne and Ryan Rodriguez list four things Iowa must do in order to beat Iowa State.

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Play 48 minutes

With the emotional week Iowa has had, I don’t see any way the Hawkeyes aren’t absolutely itching to get on the field. Considering the Hawkeyes are more talented, on paper,if they can sustain a quality effort for an entire game, the Cy-Hawky Trophy could be headed back to Iowa City.

Grade: B. Teacher’s error here. Apparently I (Danny) think it’s basketball season. This should be “Play 60 minutes.” Iowa had some stretches that were bad, but stepped up most when it counted.

Pressure the backfield early

The Hawkeye front seven has to let Iowa State quarterback Sam Richardson know he won’t be comfortable right from the get-go. The senior has the ability to stretch plays, so setting the tone early is paramount.

Grade: C. Drew Ott, who left with an injury, did fine when he was in. Stupid penalties from Jaleel Johnson bring this grade down, too. But they did put pressure on Richardson as the game progressed.

Stretch the field

The Cyclones have an extremely sound run defense and will most likely force C.J. Beathard and the Hawkeyes to go to the air on the bulk of their plays from scrimmage. Or at least they’d very much like to.

It goes without saying, but both Beathard and his receivers are going to need to stretch the field to open up as many seams as possible. Seven-yard slants and out passes get you nowhere against this team, as everyone who watched last season can attest to.

Grade: B-. CJB and Matt VandeBerg had a couple great catch-and-throws, but it took ’till it was almost too late before it showed up. To their credit, they did not try to force anything that wasn’t there.

Limit the mental errors

It goes without saying, but limiting the mental mistakes is going to go along way for both teams today. Three of the last four Cy-Hawk contests have been decided by just a field goal, so even the smallest slip could have an effect.

For the Hawks, that means crisp play execution will be huge. The Hawkeyes probably have the more athletic roster on paper, so it’s up to them to not give the Cyclones any chances they haven’t earned.

Grade: F. Again, they cleaned it up in the second half but a number of stupid penalties almost sunk them. Chalk it up to first-half jitters ,maybe, but it’s got to get better from here on out.