The Iowa football team is scheduled to open the Big Ten season against Wisconsin Saturday.

By Danny Payne
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To this point, Iowa is 4-0 — some didn’t expect that heading into the season. Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium, we’ll find out just how good the Hawkeyes are.

Iowa is scheduled to play No. 19 Wisconsin this weekend, and it figures to be an extremely physical battle. The Badgers and Hawkeyes traditionally employ power offenses, and they want nothing more than to beat any given opponent at the line of scrimmage. It’s Big Ten football through and through.

“It’s Wisconsin,” linebacker Cole Fisher said. “They’ve been either first or second in the Big Ten for, like, the last five years.”

Being the defending Big Ten West Champions, first-year head coach Paul Chryst’s team presents an enormous challenge for the Hawkeyes and could turn a good start to the season into a great start to the season.

“It’s a huge challenge,” Fisher said. “I think we are ready for it, we’ve had a good first four games. We just had a great practice [Tuesday]. We feel really confident.”

Expectations rising

Some Hawkeye fans didn’t think their team would be undefeated through it’s nonconference schedule, and as a result, there was a feeling of apathy surrounding the Hawkeye program coming into the season.

But it’s amazing what four wins will do. Now, there’s a buzz around Iowa City leading up to the Hawkeyes’ first real test of the season that has caused some to jump back on the Iowa bandwagon.

“That’s what comes with the territory,” free safety Jordan Lomax said. “… We didn’t really focus on the outside noise — that was a major part of what we focused on this off-season — we knew once we started showing improvements and looking like a good football team, everyone would come back.”

If the Hawks do manage to win in Madison, those expectations will grow even more. The program will have an aura surrounding it compared with the glory years of 2002, 2004, and/or 2009.

But Ferentz, as always, keeps an even keel.

“We’ve just got to be careful and understand we’ve improved because we’ve been focused on the right things, that’s what we’ve got to say,” Ferentz said. “And if the roof should cave in this week, if all hell breaks loose, we’re going to line up and play next week, too.”

Personnel updates

Coming out of North Texas, Iowa is a bit more banged up than it may have hoped to be. While head coach Kirk Ferentz said no one has been deemed unavailable as of Tuesday, it’s not unreasonable to think some players could be limited in Madison.

Defensive backs Greg Mabin and Miles Taylor, along with left tackle Boone Myers, suffered minor injuries against the Mean Green. Ferentz said both players aren’t going full speed in practice, and he hopes they’ll be back by Saturday.

As far as other injuries go, Ferentz said LeShun Daniels Jr., Jake Duzey, and Drew Ott are all getting closer to full strength. Duzey played in his first game of the season against North Texas after an injury in the spring, and he should figure to have a prominent role in Iowa’s offense if he continues progressing.

“I think [Daniels’ and Ott’s] injuries, they’re not 100 percent yet, but they’re a lot closer than they were, so the question is can they play effectively,” Ferentz said. “I think we’re moving in the right direction.”

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