The No. 5 (College Football Poll) Hawkeye football team (No. 3 AP) beat the Boilermakers, 40-20 on Nov. 22

By Jordan Hansen
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So there’s a chance

Iowa is one win from an undefeated regular season and two wins away from a College Football Playoff berth.

It really is as simple as that.

The Hawkeyes wrapped up a spot in the Big Ten title game with a win over Purdue on Nov. 22, and now only Nebraska stands between them and a 12-0 regular season. Over in the East Division, Ohio State lost to Michigan State, putting the Spartans in prime position to face Iowa in the conference championship.

If Sparty can beat Penn State next weekend, they’re guaranteed a spot. If they lose, then it would be the winner of the Michigan-Ohio State game against Iowa.

Regardless, the Hawkeyes are in a position they have never been in before. Enjoy it, Iowa fans.

Beathard-to-Kittle/Tight ends become huge

Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard targeted the tight end duo of George Kittle and Henry Krieger Coble seven times against Purdue.

They came up with a combined 6 receptions, 125 yards, and 2 touchdowns. Of those 6, the 4 that didn’t go for scores were first-down catches.

Beathard has been leaning more and more on the pair as the season has gone on, for good reason. Both have been incredibly consistent, and they rarely drop passes. They’ve also come up huge on third down, vastly important in Iowa’s offense.

Just when we thought we understood the running game …

For the first time since Oct. 10 against Illinois, Jordan Canzeri was Iowa’s leading rusher. The senior had 13 carries for 95 yards and a touchdown against Purdue.

Canzeri was coming off an ankle injury suffered against Northwestern, and he hadn’t really caught his stride again until this game. LeShun Daniels Jr. and Akrum Wadley took the majority of the carries in Canzeri’s absence and saw action against the Boilermakers.

Daniels had 8 carries for 31 yards and 2 touchdowns, and Wadley toted the ball 4 times for 23 yards.

Iowa will likely continue use a variety of running backs.

Defensive pressure issues continue

The Hawkeyes have been solid on defense all season, but the pass rush is still a work in progress.

Defensive ends Parker Hesse and Nate Meier had a few good moments, but Iowa only managed 2 tackles for loss and 2 quarterback hurries against Purdue.

Iowa did, however, force 2 fumbles, and its linebackers and defensive backs continue to look good.

Special teams… meh

One of placekicker Marshall Koehn’s PATs was blocked; he outright missed another.

Iowa also averaged just 37 yards on four punts. While none of the miscues ended up costing the Hawkeyes much, it still has to bother head coach Kirk Ferentz that execution of special-teams plays has been lax.

BONUS! 

We know you were thinking about it this whole time…

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