The Iowa football team downed Nebraska, 28-20, on Nov. 27 in Lincoln, Nebraska.
By Ryan Rodriguez
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Iowa thrives under pressure
Many people have been snarky about Iowa’s strength of schedule all season, but the Hawkeyes have gotten better and better as the stakes have gotten higher.
With a trip to the Big Ten title game sewn up, the Hawks could have come out flat against Nebraska and let a hostile environment get the best of them. Instead, Iowa stuck to its game plan, namely a strong running game and an extremely opportunistic defense.
What’s more, all of this came against a hated rival that had nothing to play for except ruining Iowa’s perfect season (and perhaps a bowl bid if it could get to six wins).
Tommy Armstrong Jr.’s decision-making: not great
As I said, Iowa’s defense is extremely opportunistic and loves to force opposing offenses into making bad decisions with the football.Nebraska quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. did a lot of that work for it, tossing up 4 interceptions, 3 of which were not even close to their intended targets.
It was almost surreal to watch by the end of the game, but seeing Armstrong chuck jump balls into triple coverage when pressured in the backfield instead of flinging it harmlessly out of bounds beat Nebraska before it could get off the ground.
Iowa’s secondary is its biggest weak spot
It’s kind of taboo to criticize a guy who has had such a standout year, but Desmond King has not looked himself for the last three games, and that should be a bit alarming if you’re an Iowa fan.
For a second, forget the immaturity and carelessness of being late for a team meeting and focus on his play on the field: King has struggled with gap control on a lot of his assignments and has dropped at least two easy interceptions the past two games.
What’s more, fellow corner Greg Mabin has been getting burned on short- and medium-range throws all season long.
But its line play is its biggest strength
Former Steeler head coach and NFL legend Chuck Noll used to say that if you blocked a play perfectly, it wouldn’t matter if the defense knew what was coming or not. Noll rode that mentality to four Super Bowls, and now Ferentz has ridden it to a 12-0 season.
It’s hardly a revelation to anyone who has watched Iowa football anytime in the last nearly 40 years, but the Hawks consistently winning the battle in the trenches in the No. 1 reason they have yet to lose a game in 2015.
Give Jordan Canzeri a bus-sized hole to run through, and he’s going to make opponents pay.
Iowa has its doubters, but none of them play for Iowa
Confidence can deadly in college football, and right now, the Hawkeyes are as loose and confident in themselves as one could ever hope to be.
It comes through when talking to players after the game, and it’s abundantly clear when watching the way they play football. Quarterback C.J. Beathard is the even-keeled steady hand at the helm of the Iowa offense, and the whole team feeds off of that.
Whether outside personalities have the same confidence is up for debate, but there’s not a shred of self-doubt in that locker room right now.
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