By Courtney Baumann
Heading into Week 9 of the season, the Iowa football team finally has a week off.
The Hawkeyes will have the weekend to rest after their third loss in a row at home before heading to Penn State to take on the Nittany Lions, who recently upset Ohio State.
The week off will also give those who have suffered injuries recently a much-needed rest before getting out on the field again.
Tight end George Kittle and offensive lineman Cole Croston both played sparingly against Wisconsin, but the bye week will definitely help their recovery.
Most importantly, head coach Kirk Ferentz hopes the week will give Iowa a chance to figure out what the team is doing wrong in order to improve for the last four games of the season.
“We’re coming off of a tough loss to a good Wisconsin team,” Ferentz said. “We’re trying to pull things back together. We’re taking this week off to keep our guys moving and hopefully make some improvement this week.”
Just because Iowa has the week off, though, doesn’t mean other teams in the conference have the same luxury.
Penn State
The previously unranked Nittany Lions (now No. 24) are coming off a huge win over then-No. 2 Ohio State, which dropped to No. 6 after its first loss of the season.
Penn State’s 3-1 Big Ten record puts them tied for second in the East Division, behind Michigan and alongside the Buckeyes.
The team’s three-game home stand will come to an end this week when it travels to Purdue on Saturday.
“We work on the belief that the next game is the most important game, no matter who your opponent is,” Penn State assistant head coach Terry Smith said. “I think there’s just a little more excitement. Our kids, they’ve bought into the process the entire year, and after a game like this past weekend, the buy-in is even greater.”
Ohio State
As mentioned above, the former No. 2 Buckeyes dropped their first game of the season Oct. 22.
It is the first time that many of the young players have experienced a loss during their time at Ohio State, and head coach Urban Meyer said it is up to the coaching staff to make sure they bounce back on top.
“That’s something that’s up to us, as coaches and leaders on the team, to make sure they learn how to deal with it,” Meyer said. “We just have to guide them like how we would with anything.”
Michigan State
In a very surprising turn of events, Michigan State is just one game above dead last in the Big Ten.
The Spartans are now 0-4 in Big Ten play after their most recent loss, to Maryland.
They have top-of-the-conference Michigan at home this weekend, which will be the most difficult game they have played this season. After that, Michigan State still has Ohio State and Penn State on the schedule. The only two likely wins left for the Spartans will be when they play at Illinois and have Rutgers at home.
“Michigan is playing at a very high level, not just offensively and defensively but on special teams as well, so it will be a great challenge for us,” Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio said. “The game’s played on the field … We have to be able to win our share of the competition.”