2012 Game by Game predictions



I am not as doom and gloom as most fans seem to be heading into this season.

I know that the D-line, RB and Receiver play and overall depth will be a concern, but based on the schedule that we face, I still think that a very good season is on tap.

My game by game take:

Northern Illinois: 1st game jitters expected and NIU has proven to be a team capable of an upset, but Hawks leave Soldier Field with a victory.

Game prediction: Hawks win 27-23 Overall Record: 1-0

Iowa State: Hawks need to start fast and prevent the Clones from getting any early momentum.
Game prediction: Hawks win 31-20 Overall Record: 2-0

UNI: Home game against a Division II opponent – Hawks will score early and often and hold off a late rally.
Game prediction: Hawks win 37-27 Overall Record: 3-0

Central Michigan: Offense puts up big numbers in final tune up before Big 10 play.
Game prediction: Hawks win 38-23 Overall Record: 4-0

Minnesota: Hawks get Floyd back after 2 lackluster performances against the Gophers.
Game prediction: Hawks win 34-24 Overall Record: 5-0

At Northwestern: Hawks continue to struggle against the Cats.
Game prediction: Hawks lose 34-24 Overall Record: 5-1

At Indiana: Hawks get their only Big 10 road win of the season.
Game prediction: Hawks win 37-27 Overall Record: 6-1

Penn State: Home cooking helps Hawks start a new winning streak over PSU.
Game prediction: Hawks win 24-20 Overall Record: 7-1

At Michigan State: MSU exposes our D-line and runs away with a victory.
Game prediction: Hawks lose 31-13 Overall Record: 7-2

Purdue: Hawks win a tight one.
Game prediction: Hawks win 31-30 Overall Record: 8-2

At Michigan: Denard has a huge day rushing and the Hawks go down hard.
Game prediction: Hawks lose 34-10 Overall Record: 8-3

Nebraska: Vandenberg and Keenan Davis have huge Senior days to propel Hawks to upset win.
Game prediction: Hawks win 27-24 Overall Record: 9-3

Dude I will eat your shorts if Iowa finishes 9-3 this season. We have NO D-Line and while we have JVB and a stout O-Line we have no big time WR to stretch the field. At best this is a 7-5 team if many things go right.
 


Yes, they have linebackers. They lost big parts of their DLine and defensive backfield however. Anybody remember how effective Greenway and Hodge were in 05 when they had a young DLine? Same thing for ISU in 2012.

Its not exactly the same thing, since we won't have a young DLine. 3 of the 4 starters will likely be seniors, 2 of which were starters last year, and the other was 2nd string DT that saw a lot of reps. 2 more seniors, 2 juniors, and one sophomore on the 2 deeps. It sounds like the plan right now is to rotate 6 DTs and 4 DEs, so we have some depth at the positions.

That being said, we definitely lost our best DT and best DE, and I wouldn't say that any of the returners have proven that they're great, or even very good. So the effect could end up being similar to Iowa 05 anyway.
 


You do realize they have the top recruit in the country from 2010 Colter can throw to now. He's 6'6", 215lb and will be a beast to handle. They don't need a RB with him. Prater will be the best WR in Big Ten.

1. There is a good chance Prater will not even be eligible this season
2. He struggled at USC and could not get on the field.
3. Colter is not a consistent passer.
4. Their o-line is bad,thus giving them little time to have Prater get downfield...a lot of 2 yard slants.
 


1. There is a good chance Prater will not even be eligible this season
2. He struggled at USC and could not get on the field.
3. Colter is not a consistent passer.
4. Their o-line is bad,thus giving them little time to have Prater get downfield...a lot of 2 yard slants.

If that's true and we are switching to press coverage now maybe, just maybe, we can stop teams from doing that dink and dunk **** against us.
 






This team could be anywhere from 10-2 to 6-6.

To many unknowns at this point to make a reasonable guess on how the big ten season is going to turn out but regardless there is no excuse for not starting 5-0.
 


No brah, I'm going to stand back to teh alpha male. I don't want teh horns.

As to le OP, of teh 9 wins you posted, one is a certain loss (Nebraska), one is probably going to be a loss (Penn State), and two wouldn't surprise me if we lost (ISU and Minnesota).

Iowa has won allot of "certain losses" in KFs time, thev'e also lost allot of certain wins though.
 


After that, it's a crap shoot. The interesting thing will be to see how we handle the momentum assuming we do start 5-0. Momentum in college football does crazy things (see Hawkeyes circa 2009).

I don't think momentum had much to do with 2009, that team was about as stacked as Iowa can get.

It was actually astonishingly pathetic that allot of those games were ever in doubt.
 


Why is everyone assuming Iowa beats Iowa State? They beat us last season and are a better team this season. Probably one of the better defenses we'll see and their offense will cause problems with our defense playing only 2nd game.

They beat us last year because their backup QB had a very uncharacteristically good game. Granted some of that was due to Iowas poor defense but he did far worse against some similar Ds. Iowa also had Castillo starting at one corner and Hyde at safety in that game, the back field should be much better this year.

Iowa State will never be a "good team" at best they can be an average team capable of good games.

The game is at home, Iowa will win.
 






are_u_on_drugs.jpg

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
 




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