Hard to see Iowa going out there and winning.
I think they are getting to much hype when you think about it. In another thread I pointed out that T-mart missed his soph year of HS due to injury and something like 30% of the snaps as a fresh in D1 ball. Also remember how good they were at stopping the run last year, one of the starting LB's over there may be a JR but only started 4 games as a soph (injury). The talk of the town is how much they bring back on D, but nobody stops to think that they didnt use LB's to much in the B12. So experience and being a soph or jr is all good, but how many snaps did they see in the time they have been playing D1? I think that matters, and would love to see those numbers.
Some quotes from their players.
"In the Big 12 you have all that spread stuff, and every day in the meeting room you're watching one position on the screen, and you just have a depth chart with just one position,"
"Now you have three positions, two positions, different packages. Everybody's competing. You've got to learn multiple positions instead of just one."
"In the Big Ten, you can't hardly put your hands on them (receivers). I'm trying to get used to running with receivers and not putting my hands on them. It'll be kind of hard. I like being physical."
"Coach Raymond told me he doesn't want me to do that this year. He wants me to just run by the receiver and just play him without putting my hands on him."
I think they had more penalties than any other B10 team last year as well. I have a feeling in an effort to slow the game down enough they will draw alot this year as well.
It goes on and on. There is much learning going on over there, whether you are a SR or a Fresh. Awhile back I had them around 9 but now as I have dug futher I think the number is closer to 7.6-7.7 wins.
There are alot of teams in the B10 this year that have question marks, but dont fool yourself into thinking they have any less or less substantial problems then anyone else. If you dig hard enough a case could be made they have more issues than several other teams.