Here are my initial thoughts on Arizona....

[Raziel]

In my opinion, this game is going to come down to whether or not Iowa can handle the game situation. The heat/time zone change worry me more than anything, and here is why:

Arizona had a couple of pretty darn good defensive tackles last year, but both are gone. Both of their new DT's are pretty green, and I think they can probably be exploited.

Arizona is also replacing 2 of their 3 LB's from last year, so that unit will be green as well, and that includes replacing probably their most effective LB's - Vuna Tuihalamaka and Xavier Kelley, who were both 2nd team all PAC 10 last year.

It would appear that Iowa should be able to run the ball effectively between the tackles at this one and exploit the inexperienced interior of the Arizona defense. I think Iowa gets a pretty good ground game established in this game.

In terms of our defensive match up -

- Zona is replacing 3 of their starting 5 on the OL from last season. I watched their OL closely last night, and it appeared to struggle opening holes up for Grigsby against the Citadel. The Citadel got more penetration against the Arizona DL than what they should have. I expect our DL to have a big game next Saturday.

- Foles is an improvement from Matt Scott.....but for some reason they were rotating QB's last night.....it will be interesting to see how that develops. Foles looks like a much better passer.....but I expect him to be under more pressure next week than he has been throughout his entire career....will be interesting to see how he reacts to that.

Those are my initial thoughts......as long as we come to play, and KF has the guys ready to go right away, I think we win this one in a pretty similar fashion to last year. If our guys get affected by the time change though, then anything can happen......I hope KF learned from his experience in 04.

 

[cibula11]

winning like we did against Iowa St. helps. I think we'll play with much more confidence. i'm excited to see how we play away from home.

 

[Hawks7]

Could game day come to the arizona game!

 

[HawkKing81]

In my opinion, this game is going to come down to whether or not Iowa can handle the game situation. The heat/time zone change worry me more than anything, and here is why:

Arizona had a couple of pretty darn good defensive tackles last year, but both are gone. Both of their new DT's are pretty green, and I think they can probably be exploited.

Arizona is also replacing 2 of their 3 LB's from last year, so that unit will be green as well, and that includes replacing probably their most effective LB's - Vuna Tuihalamaka and Xavier Kelley, who were both 2nd team all PAC 10 last year.

It would appear that Iowa should be able to run the ball effectively between the tackles at this one and exploit the inexperienced interior of the Arizona defense. I think Iowa gets a pretty good ground game established in this game.

In terms of our defensive match up -

- Zona is replacing 3 of their starting 5 on the OL from last season. I watched their OL closely last night, and it appeared to struggle opening holes up for Grigsby against the Citadel. The Citadel got more penetration against the Arizona DL than what they should have. I expect our DL to have a big game next Saturday.

- Foles is an improvement from Matt Scott.....but for some reason they were rotating QB's last night.....it will be interesting to see how that develops. Foles looks like a much better passer.....but I expect him to be under more pressure next week than he has been throughout his entire career....will be interesting to see how he reacts to that.

Those are my initial thoughts......as long as we come to play, and KF has the guys ready to go right away, I think we win this one in a pretty similar fashion to last year. If our guys get affected by the time change though, then anything can happen......I hope KF learned from his experience in 04.

My concern would not be so much the time change, I think the team will practice all this week at late hours like they did in camp to set their "clocks" for the game.

I would be more worried about the dry arid conditions. I hope they training staff has the team well hydrated, because I think cramping could be an issue if they are not. The heat won't be an issue, but the zero percent humidity might.

 

[Raziel]

My concern would not be so much the time change, I think the team will practice all this week at late hours like they did in camp to set their "clocks" for the game.

I would be more worried about the dry arid conditions. I hope they training staff has the team well hydrated, because I think cramping could be an issue if they are not. The heat won't be an issue, but the zero percent humidity might.

I agree that could probably be more of an issue....but for that reason I am really glad this game is at 7:30 instead of 2:30....cramping would be a lot bigger deal, IMO, if the game kicked off in the afternoon.

 

[NewMexHawk]

Everyone talks about the time change but we play in the Eastern time zone all the time don't we and that is a 2-hour difference and we play night games against Penn St. Those changes don't seem to bother us but suddenly we go west and a 1-hour time change and playing at night are huge factors. This Iowa team is quite experienced and has seen an array of playing conditions. The only difference might be the heat factor. I would be considerably worried if we did not have any depth or if we had a first-year QB or a green DL and so on but both sides of the ball are quite experienced. I think as long as our DL is not on the field all night long Iowa will be just fine.

 

[Hawkfromnorwalk]

I've only seen about 5 minutes of Arizona gameplay so I can't go to much in depth but it looks to me that as long as our pass D is solid and our front four can get some pressure on Foles we should be ok. I'm not too worried about our O v. their D.

 

[iowahawkeyes89]

Agreed, my main concerns are all in regards to the game situation, nothing to do with match ups.

I do like that we've been tested at PSU and OSU last year, so we know how to play well on the road.

 

[RobKong]

They asked Coach Ferentz about the time change thing after the ISU game, and he replied that they had done some work on that in during practices already. He said the players were unaffected, but the coaches got tired.

 

[PJHawk]

Everyone talks about the time change but we play in the Eastern time zone all the time don't we and that is a 2-hour difference and we play night games against Penn St. Those changes don't seem to bother us but suddenly we go west and a 1-hour time change and playing at night are huge factors.

You have it backwards - it's a two hour time change for Tuscon (Mountain Time zone plus they don't observe DST) and one hour time change for State College (EST).

 

[HawkeyeDenis]

I watched Az against Toledo, and some of the Citidel game. Nick Foles is a excellent QB. I also think that their O line is still a work in progress. Their defense didn't impress me that much. I thought their secondary was fantastic last year, this year nothing special. Decent D line against Toledo, Citidel.
Iowa should have success offensively. The defense should dominate Arizona's offense. Nick Foles and Nic Grigsby are both very talented, but they will be under a lot of pressure from Iowa's front four. I wouldn't expect a 35-0 beat down, but I think Iowa will control the game from the outset.

 

[iowahawkeyes89]

They lost a lot of their D from last year

 

[olivecourt]

Way too much is being made of the heat and the game start time. I don't think Iowa got pounded by ASU in 2004 because it was too late at night-- they got pounded because they were trying to run the ball with Sam Brownlee. 2004 ended up being a great season, but this was an Iowa team that struggled to beat a very mediocre Iowa State team at Kinnick the previous week. They were not clicking at that point in the season (they got rocked by Michigan the next week), whereas this year's team looks pretty sharp. The temp will cool off considerably when the sun goes down before kickoff; at that point, it will be just like any other night game.

Let's keep it basic: Iowa handled Arizona pretty easily last year. Arizona's offense is improved if for no other reason than that Foles is starting. Iowa's offense is also improved-- better O-line play and a more experienced backfield. Arizona's defense, though, is definitely worse, while Iowa's looks as strong or stronger than it was last year. I don't think Arizona's home field advantage overcomes those factors. A lot of PAC-10 teams from much cooler climates travel there all the time and seem to do fine.

 

[scottsdalehawk]

The circumstances favor AZ... I live here now... its hot , however as the game goes on it will cool fairly quickly.

Turn up the heat in the bubble , get ready for many different looks from their D... they want this one badly.

foles to criner is like bj to marble..... those two are that good....

I imagine norm etc know this too. Having one great wideout can be a lot like having zero if we take them away..

this is a great matchup and big fun for both squads , fans , conferences etc

Lets go hawks

 

[JHHawk]

The circumstances favor AZ... I live here now... its hot , however as the game goes on it will cool fairly quickly.

Turn up the heat in the bubble , get ready for many different looks from their D... they want this one badly.

foles to criner is like bj to marble..... those two are that good....

I imagine norm etc know this too. Having one great wideout can be a lot like having zero if we take them away..

this is a great matchup and big fun for both squads , fans , conferences etc

Lets go hawks

I agree about Foles-Criner...best pass catch duo Iowa may see all season.
Foles is a stud.
What do you project the tempature at kickoff will be? Over 90 degrees?
Howard Griffin of the BTN says when he was at Illinois they played out there twice and both times they pushed kickoff back a couple of hours due to heat....any chance they could do that this week? Hope so.
Start at 9 oclock Tucson time,if they have to, just do not dehydrate the Iowa squad that will affect them for weeks.

I think this is going to be a barnburner...Iowa 24 Az 23.

 

[shonblatt]

Arizona is going to wilt as soon as they start getting smacked in the mouth. They're a speed-first team that won't be able to hold up to Iowa's strength and physicality.

 

[PJHawk]

Way too much is being made of the heat and the game start time. I don't think Iowa got pounded by ASU in 2004 because it was too late at night-- they got pounded because they were trying to run the ball with Sam Brownlee. 2004 ended up being a great season, but this was an Iowa team that struggled to beat a very mediocre Iowa State team at Kinnick the previous week.

Sam Brownlee did not play vs ASU that year as Marcus Simmons and Jermell Lewis were still healthy. The reason Iowa lost is ASU QB Andrew Walter had the game of his life that night throwing for over 400 yards and five TD's.

 

[SwirlinLingerie]

OliveCourt, I agree with you that far too much is being made about the time zone, night game and heat. This is an experienced group who played their best football on the road last year - both day and night. Plus, these are college kids who love to play football. We aren't asking my 94 year old grandpa to stay up until 3 am, do the NY Times crossword and then complete an obstacle couse while wearing moon boots.

These guys don't travel on trains anymore or bunk up in strangers' homes the night before. Their nutrition is monitored at all times, they travel on airplanes and stay in nice hotels. My god, from reading this board the last few months you'd think this game was being played in Tehran in the 1940s.

Iowa will win because they have a dominant defensive line and from what we saw yesterday, a close to dominant offensive line. Arizona has neither of these things. How many times does the team with a superior offensive line, defensive line and coaching staff lose? We also have a pretty salty quarterback, two good running backs, and perhaps our best pair of wide receivers ever.

These attributes don't evaporate as a bunch of a 21 year olds fly out of CST time. Sh*t, DJK and Clayborn and company will all have their ipods on and won't have any idea they even changed time zones.

 

[jsmhawk]

OliveCourt, I agree with you that far too much is being made about the time zone, night game and heat. This is an experienced group who played their best football on the road last year - both day and night. Plus, these are college kids who love to play football. We aren't asking my 94 year old grandpa to stay up until 3 am, do the NY Times crossword and then complete an obstacle couse while wearing moon boots.

These guys don't travel on trains anymore or bunk up in strangers' homes the night before. Their nutrition is monitored at all times, they travel on airplanes and stay in nice hotels. My god, from reading this board the last few months you'd think this game was being played in Tehran in the 1940s.

Iowa will win because they have a dominant defensive line and from what we saw yesterday, a close to dominant offensive line. Arizona has neither of these things. How many times does the team with a superior offensive line, defensive line and coaching staff lose? We also have a pretty salty quarterback, two good running backs, and perhaps our best pair of wide receivers ever.

These attributes don't evaporate as a bunch of a 21 year olds fly out of CST time. Sh*t, DJK and Clayborn and company will all have their ipods on and won't have any idea they even changed time zones.

THIS! Exactly this. Iowa will win by 14 or more.

 

[NewMexHawk]

I live in the Mountain time zone so if Tucson is in the Mountain time zone, it will be a 1-hour difference. You are correct about about Iowa and the ETZ though...it is 2 hours for me.