How big is the Northwestern game?

H

HawksMN

Well-Known Member
I know cliche statement....

To me, huge game after the bye that will point out the trajectory for the Hawks for the 5 games after that.
Iowa is traditionally quite poor after a bye. Can they buck the trend and get a nice road W? Hope the heck so.

I say if Iowa wins this one, we rough up Minney the week after to sit at 6-2. Then the Bucks come to town with a great opportunity there. Flip side we lose against NW, quite possible we may get embarassed by the inferior 'we hate Iowa' gang, with OSU completing the 3 game beat down. Ugh don't want to see.......
 
Really they're all big. Pun intended. Be it for the standings, pride, momentum, recruiting. And a realistic goal for this team is a winning record in the conference. NW is one of the better opportunities for a win over the last 6
 
I bought into what some were saying that NW would be sneaky good this year. Clearly, they are not. If Iowa was running the football better I would be super confident they could win this. But they are not, so I expect a tight game.
 
trj said:
I bought into what some were saying that NW would be sneaky good this year. Clearly, they are not. If Iowa was running the football better I would be super confident they could win this. But they are not, so I expect a tight game.
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Not to mention, NW has a defense that can give us troubles if we don't/won't veer a bit from the "usual" game plan. And we KNOW the troubles their offense has been for Hawks teams during Fitz's tenure.
 
trj said:
I bought into what some were saying that NW would be sneaky good this year. Clearly, they are not. If Iowa was running the football better I would be super confident they could win this. But they are not, so I expect a tight game.
Click to expand...

I expect a tight game too. I think a lot of people (me included) underestimated how critical of a loss their WR was. Carr was their passing game, much like Vandy was for us in 2016 before he went down.
 
I still remember the NW vex they had on. Iowa few years back. Couldn't beat them for a while there. Finally broke thru and beat them a few years straight recently until last year.
 
I don't think the loss of Carr has hurt them as much as bad play up front on offense. Thorson has been sacked 18 times already this season and they've been unable to pave the way for Justin Jackson in the ground game. With that said, their record might be a tad bit deceptive. Two of their three losses came against current Top 10 teams and Duke is a pretty solid team as well. There could be a quality team lurking there behind that record. A couple of posters have mentioned the quality of NW's defense and they could give Iowa troubles especially if Iowa struggles executing on offense in the first half like they have all season so far. The matchup of the day will be Iowa's DL/front 7 vs. the Northwestern OL. If Iowa wins that battle, they'll likely cruise to a win. If they don't, it wouldn't be too surprising for the Wildcats offense to find their footing, control the clock, and win one of those games that leaves many of us scratching our heads.
 
If Iowa has ever done anything for NW it is make them look like a quality team. My gut says we will be scratching our heads at the end of this game.
 
HawksMN said:
I know cliche statement....

To me, huge game after the bye that will point out the trajectory for the Hawks for the 5 games after that.
Iowa is traditionally quite poor after a bye. Can they buck the trend and get a nice road W? Hope the heck so.
Click to expand...

Can you clarify what you mean when you state Iowa is traditionally quite poor after a bye. My recent memory is that Iowa does pretty well after a bye, especially during 2013-2015.
 
Xerxes said:
Really they're all big. Pun intended. Be it for the standings, pride, momentum, recruiting. And a realistic goal for this team is a winning record in the conference. NW is one of the better opportunities for a win over the last 6
Click to expand...
I agree with everything you have said here. I will admit though I see no example of a pun in your statement. PUNish me if I am wrong though.
 
Iowa record after bye weeks since 2008

2008. Loss @ILL 27-24
2009 No Bye week
2010 win @Mich 38-28
2011 loss @PSU 13-3,
2012 win @MSU 19-16
2013 loss @OSU 38-28
2013 win Mich 24-21
2014 win Indy 45-29
2014 win NW 48-7
2015 win MD 31-15
2016 loss @PSU 41-14

Overall 6-4.
HOME 4-0
AWAY 2-4

I am not sure if you can draw any conclusions from performance after a bye week as a predicter for the rest of the season. Too many variables to consider. Is it home or away? Is the other team any good? Is it early or late in a season or a double-bye season? Did the other team also have a bye the week before?

Iowa fell apart in 2012 after upsetting MSU.

Iowa in 2014 did well the weeks after a bye, blowing out Indy and NW, but not as well in games 2 weeks after the byes, losing to MD and Minn.

Iowa had awful games in 2011 and 2016 following byes, but had good games 2 weeks after the bye.

In the end I don't believe the results of a post bye week game matter any more than any other game during a season.
 
5 - 2 so sounds so much better than 4 - 3. Should be a huge Iowa contingent in Evanston. Tickets are easy to get and reasonably priced.
 
If Iowa wins, it probably means Iowa will finish 8-4

If Iowa loses, its probably a sign that Iowa is going to finish 5-7.
 
This is one of the bigger Iowa vs Northwestern games in recent years. I don't think NW is living up to what many anticipated this year, so a loss might tell quite a bit. Road game with a challenging offense to defend.
 
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