How's this for crazy......

[Rawkhawk73]

Kirk Ferentz has a better record against Michigan than he does against Northwestern.

or

Kirk Ferentz has a better overall record against Wisconsin and MSU combined than he does against Indiana and Northwestern combined.

or

Kirk Ferentz has a losing record against only 2 Big Ten teams.....OSU and Northwestern.


Call me crazy, but I'm tellin' ya, I think I'm more concerned about the 2 road games against Indiana and Northwestern than I am against Wisc and MSU.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

Kirk Ferentz has a better record against Michigan than he does against Northwestern.

or

Kirk Ferentz has a better overall record against Wisconsin and MSU combined than he does against Indiana and Northwestern combined.

or

Kirk Ferentz has a losing record against only 2 Big Ten teams.....OSU and Northwestern.


Call me crazy, but I'm tellin' ya, I think I'm more concerned about the 2 road games against Indiana and Northwestern than I am against Wisc and MSU.

I actually feel pretty good about the home games against MSU and Wisconsin. Not that they will be easy games, but road games always make me a little leary. Against NW for obvious reasons, and then the way we looked against Indiana a year ago didn't instill alot of confidence.

I do feel that this is another year, and past results don't dictate what happens this year, but tell that to PSU when playing Iowa. I'm not taking any game lightly.

 

[edr247]

Indiana's pass offense worries me, but I think overall, their team doesn't have the ability to stick with us. If we could pull away from Michigan as we did, I think we pull away from Indiana as well.

Last year, Indiana was kept in the game greatly due to all the turnovers we had (Stanzi's picks, Spievey fumbling the punt inside the Iowa 20, etc). Once we got going, Indiana didn't stand a chance.

Northwestern is always frustrating because more often than not, we aren't losing by big margins, nor are we doing it against superior teams. Northwestern is the master of the close game and always seem to catch the breaks against us. In our losses, usually something goes wrong for us (including injuries the past two years) and our teams look sluggish and unprepared. Northwestern then does enough to hold us off.

Even before the events that have led up to these next two weeks, I've been concerned about the MSU and Wisconsin games (in that order). Both have strong run games, decent pass games and decent defenses. If we don't play disciplined, smart football, it could bite us, as I believe these two games will be close affairs.

 

[Rawkhawk73]

We're also 16-0 in our last 16 home games against teams not named "Northwestern".

It's just weird to me how certain teams, no matter the personnel or the coaches or anything, just seem to have another team's number. I suppose it's somewhat similar to us and Penn State although we've been a little more accomplished over the last 8 years or so than Northwestern has.

Although earlier in the decade when we sucked and Northwestern was good, we beat them. Now that we've become good and nationally ranked, Northwestern has beaten us more often than not.