Iowa's biggest upset win in 2019 will be...

proudhawkfan21

proudhawkfan21

Well-Known Member
I'm going to say Michigan and I loved reading this, particularly the first part of the last paragraph. For all of you Ferentz never beats Wisconsin folks...

VS. IOWA (SATURDAY, OCT. 5)
We all know Iowa isn’t truly an “under-the-radar” team coming into the fall, but this matchup probably won’t get as much hype as the four big ones on Michigan’s schedule. While the Hawkeyes tend to play dream-crusher at Kinnick Stadium, they have all the pieces to pull of a major road upset this fall.

A.J. Epenesa is one of the top defensive lineman in college football and could potentially be a top five pick in the NFL Draft. Nate Stanley will be a senior this fall and is a third-year returning starter. Iowa did lose its best offensive weapons in Noah Fant and T.J. Hockenson, as well as several key defensive pieces, it’s still got enough in the tank to win some big-time games.

Iowa has actually dominated the head-to-head series against Michigan recently, winning the last two games and five of the previous six matchups. The nice thing for Harbaugh’s bunch is that the showdown with the Hawkeyes is sandwiched between games against Rutgers and Illinois, meaning they can spend plenty of time preparing.
 
You almost have to pick Michigan because that's the only game that would be considered a big upset.

If Iowa was playing @PSU and won, that might be a big upset, but Iowa is playing PSU in Iowa City this year,. So if Iowa beats PSU, it would be an upset, but not a big upset.

Now Iowa may also pull some small upsets if they beat Iowa St, Wisc, NW, or maybe even Neb, or Purdue. But none of those would be huge upsets.
 
guffus said:
Now Iowa may also pull some small upsets if they beat Iowa St, Wisc, NW, or maybe even Neb, or Purdue. But none of those would be huge upsets.
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This. Partially. As Ric Flair said... “to be the man, you gotta beat the man.” And Purdue, Wisconsin and Northwestern all have had our number more often than not lately.
 
guffus said:
It would be so typical of Iowa to pull upset wins over Mich and PSU, then turn around and lose to NW, Wisc and Purdue.
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Yep. I doubt Iowa will take down Michigan this year, though. That kid Michigan has at QB is decent. The last 6 times Iowa has played Michigan they have had pretty marginal QB play. I think they finally have a decent one, though.
 
okeefe4prez said:
Yep. I doubt Iowa will take down Michigan this year, though. That kid Michigan has at QB is decent. The last 6 times Iowa has played Michigan they have had pretty marginal QB play. I think they finally have a decent one, though.
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They're implementing a totally new offense, and we get them fairly early in the year. That's gotta help at least a little bit. I'm cautiously optimistic (as always).
 
Chickenlounge said:
They're implementing a totally new offense, and we get them fairly early in the year. That's gotta help at least a little bit. I'm cautiously optimistic (as always).
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Oh, I hadn't heard that. They also lost a lot of dudes on defense. Definitely a winnable game, but I wouldn't be surprised if we lose that one handily. Our defense has been pretty good against running QBs who can't throw very well, like the kid at Mississippi State, and Michigan has had a slew of those in the past decade.
 
I like our chances at Michigan. Like a previous poster said, they lost a lot on defense. Couple that with a new OC, a new offensive philosophy, and being early in season, we can take them down and continue being a burr under JH’s saddle. I wouldn’t want to play them later in the season when they finally get that offense fine tuned. They may finally beat OSU, but then maybe their narrative would change and everyone will be asking, “but why can’t Harbaugh beat the Hawkeyes?”
 
Michigan also has question marks at running back. Higdon left early for the NFL and the next guy in line is ineligible. I saw where they are down to incoming freshman and walk ons at running back. Remember the days of Bo and Lloyd Carr seemingly having an all big ten running back every year? That may be the biggest difference between the Michigan teams of today versus 20 or 30 years ago.
 
I think Wisconsin would feel like the biggest upset considering the hurdle they have been for the Hawks. On paper, visit to the Big House, it would be Michigan in my mind. Actual, probably Wisconsin for a loyal Hawkeye soul. Nw and Nebby shouldnt feel like upsets if we are where we want to be as a program. Technically Wisky on that list too but...we need to get that ball rolling this yr with a win in Madison. More of a must have than an upset
 
Over the last 4 years, Michigan has only won a total of 2 more games than Northwestern, yet many fans feel a win over the wolverines would be a huge upset, while they view the wildcats as a team Iowa "should" beat.
 
peerok said:
Michigan also has question marks at running back. Higdon left early for the NFL and the next guy in line is ineligible. I saw where they are down to incoming freshman and walk ons at running back. Remember the days of Bo and Lloyd Carr seemingly having an all big ten running back every year? That may be the biggest difference between the Michigan teams of today versus 20 or 30 years ago.
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Yeah, I remember when a Michigan RB was akin to "dangerous" to opponents. Now, not so much.
 
peerok said:
Over the last 4 years, Michigan has only won a total of 2 more games than Northwestern, yet many fans feel a win over the wolverines would be a huge upset, while they view the wildcats as a team Iowa "should" beat.
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You’re not wrong, but NW is 3-1 in bowls and Michigan is 1-3, with Michigan playing hard opponents than NW every year, so those numbers are a bit inflated. They do have identical Big Ten records over the four years, but NW plays in the easier division.
 
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