ON THE RECORD: My Final FB Predictio & Yours

I will say 11-1 with our lone loss to Wisconsin if John Clay is healthy. We cannot stop that dud very well. We were lucky he got hurt last year.

We will tie for the Big Ten title, but probably with Ohio St.
 
I am going with 10-2 with losses to NW and Michigan St.
We will beat tOSU, Wisky and believe it or not....Minnesota....in nail-biting fashion.
 
Lots of bold predictions on this thread, none more bold than the leader of hawkeyenation. One question to all of you that have Iowa losing to Arizona: Why?

The final game of Arizona's 2009 season was against Nebraska. My opinion is that more than any team on their schedule, Nebraska resembled the Iowa Hawkeyes. Smash mouth offense with good use of play action. The Huskers use a stingy defense that flies to the football, much like the Hawks. The outcome of that game...Nebraska 33 - Arizona 0.

IMO, Arizona had one marquee win last year...@ USC. USC started a freshman QB and obviously showed signs of regression near the end of the year.

Aside from the game time and the traveling, why should Iowa be worried about Arizona? Kirk Ferentz has shown he doesn't make the same mistake twice when it comes to travel and preparation (see 2010 Orange Bowl v 2003 Orange Bowl).

12-0 and on to Glendale
 
I'll stick my neck all the way out and say we win it all, but we end up with Boise State
 
If Iowa doesn't win the B10 outright and make a serious run at the NC this season, it will NEVER ... AND I MEAN EVER, make a serious run at the NC. Book it, bank it and chisel it in stone.

This team has the most comprehensive title-caliber talent since at least '85 and I say even more so. (Talking from pure memory, without doing my due diligent research, and I recall the highlights of that team being QB, RB, LB, PK and P but I don't recall that team having great receivers nor a great d-line nor a great secondary, in addition to so much across-the-board experience & talent at virtually every other position. I have yet to comprehend the angst over AZ and am slowly quelling my uneasiness over Michigan because of the old mantra -- "defense wins championships". After re-watching what this defense did last season it proved time and again that it is capable of shutting down any offense -- i.e. AZ, Michigan, NW and, this season, OSU. With the exception of OSU, every one of these teams' strengths is offense and their weakness is a suspect defense.

Kudos to Jon for his ballsy prediction and I'm jumping on his bandwagon!

Iowa will play either Oklahoma or Florida or Oregon for the national title and lose a classic 24 - 22 game.
 
Lots of bold predictions on this thread, none more bold than the leader of hawkeyenation. One question to all of you that have Iowa losing to Arizona: Why?

The final game of Arizona's 2009 season was against Nebraska. My opinion is that more than any team on their schedule, Nebraska resembled the Iowa Hawkeyes. Smash mouth offense with good use of play action. The Huskers use a stingy defense that flies to the football, much like the Hawks. The outcome of that game...Nebraska 33 - Arizona 0.

IMO, Arizona had one marquee win last year...@ USC. USC started a freshman QB and obviously showed signs of regression near the end of the year.

Aside from the game time and the traveling, why should Iowa be worried about Arizona? Kirk Ferentz has shown he doesn't make the same mistake twice when it comes to travel and preparation (see 2010 Orange Bowl v 2003 Orange Bowl).

12-0 and on to Glendale

There's a couple of reasons why some of us see this game as a loss. First, intangibles. Late start, heat, time difference, west coast failures of the past, ect. I thought they did a good job discussing this on the Iowa preview show the other night. As for your Nebraska reference, I would rather use Iowa's game against UA to formulate a prediction than another team. Especially when Nebraska played them at the end of the year and we play them at the beginning of the year. You might have noticed over the years that Iowa doesn't exactly look sharp at the beginning of the season.

It's true that Arizona lost some good players from last season. Okay...well so did Iowa. I'm always amazed that people have no trouble seeing a "next man in" attitude with their own team, but can't envision it from an opponent. I(and a lot of others) have a ton of respect for Stoops. Personally, I don't think Arizona is more talented than Iowa. But if the most talented team always won there would be no point in playing the games.
 
I am going to be the "downer" of the group I guess. I just have an uneasy feeling about this season. Maybe if they go down to AZ and look good I will start to relax, but right now I am just not sensing the historic season that everyone else is. I will welcome all the bashing if I am wrong.

E. Illinois W (37-16)
Iowa State W (27-17)
@Arizona L (17-31)
Ball State W (45-10)
Penn State W (24-20)
@Michigan L (14-24)
Wisconsin L (20-21)
Michigan St W (17-14)
@Indiana W (34-20)
@NW W (42-27)
Ohio State L (24-26)
@Minn W (35-17)

8-4 (5-3) Gator Bowl

Yikes, I just don't see Iowa's D giving up that many points this season. For Arizona's new defense to hold Iowa to 17 is to much to ask. Iowa's offense should atleast drop 30 on AZ.
 
I will say 11-1 with our lone loss to Wisconsin if John Clay is healthy. We cannot stop that dud very well. We were lucky he got hurt last year.

We will tie for the Big Ten title, but probably with Ohio St.

No doubt Clay is a beast and so is their offensive line... But, thank god we got the #1 defensive line in the country. We sure did a good job at adjustments in the 2nd half to completely shut down the running game vs Wisky last year. I don't think we will go away from that either this year.
 
A couple of things that are head scratchers...

1) Why does the AZ game scare everyone?
2) Where are all these opponent's points coming from?

We have an improved offense and a better defense than last year. This is an undefeated team barring any major injury bug.
 
Intangibles are things that do not have physical presence. The heat, the time the game starts, etc are things that are physical and both teams have to overcome. If Iowa gets to Arizona on Friday morning or Thursday night, a day or two is plenty of time to adjust to a two hour time difference. An 18-21 year old college football player should be in good enough physical/mental shape to withstand a 9:30 start time...the Hawks will be playing other games at 7:30pm central time this year too.

Looking at last years Iowa v Arizona game, the score made the game look closer than it was. Iowa was well in control throughout. Arizona will be jacked up for that game but so will every other team Iowa plays this year. The bulls eye has been painted!

My opinion is that Kirk Ferentz will have his team exceptionally well prepared to travel thousands of miles to play a team they handily beat early in the year last year.

The games that should scare Hawk fans are the games at Michigan (depending on how UM starts) and at home against OSU. Michigan gave Iowa a great game in Kinnick last year. I don't think UM's D can stop Iowa's passing game so I'll chalk that up as a W. OSU will be a well oiled machine come mid-November. That will be a great battle...one that I hope is for all the marbles.
 
People don't seem to think that MSU can beat us at home, but I'd say besides OSU they are the team that I think has the best chance to beat Iowa. I also think PSU will be fired up and out for blood.
 
My picks:

Eastern Ill - Iowa wins 38-10

Iowa State - Iowa wins 28-14

Arizona - Iowa wins 28-21

Ball State - Iowa wins 38-3

Penn State - Iowa wins 21-13

Mich - Iowa wins 30-17

Wisky - Wisky wins 20-17

Mich St - Iowa wins 24-13

Ind - Iowa wins 28-14

NW - Iowa wins (payback game) 35-13

OH State - Iowa wins 17-13

Minn - Iowa wins 28-17

Iowa wins big ten and goes to Rose Bowl and faces Oregon St/Washington winner
 
"Intangibles are things that do not have physical presence. The heat, the time the game starts, etc are things that are physical and both teams have to overcome. If Iowa gets to Arizona on Friday morning or Thursday night, a day or two is plenty of time to adjust to a two hour time difference. An 18-21 year old college football player should be in good enough physical/mental shape to withstand a 9:30 start time...the Hawks will be playing other games at 7:30pm central time this year too. "

Question for you. Let's say Miami,Fl or USC came to Iowa City in early November. Are you going to try and tell me you wouldn't be using that scenario as a positive for Iowa? Of course you would. Iowa is use to those conditions while the other teams aren't. No difference here. Intangibles definitely have a physical presence. How can you possibly think they don't?

I can see why people would pick Iowa to win the game. What I'm having trouble with is people thinking this is an automatic victory. And I can't believe how many people keep questioning those of us who have it down for a loss. Not all of us see this team going undefeated, that doesn't make us bad fans.
 
I with Jon on this one. 12-0. This is the best team we have seen in Iowa for a very long time.
Defensive; Overwhelming. I think the defense will be too much for the middle of the road teams. Teams like Wisc, OSU, PSU will do better but Iowa still has the best D in the country.
Offense: Turnovers. Stop the pick 6's and the offense doesn't have to play catch up and the defense is on the bench resting. I think Ricky plays smart all year.
Kicking and special teams: No problems. I think we can expect the special teams to score a couple of times this fall.
Iowa-E Illinois: 53-10
Iowa-Iowa State: 31-5
Iowa @AZ: Iowa 28-11
Iowa-Ball St: 42-8
Iowa-PSU: Iowa 23-13
Iowa @Mich: Iowa 31-13
Iowa-Wisc: Iowa 27-17
Iowa-MSU: Iowa 31-23
Iowa@ In: Iowa 31-12
Iowa@ NW: Iowa 38-19
Iowa-OSU: Iowa 31-28 Game day @ Kinnick!
Iowa @ Mn: Iowa 42-7
The three games that scare me are (from least to most) AZ, MSU, OSU. I think Iowa knows what is on the line and they go into NW, Mich and take care of business. (adjusted D numbers, #1 D and +20 scores..not probable)
 
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People don't seem to think that MSU can beat us at home, but I'd say besides OSU they are the team that I think has the best chance to beat Iowa. I also think PSU will be fired up and out for blood.

I agree with you about MSU. They are a mirror of Iowa. And they have probably the best LB, QB in the conference. And they won't make a bunch of mistakes. I think people forget that Iowa(Ricky) only completed 39% of his passes before the game winning drive last year.
PSU may still be working out their problems at QB in Oct. I think Iowa D will be too disruptive for the new QB.
 
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There is no way that Boise St. will be in the NCG even if they win all their games.

Really? I can think of a couple ways they get in. 1. there are no other undefeated teams (certainly possible, and I don't think 'Bama, Florida, or Texas go 12-0). 2. They are one of 2 undefeated teams, the other being the SEC champion (a 1-loss SEC champ probably jumps them).

If they go undefeated, the wins against Virginia Tech and Oregon State are going to be enough to get them in should OSU or 'Bama falter. The pollsters are going to give them a big boost (they never got higher than #5 last year in the Harris or USA Today polls, and they are STARTING at #3 this year), and for as much as the computers "hated" them, they still were #6 in the computers. With wins over OSU and VT, their SOS will be better than last year, so you can bet they will be in the top 5 in the computers, too. They could very easily get in if they go 12-0, and don't be surprised if they got in before we did, even if we are undefeated (remember, we're behind them in the human polls, and will be until BSU loses).
 
Really? I can think of a couple ways they get in. 1. there are no other undefeated teams (certainly possible, and I don't think 'Bama, Florida, or Texas go 12-0). 2. They are one of 2 undefeated teams, the other being the SEC champion (a 1-loss SEC champ probably jumps them).

If they go undefeated, the wins against Virginia Tech and Oregon State are going to be enough to get them in should OSU or 'Bama falter. The pollsters are going to give them a big boost (they never got higher than #5 last year in the Harris or USA Today polls, and they are STARTING at #3 this year), and for as much as the computers "hated" them, they still were #6 in the computers. With wins over OSU and VT, their SOS will be better than last year, so you can bet they will be in the top 5 in the computers, too. They could very easily get in if they go 12-0, and don't be surprised if they got in before we did, even if we are undefeated (remember, we're behind them in the human polls, and will be until BSU loses).
If they win against OSU, VT. Don't underestimate how much effect their crying about the unfair system and how they get no respect will have on the national media. Their SOS is only one ranked team better this year than last. They ll whine an cry their way into the game then get killed.
 
On paper we all know this team has what it takes, and KF and the players seem to have a much different mentality this year. They are using the hype for a chance to prove people right instead of letting it go to their heads. That being said I think they will lose to AZ and actually beat Ohio St. 11-1.
 
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