Preview, Prediction: First-Place Northwestern Up Next for Hawkeyes

I’ll take the team playing for something unfortunately. Cats with a last second FG. Iowa’s D is terrible on last drives.
What happened to "We will lose to Penn State, then win out?" :)

Then again, you predicted losses to Northern Illinois and Minnesota.

And stop saying we have nothing to play for, just because you apparently have nothing left to cheer for.

Or become a Northwestern fan, since they have so much more to play for.
 




Parker needs to get more aggressive on those last stands. It's been proven time after time that what he's doing doesn't work at the end of the game.
His philosophy is predicated on sittting back and letting the QB make the big mistake or turnover.

But few QB's will do so when the game's on the line unless there's pressure on them from the defense.

They say in baseball that the last three outs are the toughest to get.

You can say the same thing about that last drive in football. It's the toughest to stop-unless your defense, and defensive coordinator, have that closer mentality.

For an example, look at Hornibrook on that last drive from earlier this year. Just one unexpected jolt of agressiveness from our defense and he might throw the pick.

Instead he sits back there, cool as a cucumber, the whole team's confidence grows, and he picks us apart all the way to the end zone.
 


I'm generally going to go with the team that has everything to play for to beat the team with nothing to play for.
 


I don't know if there is a more frustrating opponent for this program than NW. Year in and year out, they just find a way to get it done. Hat's off to Fitzgerald. The man can flat out coach.
 




This is the likely scenario. If the game is close, NW will win. Iowa’s only chance is to get a big lead (which, right now, I don’t have much confidence in them to do).

I hope the hawks have a Maryland type game but Thorson and jNW passing game is generally better than Maryland. I think the hawks can hold down jNW running game as they have done that to every team except Wisky and Wisky had to go to that jumbo offensive line to do that.

If the offense is on and can score a lot of point I like our chances
 


What happened to "We will lose to Penn State, then win out?" :)

Then again, you predicted losses to Northern Illinois and Minnesota.

And stop saying we have nothing to play for, just because you apparently have nothing left to cheer for.

Or become a Northwestern fan, since they have so much more to play for.

Always nice to meet a fan who follows my posting so closely. Find me at the game, I’ll sign something for you.
 




My prediction is that Iowa is up by 3 with under 6 to play and gives up a long drive being picked apart by Thorson, culminating in a touchdown with less than a minute to go. Iowa fails to score with the game ending in an interception. 24 - 28, Northwestern.
Well that's a pretty safe bet
 


The more I think about it, the more I think Iowa rolls in this game. I just don’t have the courage to put the mortgage on it.

This game has the “where has this been all year” type of feel to it. I know ClintonIowa is doing his homer/alt schtick, but I don’t think he is that far off with his score prediction.
I have a feeling they will roll as well, roll over.
 






So did you fillet all of that? Lots of work!

That's what I was thinking. I love fishing, but hate cleaning. Fishing with my dad is the best for many reasons, one of them being that he is still willing to fillet my fish for me (I know, embarrassing as a 40 year old man, but we have already established that I am a bit of an embarrassing man on any number of fronts). If Dad isn't along, it is mostly catch-and-release.
 


His philosophy is predicated on sittting back and letting the QB make the big mistake or turnover.

But few QB's will do so when the game's on the line unless there's pressure on them from the defense.

They say in baseball that the last three outs are the toughest to get.

You can say the same thing about that last drive in football. It's the toughest to stop-unless your defense, and defensive coordinator, have that closer mentality.

For an example, look at Hornibrook on that last drive from earlier this year. Just one unexpected jolt of agressiveness from our defense and he might throw the pick.

Instead he sits back there, cool as a cucumber, the whole team's confidence grows, and he picks us apart all the way to the end zone.

Iowa blitzed on the final drive vs. Wisconsin (and got beat), and I believe they blitzed on the big PI against Brents vs. Purdue (and got beat). Everyone thinks being more aggressive (aka blitzing) is some panacea that fixes all wrongs. The Hawks D needs to do better closing out the games, no doubt, but I don't think there is any guarantee that blitzing is the answer. I think in both the above referenced games, the biggest issue was inexperience/talent at CB (Hankins out and Ojemudia getting repeatedly targeted vs. Wisc, both freshman CBs getting picked on vs. Purdue).
 


It will be like this:

That was one cold, blustery, MF of a day. Probably the coldest game I ever attended at Kinnick.

It was also the first game where botas and (visible) containers of alcohol we're not allowed. They cut that off cold after the previous home game, Michigan with a 2:30 start, got a little out of hand. They didn't even wait for the end of the season to ban alcohol in the stadium.

Trash recepticles were overflowing all around the perimeter of Kinnick with confiscated botas, six packs, and bottles of booze. I'm sure the secruity guards and gate attendants were three sheets to the wind that day.
 
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That's what I was thinking. I love fishing, but hate cleaning. Fishing with my dad is the best for many reasons, one of them being that he is still willing to fillet my fish for me (I know, embarrassing as a 40 year old man, but we have already established that I am a bit of an embarrassing man on any number of fronts). If Dad isn't along, it is mostly catch-and-release.
I enjoy it actually. I taught my 11 yo this summer after he begged me the last few years; he’s gotten fairly good at it so I’d imagine in the near future he’ll start to take over. That’s ok, though, I’ve done tens thousands of them since I was a kid so I don’t mind taking a break.

One of the many reasons I like to fish is because I enjoy the fishing itself (and catching), but I also get some awesome food out of the deal. We probably average eating fish twice a week throughout the year, and you don’t save money overall when you count expenses, but it feels good when you see lower quality, farm raised walleye in the store for $20/lb.

Since it’s such a frequent meal, I’ve cooked it a million different ways and found lots of good recipes so we don’t get bored. Just like Bubba Gump. Beer batter, cornmeal, baked, broiled, smoked fish dip, pickled northern, po’ boy sandwiches (my kid’s favorite), bluegill fritters (awesome for breakfast), sky’s the limit.
 




Now that the pressure is off and we have virtually no chance to win the B1G, we probably will come out and roll NW. It'll probably loosen us up some.
Honestly that's what I've been thinking too. It seems like we're primed for one of those classic WTF beat'em down games.
 






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