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Lowa is one victory away from a Big Ten championship, but that win will have to come without two of the Hokies’ most important players. Tight end Sam LaPorta and fullback Monte Potibaum both suffered injuries in Iowa’s 13-10 victory over Minnesota last week, and Kirk Ferentz doesn’t expect them to be ready to play in Friday’s contest.
LaPorta and Potebaum on the field
Iowa, which faces one of the nation’s worst offenses with LaPorta and Potebaum on the field, must now find a way to move the ball without its leading receiver and reliable lead blocker. Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz has been heavily criticized this season (and with good reason), but he’ll have to come up with a creative game plan to prevent the hockey defense and special teams from winning games by themselves.
But instead, the Huskers beat Iowa 24-17 at home and severely hurt the Hawkeyes’ chance at the conference title game.
Heading into the Black Friday matchup, Iowa battled back from a slow start to post a 5-3 record in the conference, good enough to tie Purdue for first in the Big Ten West. The top two teams in the Big Ten West are in a completely different situation than the top two teams in the Big Ten East.
Michigan and Ohio State are both 8-0. The Hawkeyes have played both programs, losing to Michigan 27-14 and Ohio State 54-10.
In Nebraska, Iowa will face a program that seems pathologically incapable of winning close games, especially against the Hawks. The Cornhuskers haven’t beaten the Hawkeyes since 2014 and are on their third head coach since their last victory at Kinnick Stadium, but Iowa hasn’t beaten Nebraska by more than one score in the last four years and is 21-6. The deficit has to be overcome. Win last year’s competition. Iowa has spent the last seven years hammering the final nail in the coffin of Nebraska’s disappointing seasons. The Cornhuskers have nothing left to play for except a chance to repay the favor against a team that is quickly becoming their biggest rival.
Here are three key factors to watch for in Friday’s game:
The loss of Sam LaPorta leaves Iowa without one of its few offensive similarities, a tight end who can drop out like a wide receiver, outrun defensive backs, and any unlucky linebackers. may try to cover it up. Iowa could try to compensate for La Porta’s absence by leaning on its ground game, which has been shaky at best for most of the season thanks to poor offensive line play. Iowa is loaded with what has been statistically the worst rushing attack in the conference, and the Hawkeyes have the fewest yards per carry (2.85), rushing yards per game (94.82), and rushing touchdowns (11) in the Big Ten. Collected. Additionally, the loss of Monte Pottebaum will deprive Iowa of a tough and experienced blocker who has excelled at clearing potential tacklers in the second level of the defense.
Even with Iowa’s struggles running the ball, Nebraska may still have trouble containing the hockey ground game. During Iowa’s seven-game winning streak against the Huskers, the Hawkeyes have had at least one running back eclipse 100 rushing yards every year. Nebraska has one of the worst rushing defenses in college football, and the 195 rushing yards they allow per game ranks 117th in the nation in that stat. Nebraska’s rush defense is a statistical mirror of Northwestern’s, a team Iowa held to 178 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 5.1 yards per carry. In a matchup between the conference’s worst rushing offense and worst rushing defense, there’s still reason to believe Nebraska may need to load up the box to stop Iowa’s ground game.
Comparing the Big Ten’s worst run defenses
The team
Opponent Yards Per Carry Opponent Rushing Yards Per Game Opponent Rushing Touchdowns
The team
Opponent Yards Per Carry Opponent Rushing Yards Per Game Opponent Rushing Touchdowns
Nebraska 4.6 195 21
Northwestern 4.64 194.55 21
If Nebraska commits its safety to the run, will Iowa be able to punish Nebraska down the field without La Porta to act as a security blanket in the passing game? The Huskers are allowing more passing yards per game (232.2) than all but three Big Ten teams, and Nebraska made Northwestern’s Ryan Hilinski, essentially a “store brand” version of Spencer Petras, this season. Looks like Peyton Manning at the start of (27)-38, 314 yards, 2-0 TD:INT ratio).
Cornhusker scoring attack
- Can Iowa’s defense shut down Nebraska’s primary playmakers?
Nearly half of Nebraska’s 3,801 yards of offense this season have come from two players: running back Anthony Grant and wide receiver Trey Palmer. For Iowa’s defense to shut down the Cornhusker scoring attack, they must find a way to take these players out of the equation.
While Iowa is quickly def.
ense has been strong for most of the year, the Hawkeyes last week by Minnesota’s Muhammad Ab Raheem was a complete loss, with his 263 rushing yards the most by any player against Iowa since 1993. Abraham hit every cutback lane, gaining yards after contact. on almost every run, and was seemingly unstoppable despite getting 39 carries. Anthony Grant isn’t quite on Abraham’s level, but has flashed a similar combination of power, agility and vision at times this season. Grant was a big presence in his last two games against Michigan and Wisconsin (17 carries for 51 yards) but if Iowa’s defense can’t fix the rushing problems that plagued it last week.
- Can Iowa win the turnover battle?
If there’s one area where Iowa has consistently had the edge over Nebraska in recent years, it’s in the turnover battle. The Hawkeyes have held a 14:5 turnover advantage since 2015 and have repeatedly taken advantage of Nebraska’s gift for points and short-circuit Husker comeback attempts.
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