Can the Herd fly with the Hawkeyes? This is the question that all Bison fans are wondering coming in to the big match up as the Bison travel to Iowa City to take on the Hawkeyes, who are ranked No. 13 in the FBS. Many people believe that the Bison should be considered to move up to the FBS while others are skeptical. There is only one way to find out and that is to play a big dog team such as Iowa.
Iowa, with a record of 2-0, are looking to finish this year what they started last year. With a regular season record of 12-0, the Hawkeyes lost a close game in the Big Ten Championship Game 16-13 to Michigan State, and lost in the Rose Bowl to Stanford with a score of 45-16. This year they want to prove the world of college football that they are the real deal.
Iowa’s offense is led by senior quarterback C.J. Beathard. Beathard is looking to improve his 17 touchdowns and over 2,800 yards passing this season. He already has 4 touchdowns and 427 yards through the air in Iowa’s first two games.
Beathard’s favorite target early in the season seems to be wide receiver Matt VandeBerg. VandeBerg has 11 receptions for 228 yards and one touchdown. Compared to the next guy on the list who has 55 yards on only four catches.
The Bison defense cannot focus their attention solely on one player. Going in to the game this past Saturday, Cooper Kupp was the main receiver that the defense had a game plan for. With Kupp’s arm/shoulder injury during the game, quarterback Gage Gubrud was able to spread the ball out more and find other receivers.
There is a bit of concern for the Bison as they allowed Gubrud to throw for 450 yards and four touchdowns last week. The Bison were able to pick off Gurbrud three times, but Beathard hasn’t thrown an interception yet.
The defense cannot be one dimensional; Iowa’s two main running backs —LeShun Daniels Jr. and Akrum Wadley — both have 170 plus yards on the game and three rushing touchdowns each.
Hopefully the Bison offense can get something going against the Iowa defense. In the first game, Iowa’s defense allowed 266 yards and two touchdowns through the air and 158 yards and one score on the ground against Miami (OH). The second game their defense played better. Holding Iowa State to only a field goal while giving up 165 passing yards and 126 rushing yards. In this game they had one take away, an interception from Ben Niemann.
This game will definitely test the Bison, and will likely be their biggest test. With playing a very talented FBS football team, where the players are generally bigger, faster and stronger, the Bison are going to play their best ball and make minimum mistakes in order to win. Look, you don’t become five time national FCS champions overnight. The Bison are a good team, and I look for this to be a very well contested ball game.
Tune in to ESPN 2 this Saturday, September 17 at 11:00 a.m. CT, to catch all the action.