Harty: The Iowa football team faces a hard task on Saturday
IOWA CITY, Iowa – There is no such thing as a soft football game, but some are harder than others.
Some games are more physical than finesse and are decided in the trenches more than in space.
Iowa’s game at Minnesota on Saturday has the potential to be very hard and physical, assuming the Hawkeyes live up to their side of the deal.
There is reason to doubt that right now with Iowa having lost two of its last three games.
The Hawkeyes are suffering from the double whammy of not being able to stop the run and not being able to run against quality opponents.
The inability to run has a trickle-down effect in that it makes using play action for passing virtually impossible because defenses won’t honor the fake.
“It does make it different,” Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard said of his role when the running game is sputtering. “We like to establish the run. We like to try and be a fairly balanced offense, running the ball and throwing the ball. When you’re not running the ball as well that means you’ve got to pass the ball better. And that’s just part of it.”
Beathard has a 16-4 record as Iowa’s starting quarterback. It is no coincidence that Iowa rushed for fewer than 80 yards in all four of the losses to Michigan State and Stanford last season and to North Dakota State and Northwestern this season.
Beathard, much like his team, becomes ordinary quarterback when Iowa can’t run the ball.
The space around him shrinks and he has less time to make decisions because defenders are ready to pounce.
Iowa’s inability to run makes it harder to protect Beathard in the pocket because defenses are more willing to blitz and do other things to disrupt the passing game.
Iowa’s rushing attack has been woeful at times this season. But the passing game hasn’t been any better.
Iowa is ranked 13th in the Big Ten in total offense, 12th in passing offense and 11th in both rushing defense and rushing offense.
Minnesota, on the other hand, is ranked fourth in the Big Ten in rushing offense, averaging 228.3 yards per game, and sixth in rushing defense at 123.0 yards per game.
The Gophers have struggled to defend the pass, but the return this week of four previously suspended defensive backs could help address that problem.
And it’s not as if Iowa has been an aerial force.
The combination of poor pass protection, receivers struggling to get separation and the inability to run has made life miserable for Beathard.
“If we’re not getting it going with our running game, more is going to be expected from me and the receivers,” Beathard said.
More has to be expected from the Iowa running game because that’s where everything starts on offense for the Hawkeyes.
And that brings us back to Saturday’s game at TCF Bank Stadium where Iowa lost 51-14 in its last appearance there in 2014.
The Gophers were big, athletic and physical two years ago and nothing has changed.
“They’ve got a big group of guys and they’re going to come out, and they like to run the football,” said Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz. “So it’s going to be a big challenge for us matching up size wise, so we’re going to have to do a great job with our technique. The biggest thing on defense is everybody has to be where they’re supposed to be there, and number two, we have to tackle better. Those two areas have cost us some big plays.”
Minnesota is hardly a one-trick pony, though, as it showed last season by racking up 301 passing yards during s 40-35 loss to Iowa at Kinnick Stadium.
Senior quarterback Mitch Leidner plays with the poise of a veteran and is a more accurate passer compared to early in his career.
But he also carries 230 pounds on a 6-foot-4 frame, while Minnesota’s tight end, Nate Wozniak, is listed at 6-10 and 275 pounds.
Combine that with an offensive line in which all five starters weight at least 305 pounds and it’s obvious that Iowa faces a huge challenge, literally and figuratively.
Minnesota wants to beat Iowa at its own game, by being tough and physical at the point of attack. The Gophers have two quality running backs in Rodney Smith and Shannon Brooks, but so does Iowa with LeShun Daniels and Akrum Wadley.
Iowa should try to exploit Minnesota’s suspect secondary, but that’ll be hard to do if the Hawkeyes can’t run or protect in the pocket.
This game promises to be hard, not just to win, but also with how it will be played.
There is a lot more than Floyd of Rosedale on the line. The pig statue, which goes to the winner in this border rivalry, is certainly part of the motivation.
But Iowa’s season, and its reputation for being tough and physical both will be on the line Saturday.
Prediction: Minnesota 31, Iowa 23