How far can Iowa go?

Right now, with the schedule in front of them, Iowa is in the driver seat for the West. Their defense is incredible and I think I'd put them up against any offense in the country. Petras and the rest of the offense have performed not awful enough and haven't turned the ball over. If for whatever reason they have an off day and start coughing up the ball, I think they could lose to anyone.

Definitely could lose with this offense against Nebraska or Wisconsin. I’m fairly confident in the other games.
 
Definitely could lose with this offense against Nebraska or Wisconsin. I’m fairly confident in the other games.

Those are two teams that Iowa (or anyone that's not Illinois) should be able to move the ball on.
 
My rational Iowa fan friends (trust me, although a rare breed they do exist) realize there is still many unknowns about this team. They are open about the fact they lose that game Saturday if Clifford stay healthy. But at the end of the day you can only play the team lined up in front of you, and it's not Iowa's fault Penn State keeps a backup QB that, at least to my untrained eye, had never thrown a football before Saturday. And with Iowa State's inability to stay out of their own way I've come to kind of appreciate Iowa's ability to firmly hold their fist out and let other teams run their face into it.

I'd imagine they have one slip up somewhere, maybe Nebraska or Wisconsin. I just don't think you can get by each week with such a deficient offense. Get into the Big 10 Championship and see what happens. Win, and they are likely in even with 1 loss. Lose and you're probably looking at a Rose Bowl.

You do realize that 99% of Hawk fans think this way, including me. Just because I’m not gonna let an ISU troll spout some of the stuff about Clifford without response, doesn’t mean I don’t know this game is infinitely harder to win with him healthy. Yet like you said the game didn’t go that way, so what is the point of entertaining an ISU troll whining about Clifford getting hurt.

I actually still fully expect Iowa to lose a game this year. Should they lose one? Probably not, but I still think they trip up against a Purdue, Wisconsin or Nebraska.
 
Definitely could lose with this offense against Nebraska or Wisconsin. I’m fairly confident in the other games.
If Iowa gets to 20 pts against Sconnie it's over. They (Sconnie) just can't score enough and with how good Iowa's defense is, I'd be suprised to see them score more than 14pts, honestly.
 
If Iowa gets to 20 pts against Sconnie it's over. They (Sconnie) just can't score enough and with how good Iowa's defense is, I'd be suprised to see them score more than 14pts, honestly.

Agreed. I’m more worried about Nebraska but I suspect AMart will be dinged up or out by the time Iowa plays them.
 
With Clifford I think PSU wins 27-23.

Wisconsin worries me because Iowa never seems to be prepared to face their 3-4 D.

Should be in the BIG Championship game, vs. OSU, where the Os inability to go on consistent long drives is a problem.

Rose Bowl bound...same prediction as pre-PSU.

ISU keeps cleaning the small things up and goes on a roll through the Big 12, right into a rematch with OU. Sticking with that also.
 
  • Agree
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Iowa, 2nd best team in the country, nope. Deserve to be #2, yup.

Similar to Iowa State if they were sitting undefeated right now, they would be #2 with only one good win versus what would probably be a 10ish Iowa team?

Keep winning, keep moving up, that's all teams can do.
 
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With Clifford I think PSU wins 27-23.

Wisconsin worries me because Iowa never seems to be prepared to face their 3-4 D.

Should be in the BIG Championship game, vs. OSU, where the Os inability to go on consistent long drives is a problem.

Rose Bowl bound...same prediction as pre-PSU.

ISU keeps cleaning the small things up and goes on a roll through the Big 12, right into a rematch with OU. Sticking with that also.
I agree that with Clifford healthy, Penn State wins straight up. PSU had a 14 point lead halfway through the 2nd quarter. If Clifford stays in the game, Kinnick empties out early 4th quarter.
 

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