Predicting the 2009 Iowa Hawkeye Football Season: Northwestern

If I had to come up with a list of my top five least favorite teams, the Northwestern Wildcats would fall in at No. 3 on the list.

For those curious about the other teams on the list, here is the complete top five in order: Iowa State, Arizona State, Northwestern, USC, and Boise State.

Adam Rittenberg said it best: "Bile between the Hawkeyes and Wildcats is certainly growing."

The 22-17 defeat handed to Iowa last year by Northwestern during homecoming certainly helped add fuel to this fire as well. It led to the Hawkeyes and Wildcats ending the 2008 season tied for fourth in the Big Ten.

To be honest, Northwestern seems to be making a habit of winning in Iowa City, something very few teams have had the pleasure of being able to do. NU has handed Iowa 25 percent of its home losses since 2002.

To make matters worse in this rivalry, the Hawkeyes were (rightfully) selected to a better bowl game last year, even though the Wildcats defeated Iowa in their own backyard.

In order for the Wildcats to continue their success in Iowa City this year, they are going to have to fill some big shoes. While their defense looks solid, their offense has a lot of holes to fill. By holes, I mean massive craters that accounted for most of their offensive production from last year.

"No Big Ten team lost more offensive weapons to graduation than Northwestern."

Just to name a few of those weapons, they lost QB C.J. Bacher, WR Ross Lane, WR Rasheed Ward, WR Eric Peterman, and RB Tyrell Sutton. If you didn't notice, that is roughly 80 percent of their total offensive production now gone.

Good luck with that.

Luckily, their defense is one of the best in the Big Ten, with their secondary being one of the most experienced. This means another tough game this year in Iowa City.

So, what is this Hawkeye nerd's fearless prediction for the outcome of the game?: Iowa 24, Northwestern 3

As we learned last year, the Hawkeye defense can score. That is exactly how they'll win this game against the Wildcats.

The Iowa offense will struggle at first against a tough NU defense. While our offensive line matches up well against their defensive line, the Iowa running game finds it difficult to put anything together.

The Wildcat secondary also makes it difficult for Iowa's wide receivers. Eventually, though, Ricky Stanzi is able to connect for a touchdown pass to Tony Moeaki.

So, how do the Hawkeyes put up the other 17 points in this game? My bet's on a Daniel Murray field goal, a Brett Greenwood INT for a touchdown, and a Keenan Davis kickoff return for a touchdown.

To add injury to insult for Northwestern, Herky the Hawk will beat the snot out of Willie the Wildcat at halftime just for the fun of it. How's that for a rivalry?

Up next in the series of fearless predictions for the 2009 Iowa Football Season: Ohio State.

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