Does the Iowa Hawkeyes' Bye Week Help, Hurt or Does It Even Matter?

The Iowa Hawkeyes will sit out Week 6 and catch a breather.  Through the first five games, the Hawks are 4-1 entering the bye week, and are 1-0 in conference play.

For some teams, the bye week can't come too soon.  Injuries have played havoc on a number of squads throughout college football and a down week can do wonders to let people heal without having to figure out how to replace personnel for a big game.

For others, the bye week comes too early to do them any good.  They haven't faced enough opponents to suffer any injuries or even wear down their players.

For still others, it comes too late.  The damage is already done, the losses have mounted, and the only good a bye week does is allow them to recoup for one final push.

Which is it for the Hawkeyes?  Is it too soon, too late, or just right?

For the Offense

Losses of personnel have certainly been an issue for Iowa.  They lost RB Brandon Wegher before the season even started.  Barely three games into the young season, they lost another running back when Jewel Hampton blew out an ACL.

Luckily (knock on wood), those are the only real losses the Hawkeyes have felt on the offensive side of the ball.  The line has largely stayed healthy, the receivers appear to be fine, and Ricky Stanzi only left one game for a series or two before returning.

Unfortunately, the bye week won't do anything to help Hampton.  He's done for the year.  It also won't do anything to help Wegher.  Whatever his reasons were for leaving the team, all indications are that he's not coming back this year, and may never return.

For this unit, the bye week is a chance to rest and put together a game plan for week 7, when they travel to Ann Arbor to take on the Wolverines in the Big House.

For the Defense

Once again, the Hawkeyes have sustained relatively few injuries on this unit.  *If someone gets hurt next week, don't blame me, I'm knocking on every piece of wood and pseudo-wood I can find.

Leading tackler, LB Jeff Tarpinian, injured his hand a week ago and has missed nearly a game and a half due to injuries. 

Defensive Coordinator Norm Parker hasn't been on the Iowa sideline in a few weeks now, as problems associated with diabetes has kept him out of action. 

Here, the bye week might be a blessing.  "Tarp" may not be Pat Angerer or A.J. Edds, but he's been a solid backer for the Hawkeyes.  Having him back could be a very big deal as Iowa prepares to take on Denard Robinson and the Wolverine offensive attack.

It might also be enough to allow Parker to return to the sidelines (or coach's box).  Certainly, if there's anyone that can devise a plan to slow Robinson down, it's Parker.  He's seen just about every kind of offense/player ever devised or groomed in college football and can make the right adjustments to give the Hawkeyes success against the most explosive player in the Big Ten.

For this unit, things could definitely be worse, but the bye week could scarcely come at a better time to get the pieces in place before facing Michigan.

The Schedule

It might be tempting to say that the bye week would be better if it came before the Ohio State game.  That's way too late in the season, though.  The Hawkeyes and Buckeyes won't square off until November 20.  Between now and then, the Hawks could get banged up, and would be horribly exhausted.

In terms of breaking up the toughest competition, there's really no way to do it right.  After Michigan, Iowa hosts Wisconsin and Michigan State before traveling to Indiana and Northwestern consecutively.  Then they take on the Buckeyes and end the season on the road against Minnesota. 

Maybe having the bye week just one week later would have been nice—breaking up Michigan and Wisconsin—but I don't really think it matters that much.

The only down side to the bye week coming right now is in terms of the momentum Iowa has built.  Following their loss at Arizona, Iowa dropped the hammer on Ball State (45-0), then followed it up with a big 24-3 knockout of Penn State.

Right now, Iowa is on a nice little roll.  The pieces are coming together quickly and the flaws illustrated against Arizona are fading quickly with every snap of the ball. 

Will a week down break that momentum?  Will a week away from real action soften a tempered program? 

For that reason, I'd almost rather Iowa get through Michigan, Wisconsin, and Michigan State before taking a week off.  That would only leave Northwestern and Ohio State ahead of them that they would have to be on their best for.

So...what'll it be?

For my money, the bye week really doesn't make much of a difference at this point.  Iowa hasn't suffered many injuries and some of the key injuries (Hampton) can't be healed in just a week anyway.

It will be a good bonus if this week allows Tarpinian to return to the field and Parker to return to the sidelines. 

The toughest opponents on Iowa's schedule are so evenly spread out that there's really no single week that stands out as the perfect timing for a break.

The nicest thing I can think of about this break is that it nearly splits the season right in half.  Five weeks are down, the Hawks are flying high, and they have seven games left in front of them.  It's a great way to break the season down and refocus for the second half of their season.

Some teams, the bye week will help.  Others, it won't.  I'm not sure what it'll be for the Hawks. 

To use a relatively recent phrase: it is what it is.