Know the Opposition: Iowa

Mascot: Hawkeyes
Stadium: Kinnick Stadium (70,585)
2009 Record: 11-2 (Defeated Georgia Tech 24-14 in Orange Bowl)
2010 Record: 7-3
Head Coach:  Kirk Ferentz (12th year at Iowa, 88-58).
Lettermen Returning: 48 (20 lost)
Returning Starters: Offense-6; Defense-8; Specialists-2
Base Offense: "I" formation
Base Defense: 4-3
Returning Stars: QB Ricky Stanzi, WR Derrell Johnson-Koulianos and DE Adrian Clayborn

Notable Alumni:

Gene Wilder, Actor
Tom Brokaw, TV anchor and author
Bret Bielema, Head football coach, Wisconsin
Dallas Clark, Tight end, Indianapolis Colts
George Gallup, Founder of the Gallup poll
Al Jarreau, Grammy Award winning jazz singer
Nile Kinnick, Heisman Trophy winner, 1939
Ashton Kutcher, Actor

Iowa Preview

Ohio State heads west to a "blacked out" Iowa City on Saturday for a huge game with Big Ten Championship ramifications. This game definitely has lost a little bit of its luster though, as last week Northwestern upset Iowa handing them their third loss of the season.

Make no mistake about it, this has been a disappointing season for the Hawkeyes, who started off the season ranked in the top 10 and now are fighting just for a decent bowl bid.

Expect to see a very angry and desperate Iowa team on Saturday. If they didn't have enough motivation already, it is also Senior Day. You better believe Ricki Stanzi, Adrian Clayborn and company want to go out as winners and beat an OSU team that ended their Big Ten Championship dreams a season ago.

Speaking of Ricki Stanzi, the Mentor, Ohio native is the man to watch on offense. Last year he was hurt and unable to face the Buckeyes, and instead, James Vandenberg got a chance to be a hero in Columbus but fell short.

This year Stanzi is putting together an incredible campaign and has really cut out the turnovers which he became so famous for a season ago. Thus far he has thrown for 2,482 yards to go along with 22 touchdowns and four interceptions (66.4 completion rating). The guy has a great arm and it has been on display all season long, but it doesn't hurt that he has arguably the best wide receiving unit in the Big Ten to throw the ball to. 

The Hawkeyes have a two-headed monster at wideout in Derrell Johnson-Koulianos and Marvin McNutt. Both ripped up the Buckeyes in Columbus a year ago, and they will be looking for a bit of déjà vu. Well, besides the outcome of the game.

Anyway, Johnson-Koulianos is the teams leading receiver, and in fact, became Iowa's all-time leading receiver earlier this season. He has 673 yards and nine touchdowns, averaging 16.4 yards per catch.

McNutt actually is tied with DJK in overall receptions this season and has 660 yards and six touchdowns. Most Buckeye fans will have no problem remembering McNutt, who had six catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns in last year's affair. The Silver Bullets will also have to look out for tight end Allen Reisner, who has 35 receptions for 370 yards and two touchdowns.

As always, Iowa is strong running the ball. They have had struggles with depth all season though, which was something they were banking on early in the season. Jewel Hampton went down for the season and Brandon Wegher left the team, leaving Adam Robinson.

It's not exactly like Robinson is struggling on his own, even though he had to handle so many carries. He has 914 yards with 10 touchdowns, averaging over 100 yards per game.

Also of note is true freshman Marcus Coker, who will get a fewer carries to help Robinson out. He's only played the last four games, but is quickly making a name for himself.

The key for both these guys is the offensive line, led by Julian Vandervelde. While this unit is notoriously strong under Kirk Ferentz, they haven't lived up to last year's offensive line, which was expected as they returned just four of their top ten linemen from last season.

On defense, the Hawkeyes are led by their defensive line. The big name is defensive end Adrian Clayborn, who has had a very Cameron Heyward-esque year. While he is always a scary player, he hasn't been able to duplicate his 70 tackles and 11.5 sacks from a season ago. He still has been solid with 42 tackles, seven TFL and 3.5 tackles, but has not really ripped his way through the league like in 2009. 

The respect offensive coordinators have been giving Clayborn has freed up teammates on the defensive line. Defensive tackles Karl Klug (46 tackles, 8.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks) and Mike Daniels (38 tackles,11 TFL, four sacks) have taken advantage and wreaked havoc on opponents all season long.

The linebacking core has been solid, but hasn't really been too flashy. Jeremiha Hunter has been the best on this unit and is actually the top tackler on the team (65 total).

The secondary definitely stands out more, especially at safety. The Hawkeyes have two of the best in the conference here in Tyler Sash and Bret Greenwood. Besides being ballhawks (six interceptions between them), they have helped Iowa hold opponents to 86.8 yards rushing per game.

The corners are excellent too. Micah Hyde and Shaun Prater are two of the top four tacklers on the team and have five interceptions themselves. Pryor definitely will have his work cut out for him Saturday.

Game Outlook

The Buckeyes took a huge step forward in the second half against Penn State last week and bring a lot of momentum into this game.

There is a lot going against them though. Pryor hasn't looked good this season in big games, especially on the road. Also, while Iowa has been great at forcing turnovers all season long, they have had many themselves. So OSU has to take care of the ball, especially Pryor.

That is why I look for Tressel to have a very careful game plan, especially inside the redzone. Besides a big dose of Boom Herron all afternoon long, look for Pryor to also play a huge part of the running attack as he did last week.

Unfortunately, the Buckeyes abandoned the run for cute play-calling in some of the big games earlier this year, but I don't see the staff making that mistake again. They were able to run on Iowa last year, and on top of that, Iowa has been worn down by quality teams this year.

In all three of their losses, the defense was unable to make the stops the team really needed in the fourth quarter. While Pryor's arm has to be part of the equation, I think the staff will be very careful. Besides the pressure the defensive line is capable of bringing, the Iowa secondary has been very opportunistic.

On the other side of the ball, the Buckeyes have to stop Adam Robinson. The defense did a solid job last season doing this, but as we all know, this isn't last year's defensive unit. If they can bottle him up and make the Hawkeyes offense one dimensional, it will go a long way in helping the secondary handle Stanzi.

Not only will it put Iowa in longer third-down situations, but it should help minimalize the effectiveness of the play-action pass that has plagued the Buckeye defense all year long. I do fear what Stanzi can do though, and I'm sure he was smiling when he watched the first half film from last week.

All in all, the big key to this game will be getting a strong start. As we have talked about all week on the blog, the Buckeyes have been slow out of the gate all season long and can't afford that this week. A slow start could lead to this game being Wisconsin part deux.

Besides that, the focus has to be on turnovers and special teams. If those things fall in place, it will be all about the fourth quarter, where I believe the Buckeyes will have the advantage. Make no mistake about it, this will be a war and OSU will get the Hawkeyes' best.  

Father vs. Son Prediction Battle:

Dave - OSU 24-21
Drew - OSU 27-20