Another week of college football is in the books as we are about 3/4 of the way through the season. I was in Scottsdale, Arizona, this weekend, and luckily there was an Iowa Hawkeye bar within a mile from the hotel! The Hawkeyes played Northwestern, a team that has given them match up problems in recent history. Northwestern had a three game losing streak heading into the game and were desperate for a victory. QB Kain Colter, who's dominated the Hawkeyes in his career came back from injury, but they were without Venric Mack their star running back/return man.
Iowa started strong like they did a week ago with a strong drive that ended in a touchdown and a 7-0 lead. They muscled their way downfield with a power running attack led by Mark Weisman and Damon Bullock. The Iowa defense played well in the first quarter as they led 7-0. The second quarter, Iowa's offense wasn't able to reach the end zone, but the defense pitched a shut out. Mike Meyer drilled a field goal, for a 10-0 halftime lead. Iowa has led at halftime every game this season, but their second half play hasn't been that great.
The second half Northwestern took over as Colter was able to run, and hit Dan Vitale for a wide open touchdown. With the score tied at 10 in the fourth quarter, a huge run into Iowa territory late in the game had Hawkeye fans nervous. Not only were they in field goal range, but the clock was winding down. Colter ran an option and a misguided pitch fell to the ground and was scooped up by Iowa freshmen, Desmond King. The Hawkeyes were able to cross midfield, but not quite to field goal range. On 4th and 11, Jake Rudock was intercepted. Time expired and the teams went to overtime.
Iowa started with the ball in overtime and Rudock hit Tevaun Smith for a first down on the first play. After a couple of runs and a penalty, the Hawkeyes were sitting with a 3rd and long situation. The next play Northwestern blitzed and Rudock with very little time chucked the ball into the end zone, it looked to me it was just thrown away, but tight end, CJ Fiedorowicz, was there and hauled it in for the touchdown. Iowa led 17-10.
Iowa's defense was able to shut down Northwestern on 4th down with a huge sack to seal the victory. The defense played a heck of a game, they ended with a season high six sacks. They only had eight total heading into the game. They secondary shut down Northwestern's top receivers. The defense has gotten better as the season goes on, even without DE Dominic Alvis, Mike Hardy stepped up and played a nice game. I liked some of the looks on 3rd down, the defense rushed three, with Nate Meier and Reggie Spearman on the outside, providing a quick pass rush duo. Spearman looked great when he was in there, he was too quick for the left tackle. I'd like to see him in there a little bit more, he's going to be a good one.
The win sent Northwestern to their fourth straight defeat, and Iowa is now 2-2 in conference and 5-3 overall. I don't think they have a shot at winning the division, but a bowl game is certainly in reach, including the Gator Bowl, which would be nice. Iowa's three losses are to Ohio State, Michigan State and Northern Illinois, all three are ranked and own a 23-1 overall record.
Here's my new top 25 for the week
1-Alabama
2-Oregon
3-Florida State
4-Ohio State
5-Miami
6-Baylor
7-Stanford
8-Clemson
9-Fresno State
10-Louisville
11-Auburn
12-South Carolina
13-Oklahoma
14-Northern Illinois
15-Oklahoma State
16-Wisconsin
17-Missouri
18-Texas Tech
19-Texas A&M
20-LSU
21-Michigan State
22-UCF
23-Michigan
24-Virginia Tech
25-Arizona State
I was 7-2 on predictions last week, 61-27 overall now.
Here's this weeks games.
Arizona State at Washington State: The Sun Devils are pretty solid this year, Washington State isn't too bad, but they're not quite good enough to beat ASU. Arizona State 42 Washington State 31
USC at Oregon State: USC might be better with their interim coach, but Oregon State has some weapons on offense, could be high scoring. Oregon State 34 USC 28
Miami at Florida State: Game of the week here, just like it used to be. Both teams are undefeated, but the Seminoles have more talent. Florida State 31 Miami 24
Oklahoma State at Texas Tech: Both teams could use a win right now and stay near the top of the conference standings. This should be a good one, but I'll give the nod to the home team. Texas Tech 42 Oklahoma State 34
Michigan at Michigan State: Michigan has struggled this year with close wins against Akron and UCONN and a loss to Penn State. Michigan State's only loss was to a Notre Dame team that Michigan defeated. Michigan State might have the best defense in the country and their offense seems to be clicking with Connor Cook at QB. Spartans win. Michigan State 21 Michigan 17
Northwestern at Nebraska: Before the season started I thought both teams would compete for the division title, Northwestern is pretty much eliminated and Nebraska is coming off an embarrassing loss at Minnesota. Both teams need a win. Nebraska 27 Northwestern 21
Wisconsin at Iowa: This could be a great matchup and the weird thing is, Iowa could make a better bowl game if they lose. Wisconsin could win out and end up in a BCS bowl which could move Iowa up to a better bowl game. Weird scenario, but it could happen. Wisconsin has one of the best running attack in the country and Iowa will be ready. If they can shut down Abbrederris, the Hawkeyes could find a way to win. Unfortunately, I think Wisconsin is too good. Wisconsin 27 Iowa 21
Georgia vs Florida: Here's another big conference game where each team really needs a win. Both teams are down, but I think Georgia has the advantage with Aaron Murray at QB. Georgia 42 Florida 28
New Mexico at San Diego State: Rocky Long coaching against his alma-mater. I got a chance to meet him a few years back when the Lobos beat Nevada in the New Mexico Bowl, great guy. Hard to root against him. The Lobos don't have quite enough talent to hang with the Aztecs this year. San Diego State 45 New Mexico 31
Heisman Watch
1-Marcus Mariota QB Oregon
224-144-2,281-20-0 56-511-9
2-Jameis Winston QB Florida State
183-128-2,177-23-4
3-Bryce Petty QB Baylor
176-122-2,453-18-1
4-Melvin Gordon RB Wisconsin
107-1,012-11
5-Johnny Manziel QB Texas A&M
252-184-2,594-22-8 89-497-6
6-Teddy Bridgewater QB Louisville
243-179-2,557-23-2
7-Sean Mannion QB Oregon State
391-270-3,263-30-3
8-Jordan Lynch QB Northern Illinois
245-154-1,711-18-5 156-1,031-8
9-Derek Carr QB Fresno State
364-251-2,574-25-4
10-Mike Evans WR Texas A&M
48-1,101-11
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