Where: Kinnick Stadium
When: 3:30 EST
TV: ABC/ESPN
This is when real OSU football is supposed to kick into gear, but it will be a daunting task going to Iowa City and expecting to knock off the Hawkeyes. Iowa heads into this game having lost two heartbreakers to Northwestern and Wisconsin and falling short of a comeback bid against Arizona at the beginning of the year. I suppose you can say it is karma for having won so many close games last season, but there is no doubting how talented this team is. From the beginning of the season it has been marked down as the battle for the Big Ten championship, and despite it failing to live up to those standards it doesn't make it any less important. Both want to win this game, and both need to win this game.... OSU just needs it more.
The ninth ranked Buckeyes are two wins away from their sixth straight Big Ten championship and their seventh overall under head coach Jim Tressel, so the magnitude of Saturday's game for the Buckeyes is slightly higher than that of the home team. With a 7-3 record and two losses in conference play, Iowa is all but eliminated from the conference race but can still realistically finish as high as #2 in the conference if it wins out and gets a little help. Iowa wants more than a trip to the Outback Bowl, so it is a matter of fact that they will be treating this game with as much respect and intensity as they would if they were about to clinch a conference title. If that is the case, then refer back to last season's game in Columbus and understand how tough it will be for whoever wins this game to gain and sustain much momentum.
I don't think it will be easy for the Buckeyes and I certainly don't think that Iowa is a "joke" because they haven't lived up to their lofty standards. They have lost to some good football teams, evidenced by losing to two teams inside the BCS top 22 including #7 Wisconsin back in October. Wisconsin has been basically unstoppable for the majority of their Big Ten championship run, yet Iowa put a hell of a scare into them when they squared off in Kinnick Stadium. The Buckeyes were hardly a blip on the radar when they played the Badgers under different circumstances, so we will see if that has any bearing on what will transpire tomorrow afternoon.
I like what Ohio State is doing right now with Boom Herron running the ball effectively (824 yards and 13 touchdowns on the season -- wow) and Terrelle Pryor at full strength being able to improvise and keep plays alive with his feet. I mention this because I think that Pryor's passing stats are going to be minimal the next two weeks with the rushing attack taking center stage versus Iowa and Michigan. That is not to say that Pryor won't have good games, but his good games will be masked by pedestrian overall statistics passing. I see him leading the offense well against Iowa and being able to put up just enough points to hold off Iowa. The BIG question mark is how will the defense play against a very balanced Hawkeyes offense that features the interception prone turned highly efficient QB Ricky Stazi and some nice wide receivers such as McNutt and Johnson-Koulianos. If the Buckeye defensive line cannot control the line of scrimmage and get pressure on Stanzi, then he should have no problem picking apart the secondary. That is not a knock on the secondary, but rather facing facts and understanding how this defense has played all season and knowing how good Stanzi has been in 2010.
The defense will play a decent game but will make plays when it counts in the fourth quarter to bolster a game winning touchdown drive on the road by Terrelle Pryor to give OSU a hard fought victory in Iowa City. I don't think it will be pretty, but unlike Wisconsin this team won't come out of the gates playing lethargic and hopefully will play to the best of their ability.
Almost Michigan week... I wonder if Denard Robinson will be in one piece or even the starter when he comes to Columbus.
Prediction:
Ohio State- 26
Iowa- 24
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