Giving Phil Parker a bye week to prepare for a Big Ten opponent that he is intimately familiar with might be one of the more unfair things in all of college football. Truly. The Iowa Hawkeyes' defensive wizard always finds a way to make life hard for opponents. This week could be the same.
A trip north to Minneapolis awaits the Hawkeyes to take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the Floyd of Rosedale rivalry, which has serious implications, and, like many Big Ten games for the Hawkeyes, the defense will be paramount. Taking away a big part of the game will be key.
Iowa has to stonewall Minnesota's run game
For as good as Iowa's run defense has been this year through six games, the Golden Gophers' ground game has struggled just as much. This sets up a huge advantage for the Hawkeyes to exploit on Saturday in a game they have to have.
Minnesota is ranked 129th in the country in overall rushing offense, rushing for just 104.83 yards per game. Out of 138 teams, Minnesota is No. 133 in the country, with 629 rushing yards as a team. This is all to say one thing: Iowa has to stop the ground game with the advantage it has.
Iowa is elite against the run, but is that really surprising? Holding teams to less than 85 yards per game and just 2.5 yards per carry, the Hawkeyes take away the run and set up passing situations on second and third downs quite often.
Make Minnesota one-dimensional and unleash the pass rush
If, and potentially when, Iowa shuts down the run game, Minnesota is going to become very, very one-dimensional on offense. The Golden Gophers will have to rely on the passing attack against the Hawkeyes.
Drake Lindsey, unlike other quarterbacks that Iowa has seen this year, is not a threat to take off and hurt Iowa on the ground by running the ball. Iowa can contain him, run him down, and eliminate much of that threat.
Iowa's secondary will get tested, though. They looked vulnerable and suspect at times against Washington, but part of that could be attributed to conceding yards while time was ticking off the clock. This week, that unit could be the one that decides things.
The secondary could get help from the pass rush, though. Iowa has a very quiet, yet quality pass rush this year. The Hawkeyes are surprisingly ranked No. 10 in total sacks, which is largely in the aggregate as opposed to one pass rusher.
Force Minnesota to play from behind the sticks and in passing downs, and see Phil Parker dial up some heat from his linebackers and the occasional defensive back blitz to heat up Drake Lindsey.
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