Nebraska fans expect a lot. Tom Osborne really spoiled the Cornhusker fans back in the 1990’s. The Huskers haven’t won a title since 1997, but Bo Pelini has done a good job coaching this team. The team has put together four straight seasons of at least nine wins.
Jerry Kill’s first year with the Minnesota Golden Gophers was a tough one, but that was to be expected. Kill experienced health problems that brought several scares last year, but he actually did a very good job with a team that was severely undermanned in the Big Ten.
Kirk Ferentz is 96-66 in his 13 years at Iowa City. The Hawkeyes have had some special seasons, but sometimes this is a tough team to figure out. After a disappointing 8-5 year in 2010, the Hawkeyes only went 7-6 in 2011. Both years the team has finished at 4-4 in the Big Ten. Still, Iowa has had plenty of close calls in the past couple.
Big 10 Conference 2012-2013 College Football Previews: Iowa Hawkeyes
Head Coach: Kirk Ferentz
2011 Record: 7-6
Iowa Gambling Odds from JustBet to win BCS Championship: +9,000
Iowa Gambling Odds from JustBet to win Big 10 Conference: +1,000
Iowa Team Page – Players Stats – Roster – 2012 Schedule –>
This is a team that isn’t too far away from another breakout season.
The 2011 Hawkeyes were as inconsistent as ever. A win over Michigan made the team look great, but a loss to lowly Minnesota was extremely confusing. Iowa changed things up a great deal in the offseason. Defensive coordinator Norm Parker retired and offensive coordinator Ken O’Keefe took a job with the Miami Dolphins. The schemes might look a little different on both sides of the ball in 2012 for the Hawkeyes.
James Morris and Christian Kirksey are two defensive leaders for the Hawkeyes at the linebacker position. Both of those guys finished the 2011 season with 110 tackles. Kirk Ferentz loves having leaders at the linebacker spots, and these guys fit the bill very well.
Micah Hyde is one of the best cornerbacks in the Big Ten. Hyde has scored two defensive touchdowns in his career, and he has extremely impressive footwork. He is the leader of a strong secondary. B.J. Lowery is a terrific cover corner, and he’ll start opposite of Hyde. Tanner Miller and Nico Law are solid physical safeties that should do a great job for the Hawkeyes.
Tight end is a position of strength for the Hawkeyes heading into 2012. C.J. Fiedorowicz has the potential to be a major matchup problem for the opposition because of his size and foot speed. Zach Derby is another solid tight end, and I expect Iowa to use double tight ends quite a bit this year.
The position that has been a glaring weakness for Iowa over the last few years is running back, and this year is no different. This team has tried all kinds of guys at tailback over the last few years, but they haven’t been able to get anyone to stick. Damon Bullock and De’Andre Johnson appear to have the top two spots on the depth chart, but they are completely unproven. This could be a major problem again in 2012.
The defensive line has been the team’s strength in recent years, but there are major concerns surrounding this unit in the year ahead. Only a couple starters are set, and the Hawkeyes have some real depth issues along the line. This defensive front might be bullied by some of the Big Ten offensive lines this season.
The Hawkeyes start the season against Northern Illinois at Soldier Field in Chicago. After that one, Iowa will face Iowa State and Northern Iowa. Iowa’s first tough test of the season comes October 13th at Michigan State. The Hawkeyes got a great break inside the Big Ten this year as they’ll avoid both Wisconsin and Ohio State. Iowa is a good team, but I don’t think they have enough talent to be among the best in the Big Ten. Look for this team to get to eight wins thanks to an easier schedule in 2012.
9/1/12 3:30 PM ET @NOILL
9/8/12 3:30 PM ET IOWST
9/15/12 3:30 PM ET NIOWA
9/22/12 TBD CMICH
9/29/12 12:00 PM ET MINN
10/13/12 12:00 PM ET @MCHST
10/20/12 8:00 PM ET PENST
10/27/12 12:00 PM ET @NWEST
11/3/12 TBD @IND
11/10/12 TBD PURD
11/17/12 TBD @MICH
11/23/12 12:00 PM ET NEB
Illinois started the 2011 season 6-0 and it looked like the team was ready for big things. The Fighting Illini then proceeded to lose six straight games. Illinois fired coach Ron Zook before the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl game last year. Illinois did rally for 20-14 win over UCLA in that game.
Kevin Wilson’s first year with the Indiana Hoosiers didn’t go exactly as planned. Everyone knew he was walking into a difficult situation, but a 1-11 season in 2011 was definitely a disappointment. In fact, the team’s only win came over a non FBS school (South Carolina State).
Joe Tiller took the Purdue Boilermakers to 10 bowl games in 12 seasons. The pressure was on Danny Hope to get the Boilers back to a bowl game in 2011. Hope did get Purdue to their first bowl game in three years. In fact, the Boilers edged Western Michigan 37-32 to end the season with their first bowl victory since 2007.
The Michigan State Spartans have won 22 games in the past two seasons. The team won a Big Ten Legends Division title and picked up their first bowl win since 2011. There is no doubt that the last couple years have been two of the most successful in the school’s history. Mark Dantonio started a rebuilding process when he showed up four years.
All of the air was taken out of the Ohio State Buckeyes sails a year ago. Ohio State went 6-7 and the fan base in Columbus was more upset than they have been in years. In November 2011, when Ohio State hired Urban Meyer, it seemed the program had already taken a major step to getting back on track.
Mike Leach was bound to find another job sooner or later because of his past success, and it turns out the Washington State Cougars were the team to give him a chance. Leach left Texas Tech under tons of controversy, but he definitely took the Red Raiders program to far more success than they had ever seen before.
2011 could be coined the year of mediocrity for the Cal Golden Bears. The team wasn’t all that bad in any one area, but they also didn’t have any great strengths as a team. California finished 7-6 and just 4-5 in the PAC 12 Conference in the 2011 season.
Rich Rodriguez is getting another chance to prove he can take a team to the top. After great success at West Virginia, Rodriguez was run out of Michigan after disappointing seasons. Mike Stoops never panned out for the Wildcats. Arizona had an embarrassing 4-8 campaign in 2011.
The high expectations are back at USC. Over the last couple years the program has been in a minor slump after the NCAA punished the program in a big way, but Lane Kiffin’s Trojans are loaded and ready to go in 2012.
The Vanderbilt football program has a similar – though more emphasized – problem that Notre Dame and Stanford encounters; its high academic standards put it out of the contest on some top recruits.
Stanford football fans hoped this day would never come, but this is the year where they must go on without Andrew Luck under center. The prosperity of the last couple seasons wasn’t based on only one player, but losing him will hurt a great deal.
Kentucky has gained somewhat of a reputation in recent years for being a scrappy, hard-luck program that plays the role of spoiler for the bigger bullies in the SEC. Indeed, Kentucky often plays up to its competition and is usually only a couple upsets away from a bowl game.
With the arrival of Mizzou to the SEC (along with Texas A&M this season) a third team with the “Tigers” nickname is added to the conference fray. Missouri hopes to distinguish itself far more than its mascot, however.
