Why EIU Won't be UNI All Over Again

I am sure that not many Hawkeye fans have forgotten last season's dramatic win in the closing seconds consisting of two blocked field goals to escape UNI. I am also sure SECspn's Pat Forde is reluctant to let that hammer go. No matter the how convincingly the Hawkeyes win on Saturday I am sure all of the highlight shows will juxtapose Saturday's result with last season's nail-biter. One thing is certain and that this season's opener will be a little less dramatic and here are the reasons why.

UNI is an in-state opponent, and a high level FCS team.  They have been consistently in the play-off hunt and the last three seasons they have been considered a threat to win the FCS championship, although last season the Iowa game may have been the highlight of their season. Much of their roster consists of Iowa kids who may feel overlooked and play with extra motivation feeling they deserved a chance to play at Iowa. They also get a good amount of talented transfers from FBS schools who wash out for one reason or another who may wish to play right away.  They have had transfers from Iowa, ISU, and even USC. They are well coached and their staff is very familiar with the Iowa program making it sort of a mini version of the Iowa- ISU game.

Last season's UNI team was very veteran on Offense.  Pat Grace fit the perfect profile of a QB to give an Iowa defense difficulty- smart, patient, mobile, and accurate.  He took what the defense gave him and didn't try to force the ball down-field.  He was able to make plays with his feet.  He was willing to throw the ball away and play the field position game.  His TD pass to the TE Mahaffey was a thing of beauty.  UNI also returned basically four starting O-lineman last season.  They had a very experienced receiving corps and were efficient enough to move the ball when they needed to at the end of the game.

Iowa's offensive line was also a mash unit heading into that game.  Bulaga played, although he was injured throughout much of camp, Vandervelde did not play, Calloway also battled injuries during camp and was suspended.  Iowa's starting Guards Gettis and Doering were pretty inconsistent in this game.  A long TD strike that might have changed the momentum of the game and get the offense rolling was called back due to a holding call on Gettis.  The line couldn't generate a consistent  push against a stout UNI D-line featuring two returning starters and facing eight man fronts.  And when they did create a seam the tailbacks didn't always find it.

This season's unit has been pretty settled since the spring.  Although the Center position has been up for grabs between James Ferentz and Josh Koeppel, it seems like they have been splitting reps and the line has been relatively healthy for most of camp( I am aware of a report that Adam Gettis is possibly battling a high ankle sprain.  Since I am writing this before Tuesday's press conference and I can't get verified info that he is out I will assume he will play some.)  Even if Gettis is hurt he has had one career start and will be replaced by a player with one fewer career start, although many less snaps.  The most important thing for this unit will be to play cohesively. 

Iowa's D-line was a brand new unit.  Clayborn and Ballard were returning starters but Ballard was playing his first game at Tackle, and Klug and Binns were making their first career starts.  Only Clayborn was lining up in his accustomed spot.  The defense as a whole suffered from poor tackling in the first half.  Although we didn't know what we were missing in Prater at the time, Castillo also started opposite of Spievey and struggled towards the end of the game in coverage. That was a tough spot for a red-shirt freshman to be put in and I am sure he would do much better this season.

Although Iowa will be replacing a significant amount of starts in Angerer, Edds, and Spievey,  the replacements are all battle- tested and have some time on the field already and have basically been groomed for their time.  If Tarpinian is held out of this game, Davis is very capable of holding down the Mike.  Hunter is ready to step into a leadership position and Tyler Neilsen has been personally groomed at Leo by Edd's for his first three season's on campus.  Micah Hyde, Willie Lowe, Jordan Bernstine and Greg Castillo have all played plenty of snaps and are capable of playing in this game while Prater gets healthy.  It doesn't hurt to have a four year starter in Greenwood and three year starter and potential consensus All- American in Tyler Sash erasing mistakes.

Also the receiving corps for Iowa was a bit of an unknown heading into that game.  DJK was reportedly in the doghouse and battling early season injuries, Sandeman was battling injuries, nobody knew if McNutt was for real, and Stanzi seemed to only trust Moeaki.  Tony had 10 catches and I think 14 targets out of 34 pass attempts.  Half of the passes completed went to Moeaki.

Iowa should come into this game at full strength with a very deep and veteran depth chart.  DJK, McNutt, Sandeman, Keenan Davis, Paul Chaney, and Don Nordmann have all shown themselves to be capable. It will be interesting to see if Jordan Cotton or true frosh Kevonte Martin- Manley make a dent in the regular rotation. Allen Reisner is very steady at Tight End and Brad Herman looks to hold off talented freshman C.J. Fiedorowicz.

EIU is a pretty good FCS school but not quite to the level of UNI and they do not have nearly the level of returning experience that last season's UNI team possessed.  They reportedly will be without there best player in former Gator Mon Williams, a Tailback and will be starting a sophmore Juco transfer Brandon Large at QB.  They have two returning starters on the offensive line but one is transitioning to center.  They don't have a lot of upperclassmen on their roster.  Their defense possesses several starters returning, including a couple of good corners and their entire linebacking corps, however their front seven is pretty undersized and Iowa should be able to run the ball pretty easily on this team.