In the ninth football preview of the sports podcast, sports editor Chris Vannini and football reporters Jeremy Warnemuende and Jeff Kanan talk about the No. 5 MSU football team’s game at No. 18 Iowa on Saturday (3:30 p.m., ABC).
A win would make MSU 9-0 and better its chances of winning the Big Ten. The Spartans fell last season against the Hawkeyes on the last play of the game in a 15-13 loss to a Hawkeyes’ team that finished 11-2 last season.
The guys talk about the team’s reinstatement of senior cornerback Chris L. Rucker and what kind of impact it will have on the team and make predictions for Saturday’s game.
Ricky Stanzi’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Marvin McNutt as time expired last season lifted undefeated Iowa to a 15-13 victory on Oct. 24 at Spartan Stadium and an appearance in a BCS bowl last year.
This year, the No. 5 MSU football team would like to return the favor against a No. 18 Hawkeyes team that mirrors them from last season in several ways, including an undefeated record and physical line play.
In order for the Spartans to continue their best start since 1966, they’ll endure a hungry Iowa opponent coming off a one-point loss against No. 9 Wisconsin, and hope to win in an environment where they haven’t won since 1989.
“When you look at playing at Kinnick Stadium, a majority — certainly 95 percent — of the people will be dressed in black and gold,” MSU football head coach Mark Dantonio said. “As far as last year’s game, we just talk about how close the games have been. … Hopefully our players have learned from that and put that behind them and are ready to move on, and I think we have.”
The last three games between the Spartans and Hawkeyes have been decided by 12 total points. As dramatic as Iowa’s victory was last season, the Spartans held off Iowa the previous year on a fourth-down-and-one play in which then-linebacker Adam Decker tackled Iowa running back Shonn Greene short of the first-down marker to preserve a 16-13 MSU win.
In 2007, Iowa got the best of MSU in a 34-27 double-overtime thriller that was as dramatic as the two aforementioned games. With the games dominated by physical line play and good defense, MSU will need to rejuvenate its running game, which has been sidetracked the past two weeks in wins against Illinois and Northwestern.
Iowa enters with the nation’s eighth-ranked rush defense, which is yielding only 92.1 yards per game, and one of the most physical defenses in the country. Playing against it will fall on an MSU offensive line, which ran the ball effectively against Wisconsin and Michigan, totaling 175 and 249 yards, respectively, in wins.
The Hawkeyes lost against Wisconsin in the final seconds last week and, standing at 2-1 in the Big Ten, need to win to keep their Big Ten title hopes alive. With a difficult matchup against No. 10 Ohio State remaining, Iowa needs Saturday’s win to keep pace.
“Just like any time you lose, it’s disappointing,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said.
“Unfortunately, we went through that earlier in the season. … We try to move on to our next football game. That’s what you have to do.”
Iowa’s passing game, led by Stanzi, McNutt and receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, is averaging 253.9 yards per game and will test an improved MSU secondary. Last season the Hawkeyes were held to 138 passing yards in a resilient pass defense effort by the Spartans. MSU outgained Iowa 310-272 but lost.
After having come from behind in all four Big Ten games, the Spartans hope to be gritty and earn a win in their toughest remaining road game. Iowa will look to put last week’s loss behind it and work toward a conference title.
“The first thing that stands out about them is the aggressiveness they bring,” Stanzi said in a teleconference. “They present a huge challenge.”
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