A dominating win over the Illini could help the Hawks build on their No. 22 ranking.
By Charlie Green | [email protected]
Now in the top 25 for the first time in five seasons, No. 22 Iowa can climb even higher with a decisive win over Illinois on Saturday.
But dating back to last season, the Illini have won four of their last six Big Ten games. After beating a ranked team Oct. 3 and set to face another one on Oct. 17, the Hawks are intent on making sure this home matchup with Illinois doesn’t live up to its potential as a trap game.
“I definitely don’t think this is a letdown opportunity,” center Austin Blythe said. “Illinois is a good team, they’re 4-1, they’ve won plenty of games, and they’re going to be ready to go.”
After going 4-20 in their last three seasons of conference play, the Fighting Illini got off to a 1-0 start in 2015 with a 14-13 win over Nebraska, which moved the team to 4-1 on the young season. The fast start comes after the school’s Athletics Department fired coach Tim Beckman just a week before the season.
The strength of the team is its defense. The unit has allowed 17.8 points per game in 2015. Defensive lineman Dawuane Smoot has 5 tackles for loss. Safety Taylor Barton is tied for second in the conference with 3 interceptions.
Other than that, not a lot jumps off the stat sheet for this Illini defense. It’s a steady group that has shown to be effective at all levels. With the exception of a 48-14 defeat to North Carolina on Sept. 19, it has proven the ability to keep games close for the offense. And the unit has Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz’ full attention.
“When you look at the film, you see a team that’s playing with great effort right now,” he said. “Statistically, they’re not dramatically different offensively, but they are dramatically different on the defensive side.”
Offensively, some would argue that Illinois quarterback Wes Lunt is one of the most physically gifted in the conference. That raw ability hasn’t always translated into success on the field, however. This season, the junior is 111-of-191 through the air with 8 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
In the win over Nebraska, he threw for 251 yards and two scores — but completed just 51.1 percent of his passes. He’s thrown more than 45 passes three times this season.
“If you look at them offensively, they’ve got a good quarterback that can throw,” Ferentz said. “That’s no secret. He’s very good.”
The offense averages more than 30 points per game but hasn’t scored more than 14 in its two games against Power-5 opponents.
Like the Hawkeyes, Illinois features two running backs who can do damage if not contained. Senior Josh Ferguson — who won’t play against the Hawkeyes because of an injury — leads the team with 397 yards on the ground, while Ke’Shawn Vaughn leads the team in carries with 76 totaling 339.
It’s hard to predict which back will get the bulk of the carries in a given game. Against Nebraska, Vaughn had 24 compared with just four for Ferguson. No matter which of the two gets the ball, keeping them from getting into rhythm will put extra pressure on Lunt — who isn’t a threat to hurt teams with his legs.
“They’re multidimensional, they’re definitely a lot better than they were last year,” cornerback Greg Mabin said. “They’re playing at a high level right now, they’re going to be coming in with a lot of momentum especially after the win they got last week.
“They’ve got a lot going for them right now, so it has to be up to us to stop them.”
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