Football reporters Danny Payne and Ryan Rodriguez list four things No. 10 Iowa must do in order to beat Maryland.

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Keep William Likely in check

Likely is Maryland’s best player, and it’s not even a question. He’s the only true impact player the Terps have had this season, and Iowa doesn’t need to take any chances with him on special teams. Maryland will need a spark to be competitive in this game, and Likely is that spark.

Grade: C-. Likely returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards after King’s interception. Talk about a momentum killer. He did well on defense, too.

No big plays

This kind of goes along with the point about Likely, but the Hawkeyes can’t give Maryland any hope in this game. The Terps are tied for 12th in the Big Ten with 27 scrimmage plays of 20-plus yards. Iowa has only given up 23, good for fourth in the league.

Grade: C. Likely had the big return, and Maryland had rushing plays of 24, 19, and 23. Not great.

Set the edge

Iowa has been pretty darn good at stopping runs to the outside this season, and they’ll need to do it again this week. Maryland quarterback Perry Hills is being transitioned into more of a dual-threat quarterback, so look for him to run any opportunity he gets.

Grade: C-. It doesn’t end up costing them in any big way today, but Maryland quarterback Perry Hills had way to much ease finding seems and hitting holes on quarterback draw plays. A more cohesive offense could have really made Iowa pay.

Limit penalties

This is a game that Iowa should absolutely win, but free yardage on penalties can keep even the biggest underdogs in the game. If Iowa doesn’t beat itself, it’ll be just fine.

Grade: B. The second half was real ugly in pretty much every regard, but Iowa came out on top in both penalty and turnover margin. What’s more, they were able to take advantage on a few of those ensuing drive and put points on the board.

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