The Spartans kneel out the clock, and Michigan State will arrive in Evanston at 5-1, 2-0 in the Big Ten. The Spartans were battle-tested by an Iowa team that almost used its lesson last week against NU to turn the tables in the second half for a road victory.

Of note: Iowa held Michigan State to 92 yards total rushing, including just 91 yards for Javon Ringer on the ground on 25 carries. On the flip side, the Spartans had almost equal trouble as the Cats did in containing Shonn Greene, allowing 152 yards on the ground.

Minus two turnovers in the red zone, Iowa may have won this game. NU has had success all season from the 20-yard line in, scoring points on almost every occasion. A key point for Pat Fitzgerald’s offense will be avoiding turnovers deep in Spartans territory next week.

Crowd noise has been a big factor for Michigan State on the road this season (at Berkeley). Will NU provide any challenge? Fans should be out in full force for this battle of top teams.

Thanks for following. Check back at nufootballinsider.com later tonight for a full recap of Saturday’s Big Ten action.

When Iowa was at its best last week, the ball was in Shonn Greene’s hands.

Kirk Ferentz’s lightbulb has gone off, with Greene rumbling for 44 yards on the first five carries of Iowa’s drive. Facing 3rd and 6 at the Michigan State 16-yard line, Ferentz needed a new lightbulb. Stanzi throws incomplete to Myers, setting up a 33-yard field goal attempt by Trent Mossbrucker. It is good.

MSU 16, Iowa 6 - 3:18 left, 3rd quarter

For the most part, the Big Ten was overshadowed Saturday by a series of upsets — Georgia’s home loss to Alabama, Florida’s loss to Ole Miss. NU’s win shook things up in both Evanston and Iowa City, however.

Around here, the pundits are lauding NU’s poise in front of more than 70,000 screaming fans. But in Iowa, the talk centers around how the Hawkeyes and their embattled coach, Kirk Ferentz, blew yet another winnable game (to Northwestern, no less).

From the Des Moines Register:

Iowa City, Ia. — They sat in the stands stunned, most of the fans at least, among another sellout at Kinnick Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Black-and-gold clad fans sat there in silence, many motionless, as Northwestern players and supporters turned Iowa’s once-festive football stadium into a mini party.…
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Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald stood in the middle of the huddle during Tuesday’s practice. With classes beginning for his players, Fitzgerald’s subject was the difference between being a Northwestern football player and a Northwestern student. But there was no difference.

“Number one here!” he yelled, “Number one there!”

On the football field, his players are athletes first, seeking to win Big Ten championships. On campus, his players are students first, seeking to earn a world-class education. Getting collegiate athletes to make mature decisions off the field so they can play on it is far from the easiest task for a head coach.

Just ask Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz. Continue reading »

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz has been around college football long enough to know how to handle adversity. But nothing could have prepared him for the storm his football program was forced to weather – both literally and figuratively – this past offseason.

Beset by disastrous flooding in Iowa and plagued by a series of legal entanglements off the field, the Hawkeyes struggled to hold their program together through a nightmarish summer. Iowa turned to its leader, Ferentz, who kept his players thinking positive through even the worst of times.

Now the Hawkeyes are 3-1 and a formidable Big Ten threat, a fact that has Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald marveling.

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