Happy Friday Hawkeye fans and welcome to the weekend!
It’s a short turnaround for the Hawkeyes as they look to bounce back from last week’s 31-14 loss at the hands of #5 Ohio State. Iowa not only lost the game, but they lost their starting QB in that one as Hank Brown exited early with a shoulder injury. We learned earlier today that while Brown traveled with the team to Seattle, it will be Jeremy Hecklinski who gets the start tonight.
This will mark Heck’s first career start for the Hawkeyes after
pushing Brown through the first three weeks of the season in the battle for the job. He finished 5/5 passing a week ago with 67 passing yards as the Hawkeyes finished his only drive with their second TD of the day.
Now Hecklinski has a big ask in front of him as he’ll need to play clean football in a hostile environment and look to get Iowa going on the ground – something they’ve really struggled with every time they’ve faced a P4 opponent this year. The Hawkeyes are averaging just 63 yards per game on the ground against teams not named Northern Illinois or Northern Iowa.
Washington should provide some opportunity to get right in the running game. The Huskies come into the day ranked 37th nationally in rush defense giving up 111.4 yards per game, making them the first team in three weeks Iowa will face outside the top-25. More notably, the Huskies are giving up 120 yards per game on the ground against P4 opponents.
On the other side of the ball, Washington has a true dual threat QB in Demond Williams. He can break things down with his legs on the edge and has the ability to make almost any throw. But he has also been mistake prone and this Husky offense is somewhat one-dimensional which is typically not a great recipe for success against a Phil Parker defense. Washington is 126th nationally at 109 rushing yards per game and 78 yards per game against P4 opponents.
Which one of these teams will be able to get their ground attack going? Is Jeremy Hecklinski up to the task to be Iowa’s starting QB on the road in a hostile environment? And can Phil Parker and the Hawkeye defense find a way to shut down Demond Williams and the Husky aerial attack?
All those questions and more will be answered shortly as the Hawkeyes square off with Washington from Husky Stadium in Seattle.
As we countdown to kickoff, here’s everything you need to know about today’s matchup.
Date: Friday, October 9th
Time: 8:00 pm CT
Matchup: #20 Iowa Hawkeyes (4-1, 1-1) at Washington Huskies (3-2, 0-2)
Location: Husky Stadium – Seattle, Washington
TV: FS1
Updated Weather Forecast: Mostly cloudy with temps in the upper 50s
Updated FanDuel Line: Washington -2.5, O/U 41.5
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