A Look ahead at the Iowa Hawkeyes 2018 Schedule: Part II

With the Iowa Hawkeye’s bowl game come and gone, the end of the 2017 season is here. The team will soon go into a peaceful rest for several months while they retool and rebuild for another run at the Big Ten title in 2018.

NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 27: The Iowa Hawkeyes celebrate after defeating the Boston College Eagles in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium on December 27, 2017 in the Bronx borough of New York City. The Iowa Hawkeyes won 27-20. (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images)

The Iowa Hawkeyes 2018 schedule has been out but not that many people are taking a hard look at it yet. The Hawks will start out the season playing four straight games at Kinnick Stadium. The fourth game will be their first against a Big Ten opponent that year. Then they will move deeper into their Big Ten schedule after that playing teams like Northwestern, Maryland, and Illinois.

Hopefully, Iowa will be up to the challenge of not only playing better but doing something great in 2018. Can they make a run at the Big Ten Title? Will they win a majority of their games? How could the Hawks do in a new year full of fresh faces on both sides of the ball? Will they play well, or will they struggle and end up disappointing fans?

Just how do we think the Hawks will do in 2018? We will find out as we take a quick look at the 12 games that the Hawks will play next season. We will see how their opponent did this year and perhaps give a little bit of an outlook on how they will do next season. No guess will be accurate because things will change drastically between now and the time they play next year.

We will break this into three sets of four games apiece.

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Games Five through Eight

(Note: The Hawkeyes will have a bye week the week of September 29th)

Iowa@Minnesota-October 6th-The Floyd of Rosedale Trophy will be up for grabs again as the Hawkeyes take on Minnesota up in Minneapolis. The game this past season was close as the Hawkeyes beat the Golden Gophers 17-10. The Golden Gophers lead the series 62.47-2. Overall, Minnesota didn’t have that great of a season and are poised to be just a little bit better in 2018. Iowa should be much better provided they treat this offseason with urgency and fix some of the problems that they had in 2017.

If Iowa fixes their problems, then the Golden Gophers won’t be much of a problem. But they can’t let Minnesota get the best of them. They need to start fast and finish faster. Starting fast has been a problem for Iowa and they cannot afford a slow start with a fast finish (see Nebraska and Boston College). They can’t have that against any opponent, even the Golden Gophers.

Look for Iowa to win this game and bring their mark to 4-1 overall.

Iowa@Indiana-October 13th-The Hawkeyes will travel out to Bloomington, Indiana to take on the Indiana Hoosiers. The last time these two teams met in 2015, the Hawkeyes beat the Hoosiers 35-27. Iowa holds the advantage in the series which stands at 44-28.4. The Hoosiers record in 2017 was 5-7 but things are looking up for them. Still, if Iowa gets some improvement going in their passing game and doesn’t see a drop off on defense then they should be able to win this game.

Look for Iowa to beat Indiana and keep on moving forward positively. This would be a great step towards keeping up with the top teams for the Big Ten West and drive towards a Big Ten title. Indiana will be just another team on the path towards the larger goal of a Big Ten Championship.

Maryland@Iowa-October 20th-The Maryland Terrapins will head west to Iowa City to take on the Hawks at venerable Kinnick Stadium. The last time these two teams met in 2015, Iowa won 31-15. The series is tied 1-1. This season, Maryland was 4-8 and last in the Big Ten East. If Maryland shows no improvement and Iowa can keep moving in the right direction, Iowa should be able to easily win this game.

Look for the Hawks to beat the Terrapins and keep the momentum going into a big meeting with Penn State the next week.

Iowa@Penn State-October 27th-This will be a rematch of the slugfest that took place at Kinnick Stadium in 2017. Fans will remember the last few seconds of the game as the Nittany Lions won on a touchdown pass to beat Iowa 21-19. Iowa almost upset Penn State but instead, Iowa was itself upset and so were its fans. The Hawks are going to be seeking revenge in this game and just might get it. But can they win at Beaver Stadium and just how good will Penn State be in 2018?

Expect this to be a very good game. The Hawks should be able to keep up with Penn State if their defense is up to the challenge. We don’t know what to expect from Iowa’s defense in 2018 because of all the graduations and unknowns. And what about Iowa’s offense? Is Nate Stanley finally going to play consistently? Will Iowa develop some wide receivers?

Expect this to be a close game that’s too close to call right now. We don’t know what to expect out of Penn State yet. Saquon Barkley might be gone and Trace McSorley may or may not bolt for the NFL. But head coach James Franklin will be ready and will have a lot of talent at his disposal.
This is even right now but we will predict this game again just before it happens.