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

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

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 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.

Games Nine through Twelve

Iowa@Purdue-November 3rd-After the Hawks 24-15 loss to the Boilermakers this season the players and their fans will be trying to get some revenge. Purdue showed themselves to be a much better team than some people thought they would be. And it’s possible they could be even better by the time these two teams meet again in early November 2018.

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The series is led by is led by Purdue who leads it 47-38-3. They currently have a one-game winning streak.

If the Hawks have the record that I think they are going to have at this point, with just one loss to Wisconsin and either a close loss or win with Penn State, this game could end up being a big test for them. We will get to see if the Hawks can be consistent for a full game by both starting out and finishing fast. If they can beat Purdue, then they will get their revenge and prove themselves to be a much better team.

Northwestern@Iowa-November 10th-The Wildcats were another team that defeated the Hawkeyes in 2017 and one that Iowa will hopefully beat. If you recall, Northwestern beat Iowa in Evanston 17-10 in overtime to frustrate the Hawkeyes and their fans. The boys in Evanston are not bad at all and could carry over some of what they did this year into next year.

The series between these two teams is led by Iowa 56-26-3 but Northwestern has won the last two meetings.

Whenever these two teams get together, you can expect a good fight and this one promises to be another battle. Northwestern and Iowa have quietly built a nice rivalry so this game at Kinnick Stadium will be a good one for the fans and players.

But who will win?

I think that you can expect Iowa to win this game and get a little bit of payback for what Northwestern did to them in 2017. Iowa’s offense will be in much better shape as Nate Stanley should be improved compared to where he was at in 2017.

Look for Iowa to win this game and keep marching on towards a better bowl or even a possible Big Ten West title.

Iowa@Illinois-November 17th-The Iowa Hawkeyes will go east just down the road into Illinois to take on the Illini. Illinois has not been a great team since head coach Lovie Smith took over but may be better in 2018. You can bet that Smith will start to have his team heading in the right direction and will get them to play at least a little better this year. But Iowa will be playing well and will still be difficult for the Illini to beat.

The last time these two met was in 2017 as Iowa beat them 45-16. The series is led by Illinois and is currently at 38-33-2. Iowa has won the last four games.

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Iowa will win their second to the last game of the year and be poised for bigger and better things. Perhaps a Big Ten West title is not out of the question?

Nebraska@Iowa-November 23rd-The day after Thanksgiving will feature the annual contest between the Hawkeyes and the Cornhuskers in Iowa City. Nebraska is going to have a new head coach in Scott Frost. Frost is an exciting and dynamic coach. While it may take him a little time to get things right in Nebraska, you can bet that the Cornhuskers will be competitive in short order. Iowa may not be able beat them like they have been able to soon.

The series between Iowa and Nebraska is led by Nebraska 29-16-3. Iowa has won the last three games including their 56-14 victory in November.

You can expect Nebraska to still be a little bit behind the curve when it comes to winning in 2018. Frost’s mark will not be made yet, so they won’t be winning too many games in his first year. Iowa, provided they are playing good football to close out the season, should win this game but this series will be much more competitive in the coming years.

Iowa could finish the year with one or two losses provided they take care of the problems that may arise on offense and defense. Better play calling and better performance by the quarterback position will help get the Hawks far in 2018. They are also going to need to tighten up their linebacking corps and should make that change this offseason. If they can figure that group out and keep moving ahead in a positive direction, good things will happen. Perhaps what has been predicted for the Hawks in the three articles that have been written, may come true.