The 2018 Iowa Football season is coming up fast, and the hype for opening kickoff is heating up.
The Hawkeyes are definitely going to look very different both on offense and defense throughout this upcoming season. With stars like Josey Jewell, Akrum Wadley, James Daniels, Josh Jackson, etc being drafted, there is going to be some major changes at almost every position this fall. However, all worries aside, the new Iowa roster will have plenty of talent throughout, and we should all be excited.
The non-conference slate.
The Hawkeyes open up their season against Northern Illinois in Kinnick Stadium. Speaking of Kinnick Stadium, that new tiger-hawk logo on the water tower is definitely going to bring in some sort of magic, anyways, the kickoff is at 2:30 central time. Iowa’s recent history with the Huskies wasn’t always pretty, in fact, not very good. Iowa’s last matchup with the Huskies ended with a loss in 2013 on a last-second field goal which already ruined the mood the entire season. Hopefully this year that won’t happen again.. please. The Hawkeyes remain in Iowa City the following week where they host the Cyclones in the CyHawk Rivalry. This game should definitely be interesting considering both these teams are going to look very different from last year’s game. I can see Iowa pulling this one out, however, in a very close, low-scoring game.
You always love to see Northern Iowa on the schedule, right? Every time they’re on the schedule, we all think of the time Iowa blocked two straight field goals which would’ve given UNI the victory. Good times. This year, though, could be a little tricky with the Panthers. They’re expected to have a decent team this year, and just like North Dakota State, don’t take these FCS teams lightly. An interesting note, this game is at Kinnick Stadium under the lights on a 6:30 kickoff time. This should be fun.
The Big Ten slate.
Iowa’s Big Ten schedule doesn’t look too bad at all this season. But there is definitely some major highlighted games on this schedule, that being against Wisconsin and Penn State. Unfortunately, there are no time slots picked out for those two games, but we do know the Badgers are coming into Iowa City and the Hawkeyes are traveling to Beaver Stadium to play the Nittany Lions. Other than those two games, this Big Ten schedule is pretty much in our favor, but again, like every season, there’s going to be those teams that we struggle against. Specifically Northwestern and Purdue, and also Minnesota is definitely going to be a team that the Hawks need to come prepared, these teams aren’t and shouldn’t be looked over, we’ve learned from the past.
Overall, I think this season could go one of two ways: excellent or a nightmare. Once the first game is over against Northern Illinois, we will have a bigger grasp on how this team actually performs and what we can expect this season. I do believe that the Hawks are going to have a good year this season and I’m excited for kickoff, and I’m sure you are, too. To view the full schedule, click here.