Iowa Hawkeyes game thread: The Hawks take on the Huskies

It’s about time. One of my favorite seasons of the year is finally here, college football season. Yes, there were games last week, but do those really count if the Iowa Hawkeyes aren’t playing?

The politically correct answer is yes, but in Hawkeye country the season doesn’t start until today. Today, the Iowa Hawkeyes welcome the Northern Illinois University Huskies to Kinnick stadium. For most Power 5 conference schools, this is your typical warmup game.

For the Hawks, playing NIU is anything but a typical warmup game. In fact, the last time these two teams faced each other, NIU left victorious. The time before that, the Hawks scraped, clawed and relied on some late game magic to pull away with a victory.

Today, is hopefully not like those two days. As we covered in an article earlier this week, one of the biggest storylines will be if the Hawks can get off to a fast start. This is a talented team and one that should easily take on a MAC school, but the Hawks seem to allow teams like the Huskies to stay in the game longer than they should.

Meanwhile, the Hawks aren’t really doing themselves any favors. Like most major football programs, the Iowa Hawkeyes were unable to escape the haunting team violations. Four players are suspended today: Alaric Jackson, Cedrick Lattimore, Tristan Wirfs, and Brady Reiff.

Although not insurmountable, starting the first game against a strong NIU pass rush without both starting offensive tackles is a challenge that Iowa didn’t need to add to itself. Outside of these four, there are no major contributors missing from the opening day lineup.

The big concern throughout the week was actually not even player related. Summer storms have been wrecking havoc throughout Iowa, and Kinnick Stadium could not avoid the heavy showers this past week. Despite the weather related issues, the University of Iowa was able to get the stadium ready to go for today.

Unfortunately, after a tough week of bad weather, it isn’t exactly letting up. Rain is expected to fall for the next four hours before clearing up partway through the game. This could have an impact on the Iowa Hawkeyes passing game so we may be seeing a good dosage of Ivory Kelly-Martin, Toren Young, and Mekhi Sargent.

If you are going to the game, wear your rain jacket because you’re going to need it. If you are watching from home, you can find the Iowa Hawkeyes on the Big Ten Network or here on FuboTv.

Just as you are watching the game expecting the Hawks to win, so is Vegas. Most major betting sites have the Hawks listed as ten-point favorites.

Naturally, the writers are Dear Old Gold will be watching the game and providing analysis throughout so make sure to follow our twitter handle @dearoldgold. 

After the game, we will be providing you detailed analysis of what we saw in the Hawkeye’s first game of the 2018 season. Let’s go Hawks!