Iowa football: Hawks have had mixed success against SEC opponents

The Iowa football team is facing Miss. State for the first time Jan. 1. It will also be just the 20th game vs the SEC. Here’s how they’ve fared before.

It’s not often the Iowa football team has had the opportunity to face a SEC opponent. In fact, outside of bowl games, it just doesn’t happen. The Hawks have a pretty set non-conference schedule that includes Iowa State and one “guaranteed cupcake game” against a team like Northern Illinois or North Dakota. The last game has been a toss-up of whether Iowa schedules a team like Arizona or a team like Northern Iowa.

One thing is for certain though, it hasn’t been a SEC team. Likewise, the SEC isn’t exactly known to branch out in non-conference play. Some may blame it on the tough SEC schedule being a deterrent from playing more tough games, others just think SEC teams are being babies. Either way, it just hasn’t and likely won’t happen anytime soon, but what can we glean from history when the Iowa football team takes on the Mississippi State Bulldogs for the first time in school history?

Well, history, as it would, doesn’t give us much. The Hawks are a mediocre 9-11 against SEC opponents and have lost their last three games (Florida in the 2017 Outback Bowl, Tennessee in the 2015 TaxSlayer Bowl, and LSU in the 2014 Outback Bowl). In fact, their last win against a SEC opponent came eight years ago when the Hawks beat the Missouri Tigers 27-24 in the Insight Bowl. Coincidentally enough, Missouri wasn’t even an SEC team at the time. They were still a member of the Big 12.

This recent lack of success though isn’t indicative of what is to come, but it is a trend and one that is worth exploring. When you look at each conference and what they bring to the table, the Big Ten is more of a smash mouth conference. Right along with it, the Hawkeyes are not known to stretch the field with speed as they would rather have a battle in the trenches to see who emerges victorious.

The SEC, meanwhile, is predicated on speed and athleticism. Sure, there are teams that can line up and hit you in the mouth (hello Alabama), but fundamentally, the two conferences just operate different.

For more context on records against SEC schools see the below.

Florida (1-3)

Missouri (4-4)

Tennessee (1-2)

LSU (1-1)

South Carolina (1-0)

Arkansas (1-0)

Texas A&M (0-1)

The bright side for the Iowa football team though is that Mississippi State isn’t your standard SEC team.

Their defense is lights out and their offense is a severe weakness meaning the Hawks have an opportunity to capitalize on a great opportunity to get back on the winning streak against a SEC opponent in just a few days.