The Iowa football team is back in action Saturday against the Miami RedHawks. Here’s a quick preview of the history of this short-tenured matchup.
The Miami RedHawks have played just four games ever against the Iowa football team, but surprisingly enough, that’s good for 30th most of any opponent the Hawkeyes have had.
Even more interesting, the Iowa football team has only played Miami during the Kirk Ferentz era. Three times in the early 2000s and once in 2016. In each of those contests, the Iowa football team emerged victorious, as expected, but it wasn’t always easy.
One game, in particular, was very close, and that was during the Hawks 2003 Orange Bowl run. The second game of Iowa’s season was against Miami and a quarterback by the name of Ben Roethlisberger. Big Ben did his best to carve up Iowa’s defense to the tune of 343 passing yards and 3 touchdowns but the duo of Brad Banks and Fred Russell were too much for the RedHawks, and the Hawks narrowly escaped 29-24.
The following season, with Drew Tate at the helm, the Hawks again went against Miami and Big Ben, but this time, they had the future Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback figured out. And they made his life miserable. Roethlisberger threw for 250 yards, 4 interceptions, and 0 touchdowns. Although not a blowout as games against mid-majors should typically be, the Hawks won 21-3.
It took 13 years for these two teams to meet again, but when they did, Iowa was ready, and they knocked off Miami 45-21 in 2016.
While this is supposed to be a tune-up game as our relatively regular games against Northern Illinois are (supposed to be), the history shows, this is not a team to overlook. Despite Iowa’s typically strong defense, three out of the four matchups, the RedHawks have scored 19 or more.
And if Iowa’s opening game history has anything to tell us, this will probably be a bit ugly of a game for the Iowa football team regardless of opponent. They’ve almost succumbed to Northern Iowa, they have lost to Northern Illinois in the past, and have had several close games against them. Point is, this should be a win, but teams like Miami (OH) have nothing to lose coming in.
Unlike the previous four times, I hope the Iowa football team can take quick care of business and show up on the defensive side of the ball and extend their undefeated streak against Miami (OH) to five games.
As history says though, it won’t be easy, and Miami has some talent on their team that could make this matchup interesting.