There's no way to sugarcoat it: The Hawkeyes' last game, an 18-16 loss against Oregon, stung. The opportunities to win the game presented themselves, but the team failed to capitalize on them.
However, Kamari Moulton said it best: The team cannot dwell and needs to move on.
They have a great opportunity to bounce back against a talented USC squad. The Trojans are sitting at 5-1 in the conference and need a win to keep their potential Big 10 championship game hopes alive.
USC has shown flaws and can be defeated if the Hawkeyes do the right things. Here are the keys to victory for Iowa in this game.
The offense controls the tempo
The Trojans' offense is statistically one of the best in college football, ranking fourth in points per game at 39.6 and first in yards per game at 503.2.
USC wins its games whenever its offense is on the field for most of the game. Iowa cannot allow that to happen.
The team can do that simply by having the offense play typical Hawkeye football. If the offense can wear down the defense with long runs that extend the drives and keep the defense off the field, they will have the upper hand in that game.
Look for Kamari Moulton to have another big game with a high number of carries. He is going to be the X factor for the team in this game. If he can play like he has in previous games, the offense will be clicking, and it will be tough for the Trojans to stop.
The defense has its best game of the season
While the secondary did a great job in the last game by only allowing 118 yards through the air, the defense gave up 261 rushing yards.
The Trojans will have a heyday if they can succeed in running the ball, as they are in the top 20 in the country in rushing, averaging over 200.2 yards per game.
It can only be imagined that Phil Parker let his defense know that is not how the Hawkeye defense should be. Despite that poor defensive performance, the Hawkeyes remain a top-5 defense in points allowed and a top-20 defense in rushing yards per game, so that game is not a true indictment of this defense.
We have seen incredible defensive performances before, from holding the #2 Indiana to their lowest points scored of the season to holding the rival Golden Gophers to only a field goal.
This is as high-powered an offense as Iowa has seen all season, so this defense needs to have its best game of the season.
Don't let the weather be the reason for a poor performance
The Hawkeyes played in the rain the entire game last week, and this week does not look any better. The forecast indicates that there could be heavy rainfall and a potential lightning delay, while also predicting a very saturated field due to the rain of the previous few days.
Iowa cannot afford to make mistakes in this game due to the weather. They have played in bad-weather games before, so the team should be fully prepared for it.
We did see a few costly mistakes that could be attributed to the rain in their last showing.
The game plan is simple: Play Hawkeye football.
The team has played in temperatures ranging from single digits to 80 degrees in a single season. While the weather may be the talk of the game, it cannot dictate how the team plays. Look for the play calling to be adjusted due to the weather, but continue to play Hawkeye football.
While this is going to be a very tough road contest, this is a winnable game for the Hawkeyes. They are very much due for a bounce back and to pick up some good momentum going into the last couple of weeks of the season.
A couple of analysts have picked Iowa to win the game outright, and we will not argue with them.
Final score prediction: Iowa 16, USC 13