The Hawkeyes pulled out a victory today over Penn State 6-4. It looks more like a baseball score than a football score. It was the 5th victory in a row over Penn St and I don’t believe that Ferentz has lost to them yet. I heard on the radio that it is the longest win streak between 2 Big 10 teams.

The game was pretty ugly for the offense. The Hawks did manage to drive deep into Penn State territory twice, but had to settle for field goals both time. The defense was spectacular. Everytime Penn St threaten, the defense made the big plays, including 4 ints and a blocked field goal.

Next week they visit Illinois and that should not be as difficult as today was. If they beat Illinois they become bowl eligible. I expect that Purdue will win easily. I feel that our D should be able to stop Wisconsin in Iowa City. I don’t know enough about their D to say how our offense would do against them. Since it is at home I would pick the Hawks. The game at Minnesota should be a close one. They won’t be able to run on our D and that seems to be the focus of their attack. I have a feeling it would end up like the Michigan State game, but since it is in Minneapolis it should be close. The Hawks could end up 8-3 or 7-4 and 7-1 or 6-2 in the Big Ten. I don’t know that is good enough for a return visit to a Florida bowl. It would be very nice to make it 3 in a row.

Yahoo Sports recap
SI.com recap
ESPN recap

I predict a huge game for Drew Tate next weekend against Illinois. I could see him throwing for nearly 400 yards and the Hawks winning 35-0. The starting defense hasn’t given up a point in 2 games now.