Hello again Western Washington Hawkeyes! It's homecoming week in Iowa City as our Iowa Hawkeyes take on the Michigan State Spartans. Iowa is 11-2 on Homecoming games since 2000, and owns a homecoming record of 6-0-1 against MSU.
Michigan State enters this week with a 3-1 record and is coming off a bye week after losing to Notre Dame 17-13 two weeks ago. The Spartans will be looking for revenge from last season's meeting against Iowa, when the Hawks won a thriller in double overtime 19-16. The Hawks and Spartans shared a common opponent this year in Western Michigan, who the Spartans defeated 26-13. Iowa beat Western Michigan 59-3 a few weeks later. The Iowa offense, led by sophomore quarterback Jake Rudock, will have a daunting task facing the MSU defense, which has only allowed 189 yards per game. Iowa's defense is far behind in second place, allowing 266 yards per game.
Iowa heads into this week coming off a surprisingly lopsided victory on the road against the previously undefeated goofers of Minnesota, 23-7. Mark Weisman led the way with 147 yards rushing on 24 attempts. Weisman currently has 119 carries (which leads the nation) and 615 yards (fourth in the nation.) If he keeps up this pace, could the "Weisman for Heisman" chant be ringing out in Iowa City soon?
James Morris was named the Big Ten Defensive player of the week for his performance last week when he recorded 8 tackles, a sack, and an interception.
Other interesting tidbits for this week:
Senior kicker Mike Meyer has made a school record 100 consecutive PAT's. He surpassed ex-NFL kicker Nate Kaeding's previous record of 60 consecutive kicks long ago.
Iowa Defensive Coordinator Phil Parker was a first team all-Big ten performer at MSU from 1983-1985 as a defensive back.
This week is also the black and gold game at Kinnick, where alternating sections wear black and gold to create an excellent visual.
Hope you all are able to cheer our Hawks on this week and hoist a glass with us at one of our Alumni gatherings, whether it be Buckley's on Queen Anne in Seattle, Buffalo Wild Wings in Tacoma, or Sluggers in Kirkland. On Iowa and Go Hawks!
