Hello and welcome to Week 4 of our beloved Hawkeyes' 2014 football season!
This week Iowa (2-1) tries to recover from an embarrassing loss at home to arch nemesis Iowa State. The Hawkeyes play their first road game of the year at Pitt, who sport a record of 3-0. They've also topped their opponents so far this year by a total of 134-45, which means the Pitt offense is averaging close to 45 points a game so far this season. The potent Pitt Panther offense is led by RB James Connor, who has 552 yards rushing to go along with 8 touchdowns, and is averaging close to 7 yards per carry. Pitt is fifth in the nation 345 rush yards per game.
Luckily for Iowa, their run defense is exceptionally stout this year. Iowa's rush defense is ranked 7th in the nation and first in the Big 10, allowing only 65 yards per game on the ground. They have also yet to allow a rushing TD this season. So it's looking like the outcome of this game will probably be decided in the trenches.
Iowa's last meeting against Pitt, in Iowa City in 2011, was a historic one for the Hawkeyes. They came back from 24 points down in the final 16:16 to win the game, 31-27. This marked the greatest comeback in the program's history. The bad news is that Iowa is 0-2 while on the road against Pitt, with their last loss being 21-20 in 2008.
Iowa's offense is looking to get back on track on the offensive side this week with the Jake Rudock-led offense looking a bit tepid so far this season. There's quite a few Hawkeye fans asking for backup gunslinger CJ Beathard to start getting more snaps, but that remains to be seen. One bright spot for the Iowa offense is senior WR Kevonte Martin-Manley, who only needs 33 more receptions this season to hold the Iowa record for most career receptions. He currently has 19 receptions through the first 3 games, which puts him at third in the Big 10.
Hopefully we will see a good crowd out at the Iowa Hawkeye game watches this week, given the 9 AM kickoff! It's always fun to see a good number of Hawkeye fans to cheers and hopefully have a hearty singalong of "In Heaven There is No Beer" when the final gun sounds this week!
On Iowa and Go Hawks!
http://www.iowalum.com/westernwashington/gamewatches.html
