It was supposed to be the year Iowa finally joined the elite, the historic names of Ohio State and Michigan, consistent powerhoues of the Big Ten. After winning conference titles in '02 and '04 along with a 10 win season in '03 and a 7 win season in '05, hype surrounding Iowa was at an all-time high last year. Unfortunately the players bought into the championship hype, and did not play with the heart/work ethic that won them those Big Ten titles in the 1st place. They did not play like a Kirk Ferentz team, and injuries also out the cherry on top of the bitter-tasting sundae. Iowa ended up going 6-7, losing in the Alamo Bowl to Texas 26-24, thus losing 6 of their last 7 games. So why is there more hype and optimism for my Hawkeyes this upcoming season? Maybe because of the return of Iowa's blue collar attitude in practices and their positive play in the Alamo Bowl. They were supposed to get rolled by '05 national champion Texas, but they played their asses off and should have won had the Longhorns not received their share of lucky breaks. We have to break in a new QB for the fiery Drew Tate and replace some key members on the right side of our O-Line, but the rest of the roster is intact and (hopefully) hungry for a Big Ten title. Iowa's three year run from '02-'04 was the most successful in school history, re-establishing Iowa as a power and uniting the passionate Hawkeye faithful in the school's success. All this winning got Iowa the most national attention the program has ever recieved and created tons of optimism that Iowa would become not only a constant member of the upper echelon in the Big Ten but a national title contender. Instead Wisconsin seems to have taken Iowa's place among the temporary Big Ten elite, with Penn State joining my Hawks as another potential contender. OSU and Michigan are always going to be up there, guaranteed, but whether or not the Hawks can retain their spot up there is still up in the air. That is why this year is an important crossroads, a season-long test to prove whether or not these past two underacheving seasons were an aberration or a sign of things to come for the future. As long as Kirk Ferentz sticks around and stays true to his word that he wants all of his kids to graduate from the same high school, then we will be competetive and contenders for the forseeable future. Usually, a characteristic of a Ferentz team is closing out the year strong, despite a few puzzling losses that should never happen, but last season was the exact opposite, starting 5-1 and finishing 1-6. But if Jake Christensen can play well and our running game stays relatively injury free, our defense should be dominate and our offense should have more balance than they have in a while, like 2002 and 2003. We avoid OSU and Michigan, so we can't complain about our relatively easy schedule, but we do face Wisconsin and Penn State in two difficult road games and go on the road to play Purdue, who played in a bowl game last season.

JC was a very hyped QB prospect out of Illinois back in '05, the son of a former NFL passer with a wide range of talents and the ability to make any type of throw. He has a strong arm and tons of potential, but not much for height and he doesn't have the elusiveness or the improvisation skills of Drew Tate, which i believe us Hawk fans took for granted often in his career. If he can just play within himself and not make mistakes than the running game should carry us and the recievers can make plays themselves, as evidenced by Andy Brodell's speed. Brodell is a big play threat who could be our next great receiver, his performance will be crucial this season and he has to prove the Minnesota/Alamo Bowl games were not flukes. Dominique Douglas will be our go-to guy and main possesion reciever, not a home-run threat but can be relied on for plenty of receptions. Trey Stross will play a big role as well, he was highly recruited in the class of JC and has a lot of talent. Another potential guy could be James Cleveland, another high recruit and speedster. This corp has a lot of potential and speed but is still young and coming into their own, they made important strides as the year wore on in '06 and the experience they gained was very valuable, they will be underrated this season but could be great in '08. The running game is our offensive strength. Albert Young will be the cornerstone and one of the best running backs in football if he can stay healthy, which he has had a hard time doing in his Iowa career. His versatility and pass-catching skills are impressive. Damian Simms, his backfield counterpart, is more of a speedster and home-run threat. He needs to hang onto the ball more but his speed is dangerous. At fullback we have one of the best around Tom Busch, a great blue-collar blocker and recieving threat at the goal line. Our offensive line loses some great ones in Marshal Yanda, Mike Elgin, and Mike Jones, but we still have our cornerstone left tackle (highly recruited and injury prone Dace Richardson), the next great Iowa center in Rafael Eubanks, and the experienced Seth Olsen. No one else has stood out for the open spots but there is tons of size and potential, and since when has Iowa had trouble getting good offensive linemen? At tight end we will miss the huge Scott Chandler, our main recieving threat often in his career. He was inconsistent in '06 but he will be missed. Luckily we have Tony Moaeki to take his spot, a big blocker and goal-line recieving threat who will have to take his pass-catching to another level. The defense was supposed to come into their own and become a force last season, especially the D-Line, but injuries and underacheving contributed to a poor overall effort. The line got banged up so bad that the defense put NO pressure on the opposing quarterback and our secondary got burned on long pass plays. I know Iowa defense is physical, bend but don't break, but it was obvious that depth was a problem and more speed in the secondary is needed next year, and a little bit of pressure is a must to have any success. Kenny Iwebema returns, but can he stay healthy for once? He is a physical beast, a good run-stopper and potential pass-rusher who should be dominate and draw plenty of attention if he can stay on the field. Bryan Mattison is very active, underrated, and plays well off Iwebemas' double teams. Our interior of Mitch King and Matt Kroul is tough, physical, and blue-collar. Plenty of attitude and strength, but they need to stay healthy as well because depth is a huge concern, especially with Ryan Bain leaving. The only backup who looks good is phenom redshirt frosh Adrian Clayborn. The linebackers don't have the speed and wall-to-wall athleticism of Chad Greenway and Abdul Hodge, but Mike Kilinkenborg is a hard nosed, tackling machine in run-support and important team leader, while Mike Humpal is versatile and always active around the ball. Potential is all over the place in the other spot that Ed Miles use to control, but A.J. Edds looks like he has the spot locked down. In the secondary we lose both hard hitting safeties (Marcus Paschal and Miguel Merrick), but that shouldn't be a problem seeing as our secondary is back with the physical, tough tackling Adam Shada and Charles Godfrey. Neither one is a burner but they do their jobs well and bring much needed leadership. Walk-on Brett Greenwood was the story of the spring, playing like he had something to prove and earning one of the other safety spots. Other guys who will get their reps at the other safety spot could be junior Harold Dalton, potential-filled Marcus Wilson, and much-hyped Des Moines product Jordan Bernsteine.

The non-conference schedule isn't too bad, but the opener isn't at home this year and no 1-AA teams are on the list. All the games are probable wins, but you never know, especially with the always dangerous Cy-Hawk showdown in Ames. We start off playing at Soldier Field, which is being called an official home game for our opponent, the Northern Illinois Huskies. The atmosphere should be amazing, with the Hawkeye fans hopefully outnumbering the Huskie ones. This should be an easy win, not only because NIU loses their all-world tailback Garrett Wolfe and most of their talent from last season, but because JC has a ton of confidence against them after his 1st start came against them last season and ended in a 24-14 Hawkeye victory, with JC throwing 2 TD passes. The next game is our home opener, a prime-time showdown against Syracuse in what should be a raucous Kinnick crowd at night. Syracuse is severely undermanned in talent to my Hawks, the only reason they hung around last year was because of all the mistakes Jason Manson made. The crowd, along with our advantage in pure talent, should make sure that we don't have to pull off a big goal-line stand to win this time. The toughest test before the Big Ten comes at Iowa State. This game is never a representation of how either team's season will go, but Iowa State always comes in ready to pull the upset and this has the potential to be "that game" the Hawks always lose that they shouldn't and that keeps them out of national title contention. Playing in Ames is always dangerous too, and the Cyclones always play pumped. Hopefully we can avoid mistakes and win this one, because we should. They have a new coach and are coming off a horrible year, but you can never be sure in this game and you can bet Gene Chizik will be looking for a signature win to kick off his tenure. This one worries me. Our last game of the season is also our final non-conference showdown, versus Western Michigan at Kinnick. Should be an easy win, not much else to say. Our conference schedule kicks off with a bang against Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium, a primetime ABC game that's sure to have a crazy crowd. Ignoring last year's defeat, Iowa always plays Wisconsin really well, especially at Camp Randall, but the atmosphere and Big Ten implications for this contest will be huge. JC will have to mature early and handle the pressure, because if we play our game and avoid mistakes this is winnable and could mean a Big Ten title if we take it. Next week is Homecoming, against Indiana. The Hoosiers will play emotional all season-long for Coach Hep, and they have burned us these past few seasons with James Hardy, but we owe them a butt-kicking for last year and with a great crowd behind us and better defensive play, we should win this one easy. Next week is another brutal road game against Penn State. They have a huge, intimidating stadium and are expected to be Big Ten contenders, but their offense still has some questions (QB and TB) and some legal issues have affected their secondary, but they will be tough and physical, and the Hawkeyes must play tough back and emotional like they did in '04 after Kirk's dad died if they want a shot. The talent is comparable, but we have had Penn State's number the past few years we have played them. Will be a toughie no matter what, but an important game. Next week is Illinois at Kinnick. They have lots of talent and a good recruiting class, but they are still very young and a few years away from competing, and Zook hasn't proven he can coach these recruits. Shouldn't be too taxing. We go on the road to play Purdue next week, a tough game that could go either way. Last season we destroyed Purdue, but they have everyone coming back on offense and will be dangerous on that side of the ball if Painter can avoid turnovers. We should roll over their perenially weak defense, but this will be close and Ross-Ade is a tough place to play even though it's not too loud, will be an important game. We get Michigan State at Kinnick, a team in transition with a new coach and quarterback that should be contending eventually, but right now they are still a few years off. We have to play Northwestern on the road, a pesky team that has ruined each of our past two seasons with tough-to-stomach upset wins. They have less talent than us but always manage to put up points and they can definitely not be taken lightly. We should win, their stadium is not intimidating at all, but the way they play us this game scares me. Our final Big Ten game is the annual battle for the Floyd of Rosedale against Minnesota. We're playing them at Kinnick, they have a new coach, and a new quarterback and tight end, so they are in transition mode as well, making the opportunity ripe for us to take back the Floyd and bring it back to where it's been 4 of the past 5 seasons. I think anything less than a 10 win season, counting a bowl game, would be a mild disapointment. Anything less, or venturing into 7 or 6 win territory, might call for a change in Kirk's coaching staff. Kirk would not be on the hot seat yet because of all the success he put up, but he needs to get us back up to a consistent power and 8-10 win team again soon, if not this year. We should expect losses against favored Wisconsin and Penn State on the road, but we can also beat both of these teams as well and I wouldn't be surprised. We are probably bound to lose some game we're not supposed to as well, which could be Iowa State, Purdue, or Northwestern. With this factored in, a 9-3 season should be the lowest thing we expect, with a likely trip to Florida for the Outback or Capital One Bowl so we can get a 10 win season. These are my expectations.