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A preview of the Iowa Hawkeyes game at Purdue this week
The Iowa Hawkeyes will be on the road for a second consecutive week. This week, the Hawkeyes travel to West Lafayette, Indiana to take on the Purdue Boilermakers. The game will kickoff at 11 a.m. on ESPN2, and Iowa enters the game as a big 12-point favorite. In fact, ESPN gives them an 81.1 percent chance to win.
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Iowa enters the game with a somewhat disappointing 4-2 record. Although, the Hawkeyes are 2-1 in conference play and very much alive in the Big Ten West. On the other side, the Boilermakers are 3-2 on the year and enter the game with a 1-1 conference record. Purdue already has more wins than in 2015 and tied their one conference win from a year ago.
Purdue head coach Darrell Hazell is on the hot seat, according to many. A win at Illinois a week ago relieved some pressure off of him as Purdue returned to being above .500. Although, a win over the Hawkeyes would arguably be the biggest win of his Purdue coaching career.
Despite being listed on the injury report, the Hawkeyes expect tight end George Kittle to play for the Hawkeyes. He had four catches for 39 yards a week ago at Minnesota, but there’s no doubt Iowa would like to get their star tight end more involved in the passing game. Kittle was also named to the Mackey Award Watch List, which is annually given to the best tight end in the nation.
Purdue will get their starting running back Markell Jones back after he injured himself against Maryland a couple of weeks ago and sat out last week at Illinois. Jones has 339 yards and two touchdowns on the season, while also averaging 4.6 yards per carry.
The Boilermakers added a valuable piece to their offense but lose one, as well. Domonique Young leads the team with 29 receptions and 338 yards, and has a touchdown grab, too. Young won’t suit up against Iowa and Purdue expects him to miss the rest of the season.
The Boilermakers will have to rely more on Deangelo Yancey with Young out. Yancey has 22 grabs for 299 yards and leads the team with two touchdown receptions.
The key for the Hawkeyes is getting off to a fast start and putting Purdue away early. They have failed to start fast since the first couple weeks of the season. The offense has relied heavily on the defense forcing turnovers and giving them the ball with favorable field position. Against a defense ranked 94th in the nation in points allowed per game, Iowa shouldn’t have a problem moving the ball and finding the end zone.
For Purdue, the Boilermakers can’t turn the ball over. Minnesota shot themselves in the foot last week against the Hawkeyes with three turnovers. The Boilermakers have committed 13 turnovers on the year, including quarterback David Blough throwing an NCAA-high nine interceptions. Purdue might be able to withstand one turnover, however the Boilermakers will have a hard time winning if they give Iowa’s offense more chances.
The Hawkeyes look to win back-to-back games for only the second time this year. If Purdue wins, it will be the first time they won back-to-back games since 2012.
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