The Hawkeyes under Kirk Ferentz have earned a reputation as a perrenial 8-4 team. There are programs across the country which would love to be 8-4, but with the bar now set, Iowa fans are looking for more. The 2019 season is just around the corner, could this be a year when the Hawkeyes top that mark?
It will be a tall task with one of the more difficult schedules in recent memory. Iowa has trips to Ames, Ann Arbor, Evanston, Madison and Lincoln. They have back-to-back games against Michigan and Penn State from the East and a stretch to close out the season that includes Northwestern, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Nebraska.
But Iowa also has an immense amount of talent on deck to tackle that tough schedule. They’ve got a trio of players projected in the 1st round of next year’s NFL Draft with A.J. Epenesa, Tristan Wirfs and Alaric Jackson. They’ve got a third year starting QB in Nate Stanley and they return a trio of running back from last season with Mekhi Sargent, Ivory Kelly-Martin and Toren Young.
Will those be enough to offset the departures of T.J. Hockenson, Noah Fant, Anthony Nelson and Amani Hooker last year? Can Iowa really win the West with that difficult schedule? We analyze what to expect in 2019 position group by position group and you can find them all here.