Week one didn’t exactly go as planned for the Iowa Hawkeyes as they fell 24-20 at the hands of Purdue in an all too predictable end. As week two approaches, the Hawkeyes look to get back on track as they play their home opener. With no fans in the stands, this will be far from your traditional home opener in Kinnick Stadium.
In week two, the Hawkeyes are hosting the Northwestern Wildcats, who are fresh off a 43-3 shellacking of Maryland in week one. Northwestern racked up 537 yards of offense while holding the Terrapins to just 207 yards and 3 points. Perhaps more concerning for Iowa, which just let a fullback run wild on them, Northwestern ran for 325 yards in week one. Can the Iowa defense slow down Northwestern’s offense? Can the Iowa offense stop shooting itself in the foot and actually score points?
Everything you need to know in advance and in review of week two’s game can be found in the below stream.
Date: Saturday, October 31st
Time: 2:30pm CT
Matchup: Northwestern Wildcats (1-0) at Iowa Hawkeyes (0-1)
Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, IA
TV: ESPN
Line: Iowa -2.5, O/U 48
Result: L, 21-20
History
These are not your grandfather’s Northwestern Wildcats. While Iowa holds a 51-27-3 all-time advantage over Northwestern, the Wildcats have won three of the last four and eight of the 14 meetings since Pat Fitzgerald took over in Evanston. The Hawkeyes won big a season ago, defeating Northwestern 20-0 in Evanston, but that snapped a streak of three straight losses to the Wildcats from 2016-2018 and came against a Northwestern team that finished the year just 3-9.