Big Ten West Notebook: Battle for Heroes Trophy looms large
The Iowa Hawkeyes have been one of the biggest stories in college football in 2015 and possibly the biggest story in the Big Ten all season.
All eyes will be on them as they travel to Lincoln to face off with the 5-6 Nebraska Cornhuskers on Black Friday at 2:30pm. The Hawkeyes have been incredibly balanced on offense gaining 4,601 total yards. It's almost perfectly divided by 2,291 yards rushing and 2,310 yards passing.
The Hawkeyes expect to be in the latest top four rankings for the College Football Playoff when they are released on Tuesday night, but they should not expect that Huskers to roll over for them. The Huskers are looking forward to playing spolier against a team that has become a rival since joining the Big Ten. They already have a win over Michigan State so they have shown they can play up to their competition. Add in that the Huskers beat Iowa last season in Iowa City and you'd understand why fans in Lincoln are feeling confident.
The Hawkeyes have been steady all season long which is slightly unusual for a team not used to this level of success. Kirk Ferentz was asked if this team felt any pressure on Saturday:
"The only pressure I ask our guys to feel is you go out and perform and you play for each other. You're doing it for that reason. To me what sports and athletics teach is giving your best, and you do it, and if you're involved in a team sport, every guy in the room is counting on you, coaches, players. Everybody has got a responsibility. Everybody has got a job. The pressure is to not let the rest of the group down. That's the pressure. External stuff, you live with the good and the bad, but it's all what we have amongst each other."
Perhaps the biggest x-factor in this year's contest will be Hawkeyes quarterback C.J. Beathard who is playing very well after having yet another game last week without and interception. Mike Riley spoke very highly of him on Monday:
“Well, he really runs that team well and he does exactly what (the Iowa coaching staff) wants him to do. That team is built around the run, the bootleg off of the run, play-action passes down the field. He takes care of the football. He’s only thrown, I think, three interceptions for the year. He does not hurt the team and he manages everything really, really well. The other thing that he gives them is when it’s not good, when something’s broken down, whether it’s protection or he can’t find anybody, he moves well enough to extend the play and hurt you, and that’s what we have to prevent."
He continued:
"So, one of the big issues in this game is containment of the quarterback, and it’s not like a zone-read team where you’ve got to tackle the guy off of a real play, it’s more of make him throw the ball on time, don’t give him extra time. We’ve got to build on what we did last week. We had not had a pass-rush game or a sack game like that all year, and we did a better job. Now this is going to be a tougher, by far, opponent to do it against, but it’s going to be a key issue.”
Cubit coaching for job vs Northwestern?
The Illinois Fighting Illini need one more win to get to 6-6 to become bowl eligible. Standing in their way is a date with rival Northwestern in the season finale at Soldier Field.
You would think that a win would secure the future of interim head coach Bill Cubit and his staff but the administration has been mum on the staff's future according to Cubit:
“I just don’t know. Nothing has been said to me,” Cubit said. “There’s a lot of people who have reached out in support, but not the decision-makers.”
Interim athletic director Paul Kowalczyk hasn't ruled out Cubit having a shot but wants to be certain the team has a plan:
“You’ve got to have contingency plans,” Kowalczyk said. “You’ve got to be thinking about all the alternatives out there. Timing is extremely important when you enter into the marketplace.”
Keeping Cubit would be the safe choice for the Illini especially considering how many jobs are opening around the country. The key factor here could be: are the Illini willing to give up the stability the program needs in order to take a big swing at a home run hire?