Iowa

[grunkiejr]

I'm not predicting that Iowa will win the Legends Division next year; however, it is certainly not out of the question for the Hawkeyes to end up at or near the top of the division. All the other teams in the division also have concerns/weaknesses. I would think that early predictions will have Michigan State and Nebraska as front-runners. While MSU has QB Kirk Cousins returning they lose their excellent linebacker (Greg Jones) and several other key defensive starters. They certainly took quite a beating in their bowl game. Nebraska will have a good defense, but I'm not sold on their offense and getting adjusted to a new conference may be difficult for the cornholers. Northwestern's QB Persa will be returning from a season ending injury. Michigan has a new coach, but the same old weak defense. Last, but not least, MN has new coach, new QB, and a relatively young defense so I wouldn't imagine even the most staunch Gopher supporters expect MN to contend for division supremacy. Therefore, the divisional winner may well be decided by a year-end match-up in Lincoln between Iowa and Nebraska.

We had a young defense last year, not this year. We'll probably return as many starters as anybody in the conference this year. We return players that started at every position on D. That being said, we were miserable on that side of the ball last year so in knocking our chances you're probably better off saying Minnesota has an experienced but weak defense returning.

The Legends is really wide open. Nebraska & MSU will probably be preseason favorites but they have the toughest two schedules based on who they play from the other division. The other 4 teams play pretty similar schedules with none playing more than one of the top "3 teams" (OSU, PSU, Wisc).

 

[Hawksfan81]

grunkiejr - that's a pretty fair analysis. While Iowa does lose quite a bit, I'm excited to see several of the replacements since some starters under-performed last year. The o-line will again be the strength and the new QB has been in system for several years. With key receiver (McNutt) returning as well as Marcus Coker at RB (along with a 4* RB and another stud RB that recently de-comiited from MSU), I'm not too worried about the offense. RB is certainly one position where younger players can make a mark simply by utilizing their instincts. The defense should be quite salty. The d-line coach always does a good job of replacing d-lineman. Several years ago, Iowa fans thought the sky was falling when DL Mitch King and Matt Kroul graduated; however, really didn't miss a beat with their replacements. Iowa will also have two of the better corners that they have had recently. Anyway, it should be an intererting year. I just want rest of B10 to provide a rude welcoming to Nebraska!

 

[PurplePride]

A rag arm quarterback and a young defense.
Sounds like a 4-8 season for the birds.
They will be looking to get back to .500 in 2012.

 

[Hawksfan81]

PurplePride - Actually, the new QB has a better arm than Stanzi did, but you believe whatever you want.

 

[grunkiejr]

grunkiejr - that's a pretty fair analysis. While Iowa does lose quite a bit, I'm excited to see several of the replacements since some starters under-performed last year. The o-line will again be the strength and the new QB has been in system for several years. With key receiver (McNutt) returning as well as Marcus Coker at RB (along with a 4* RB and another stud RB that recently de-comiited from MSU), I'm not too worried about the offense. RB is certainly one position where younger players can make a mark simply by utilizing their instincts. The defense should be quite salty. The d-line coach always does a good job of replacing d-lineman. Several years ago, Iowa fans thought the sky was falling when DL Mitch King and Matt Kroul graduated; however, really didn't miss a beat with their replacements. Iowa will also have two of the better corners that they have had recently. Anyway, it should be an intererting year. I just want rest of B10 to provide a rude welcoming to Nebraska!

I'm well aware of Rodney Coe as well as the running back that MSU pulled the scholarship offer from. Coe is a stud, the other one (McCall or something like that) is just ok.

Your new QB may have a stronger arm than Stanzi but he is less mobile and doesn't have great pocket presence as we saw when Northwestern and Minnesota blitzed him. I still have no idea why Tressel didn't put pressure on him. Actually I do, Tressel believes he can play conservative an avoid taking chances against every team in the Big Ten because he has better talent and the other team will eventually screw up. I guess it works.

Everybody has questions throughout the conference but particularly in the Legends Division. It looks as wide open as ~2000 when we had a three way tie for the conference title with Michigan, Northwestern and I'm blanking on the 3rd.