A week after dominating Illinois at home, No. 11 Indiana will head on the road for their first test away from Bloomington against another familiar foe in Iowa.
The Hoosiers made a statement with their 63-10 win last week that they are once again for real, but now have to face the Kinnick Stadium crowd and an Iowa team coming off a solid win at Rutgers last week. Iowa hopes to play spoiler to its former Big Ten West rival, but will need to put together its best game of the season to keep pace with the high-flying Hoosiers.
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Indiana comes into the game as a 7.5-point favorite and will look to continue its dominance over the mid-tier of the Big Ten. Since Curt Cignetti arrived last year, the Hoosiers have won eight of their nine games against Big Ten teams not named Ohio State by two touchdowns or more. Iowa will try to break that trend with an improved offense and the kind of defensive performance fans have come to expect in Iowa City.
Where to watch Indiana vs. Iowa live
Date: Saturday, September 27 | Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: Kinnick Stadium — Iowa City, Iowa
Stream: Peacock
Indiana vs. Iowa: Need to know
Can Indiana stay dominant on the road? The Hoosiers sent a message last week in a complete destruction of Illinois. As my colleague Tom Fornelli wrote, Indiana proved that this year’s Indiana is, well, just Indiana again. Now, they have to go on the road, and for the first time this season we’ll learn a little something about just how good this team is. It’s one thing to be a buzzsaw at home, but it’s another to take that show on the road and play at the same level.
Last year, against anyone other than fellow CFP competition, the Hoosiers handed out beatdowns everywhere. This Iowa team should be a tier (or two) below Indiana if they’re a playof-caliber team again, and we’ll find out if the Hoosiers are capable of leaving no doubt in a hostile environment.
Can Iowa’s offense keep up? The Hawkeyes hoped to finally take strides offensively this season with Mark Gronowski taking over under center, but the offense failed their first big test against rivals Iowa State. Now, they take on an even tougher defense in Indiana and will need to show that their improvement is for real, and not just a product of facing some woeful defenses the last two weeks.
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Iowa’s defense hasn’t been as stiff as what we’ve come to expect from the Hawkeyes, so you would expect Indiana to score a fair amount. If that is indeed the case, they’ll need their offense to do what Illinois couldn’t and keep pace by putting together consistent scoring drives.
Fernando Mendoza, Heisman favorite: Not many expected the Heisman Trophy favorite to be Fernando Mendoza coming into Week 5, but the Cal transfer is at the top of the odds sheet as many of the preseason favorites have slipped. Mendoza is completing 76.8% of his passes for 972 yards and 14 touchdowns, with no interceptions in his first four games. What’s more impressive, he got off to a slow start against Old Dominion in the opener, but the Hoosiers have steadily improved and look to be firing on all cylinders as conference play begins.
This week will bring a new test, as Mendoza and the offense go on the road for the first time. That always brings challenges for an offense operating in the noise, but the Hoosiers will be looking to quiet the Hawkeye crowd with Mendoza leading the charge.
Indiana vs. Iowa prediction, pick
The Hawkeyes offense certainly looked more explosive against Rutgers, but so has just about every team that’s played the Scarlet Knights this season. Indiana is a different animal, and after sending a message to the Illini last week, I don’t expect a letdown from the Hoosiers in their first big road test of the season, and this number feels too small for the quality of team Indiana has. Pick: Indiana -7.5
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