The 2-0 and 25th-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes enter their final non-conference game of the year against Western Michigan on Saturday inside Kinnick Stadium. The Broncos have a first-year head coach and a first-year running back as the foundation of their rebuild, and enter the contest 1-1 on the year. There are a couple of areas Iowa will be looking to focus on and tune things up ahead of its trip east to State College to visit Penn State next Saturday.
The Opponent
Western Michigan is led by first-year head coach Lance Taylor, who spent last season as the offensive coordinator for Louisville. The program is in rebuild mode, as several of its best players left in the transfer portal this past offseason. Three of them, interestingly, found their home in Minnesota. Just two starters returned to the defense this season, and the offense has an experienced, but young, quarterback in Jack Salopek. He’s completed 33 of 48 in two games this year with one touchdown and two interceptions. The redshirt sophomore has traded time with both Treyson Bourguet and Hayden Wolff, but Salopek has been the Western Michigan starter.
The Broncos have been most productive this season running the ball. Freshman Jalen Buckley leads the way with 281 yards and a couple of touchdowns this year. He’s averaging just over seven yards per carry with 19 touches per game. Western Michigan leads the MAC with 218 rush yards per game this season which is also good for 24th-best nationally. This production is behind an experienced offensive line that returned four of its five starters from last year with 81 total returning starts as a group. It’s a good matchup with Iowa’s linebackers who will likely be getting work all afternoon against this run game.
Defensively, as mentioned, Western Michigan returned just two starters from last year’s squad. The Broncos have allowed just over six yards per play this season against Saint Francis University and Syracuse, ranking at 117th nationally. The inexperience has hindered the group, and they’ve struggled to slow teams down, specifically through the air. The Broncos have allowed just over nine yards per attempt on the season, 120th nationally.
Western is much better at protecting the run, allowing barely over three yards per attempt which ranks in the top third of college football. They also rank in the top half of the sport with 12 tackles for loss on the year. Edge rusher Marshawn Kneeland has been Western’s best defender thus far. He has eight quarterback pressures and a sack this season. Five of the pressures came in the Syracuse game on the road.
Iowa’s Goals Against Western Michigan
Cade McNamara missed two weeks of Fall camp with the soft tissue leg injury he suffered at Kid’s Day. He was not fully at 100% in the Iowa State game, but he shared some optimism with the media this week saying, “This is the most healthy that I’ve felt in a month.” He was a full participant in practice this week for the first time all season. That’s key for the final tune-up prior to conference play for McNamara. Western Michigan’s weakness in defending the pass will ideally be an opportunity to get some quality reps with his receivers.
Last week against Iowa State, McNamara finished 12 of 22 with 123 yards and an interception. A few of those incompletions were misses by McNamara, and he addressed that following the game. One of his misses was intended for Seth Anderson who was wide open on a double move. A completion would have easily gone 91 yards for six points. McNamara’s performance was not at the level it was against Utah State, but it’s largely to do with him having missed time at camp. His absence has limited reps with his receivers since joining the program. Getting those reps with his receivers is critical to the chemistry of a passing offense, and these game reps are going to continue to allow this group to progress.
Against Western Michigan, expect McNamara and the offense to work the passing game early and often. Last week, the receivers were targeted on just seven of 22 passes and combined for 29 yards. In week one, just two receivers were targeted on 11 of 30 passes. McNamara’s passing game has been solid with the tight ends, but it has to continue to develop with the wide-outs if the Hawkeyes hope to make a run at the conference title game. This week’s opponent is a good opportunity to get that ball rolling.
Defensive Tuneups
Calling the need for “tune-ups” defensively is a little nit-picky, especially considering Iowa’s defense ranks third nationally according to PFF. However, the matchup with Western Michigan will be a good opportunity for the defense to work some depth ahead of conference play. We figured the linebackers would likely take a small step backward this season, losing two multi-year starters. However, the group has been solid thus far. Jay Higgins has been one of the best players on defense this year with 23 tackles through two games. Nick Jackson has filled the role of middle linebacker nicely with 14 tackles, and Kyler Fisher has six.
Linebackers in coverage have been the weakness of that position room this year. Against Utah State, the Aggies’ spread created mismatches with fast receivers on Iowa’s linebackers. Iowa State was able to exploit that a bit as well. Hawkeye starting linebackers have allowed 26 receptions for 133 yards in coverage this year. That’s compared to the corners who have allowed 34 catches for 232 yards. The linebackers have yet to allow a touchdown this year, but their coverage will be something to watch this week.
Jermari Harris returns to the lineup this week after serving a two-game suspension for gambling. His return moves Deshaun Lee to the second string, but don’t expect the competition to end at that spot. Lee has had a very good two games so far as a redshirt freshman. He has nine tackles and a pass breakup and is looking ahead of schedule in terms of his development at the position. Harris has not played a game since the 2021 season. He had a solid sophomore campaign in 2021 with four interceptions in the final six games of the year. Getting Harris back in the lineup will be good for him to get a game under his belt for the first time in nearly two years prior to next week’s visit to Happy Valley.
Iowa Western Michigan Preview
We won’t learn too much more about Iowa in this matchup, as the coaching staff will likely keep things close to the vest in preparation for next weekend. However, expect the Hawkeyes to work the ball to the wide receivers on offense. Western Michigan actually owns the head-to-head record against Iowa all-time with two wins and one loss all since 2000. Iowa won the most recent matchup 59-3 in 2013.
The spread for this one is floating around 28.5 points. Iowa hasn’t scored that much in a single game all season. So far, the Hawkeyes are averaging 22 points per game, three less than the contractual requirement of Brian Ferentz. To get to that mark on the season, this is one of the games Iowa needs to find the end zone frequently.
Prediction
Iowa – 34
Western Michigan – 10
