This weekend the Purdue Boilermakers travel to play the unranked Iowa Hawkeyes. Just because Iowa isn't ranked doesn't mean they won't be a challenge. The Hawkeyes are one of the under rated teams this year. Their defense may be their only weak point on the team because their offense has done amazing this year.
The Hawkeyes leading running back Shonn Greene has led the team rushing for over 1300 yards this season. With 13 touchdowns and an average of 6.1 yards per carry, I would consider him one of the best running backs in the Big Ten. The only bad thing about him is that he is not that great of a catcher. He only has 8 catches this year for 49 yards. At least the Boilers don't have to worry about his catching the ball that much.
The biggest struggle that Purdue will have is containing their quarterback Ricky Stanzi. Stanzi has thrown for almost 1500 yards this season and has an average quarterback rating of 134.1 which is quite remarkable for this late into the season. On the bright side for the Boilermakers, he has only thrown for 10 touchdowns while throwing 7 interceptions.
A large part to Stanzi success has been his wide receivers. Iowa has 4 receivers with 200 or more receiving yards, all with an average of over 12 yards per catch. Purdue's defense needs to limit the big plays down field and force the quarterback to throw shorter passes. If we let them get a couple big plays down field, it will kill our team's morale.
If Purdue can stop the run and force their quarterback to throw shorter passes, our defense should be successful and it will be up to the Boilermaker offense to put points on the board. This is going to be a test for our defense and their ability to shut down their big play makers.
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