Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Was the Iowa offense improvement for real? Why does Jeff Brohm have the Hawkeyes Number?

Episode Date: November 3, 2022

Trent and Biz return for the latest edition of the Locked on Hawkeyes Podcast.They open up with a look back at the week that was in the world of the Hawkeyes after a 33-13 win over Northwestern. The offense was obviously better, but was that a mirage of something tangible for the rest of the season?A look forward to the rest of the year and then onto Purdue. Jeff Brohm has dominated Hawkeye defensive coordinator Phil Parker. Biz has 3 keys for the Hawkeyes to find a way to win on Saturday.Wrapping up with Degenerate Picks presented by Bet Online and Biz's Beat about a season with expectations for Iowa basketball.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!SweatBlockIf you or someone you love is experiencing embarrassing sweat or odor try Sweatblock. Save 20% with promo codeLocked On at sweatblock.com. Also available on Amazon.LinkedInLinkedIn jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at Linkedin.com/lockedoncollege Terms and conditions apply.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Underdog FantasySign up on underdogfantasy.com with the promo code LOCKED ON and get your first deposit doubled up to $100!SimpliSafeWith Fast Protect™️ Technology, exclusively from SimpliSafe, 24/7 monitoring agents capture evidence to accurately verify a threat for faster police response. There’s No Safe Like SimpliSafe. Visit SimpliSafe.com/LockedOnCollege to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Coming up today on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast, Trenton Biz back together. We take one final look back at the matchup against Northwestern. The offense, it looked real. Was it real or was it a mirage? Why does Iowa struggle so much about against Jeff Brom and the Purdue offense? We'll talk about that, break things down, and some basketball chatter as we get ready for the Hoopsters exhibition win against Truman State. The regular season begins next week.

All coming up on today's podcast. Locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Trent Connan here. Biz over there. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On your first listen each and every day. Available wherever you get podcasts and also available on YouTube. Hit that subscribe button if you listen on podcast.

Great interview. Big, great appreciation of that and opportunity for us to get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Today's episode is brought to you by BetOnline. BetOnline has you covered this season with more props, odds, and lines than ever before. BetOnline, where the game starts. Biz, boy, people have been fading us this year. They're going to have a lot of money in their BetOnline accounts this year. It's been a roller coaster, Trent.

I have a good week and then a bad week. It's kind of like being an Iowa fan. You got to take the good with the bad. And bad last week as we went 0-3, each of us, a week ago. I did not know that. Yes, we'll try to bounce back this week and try to get back into the win column, but we have plenty to talk about before that, Biz, and let's kick things off here talking about what we saw last week. I mean, you're wearing your Northwestern purple here today.

Looking good over there. Where were you, Trent? I just got back from watching Liberty High School make their first ever state championship game. And I went over to Extreme Arena to watch volleyball, and I just assumed you'd be announcing it like you announce every other sport. And nowhere to be found. Disappointing. Yeah, did a little volleyball earlier this season, but busy week. As you know, I'm getting ready to head out to Vegas this week, and I figure it's probably best to stay at home, get everything ready for that.

Get your liver ready. And that too. And that's always a big part of it, probably best to stay at home get everything ready for that get the house ready and that too and that's always a big part of it getting ready to hang out at Circa and Stadium Swim watching Iowa Purdue on Saturday we'll get to that matchup against Purdue but Northwestern look good offensive line look good receivers look like they had a clue saw a little bit out of binds there were some drops Spencer Petrus is locked in as we have seen him certainly all this season caleb johnson looking like maybe a budding star at the running back spot so is it real or was this just a really bad northwestern team yes to both so yeah is it real i think that's probably a stretch but is it a step in the right direction absolutely i mean that it's what this team needed they needed a drama free fun victory and that's exactly what they got you

know it was a fun day at kinnick it was a beautiful day the weather couldn't have been any better and honestly the football couldn't have been any better that's as an iowa fan that's what you hope to see you hope to see us control both lines of scrimmage, which we absolutely did. We had, what, seven sacks, and we ran the ball efficiently. Is Northwestern good? Absolutely not. I mean, Northwestern is not a good football team. But you look, Northwestern has been competitive in the vast majority of their games.

And, you know, I think they had, other than us, it was one other game that was more, you know, Wisconsin blew them out. Everything else has been 10 points or less. So it's not like they're getting beat, you know, 40 to 7 every week. So, you know, it's certainly a step in the right direction. You know, if you're finding things to complain about out of last Saturday's game, then you're just never going to be happy at the Hawks because that's Iowa football at its best when you're getting efficient,

efficient offensive play. And then obviously the usual stellar defensive effort. And that's what we kind of strive to do when things are going poorly, going to talk about it. We're not going to be a barrier headed in the sand and just be Hawkeyes and everything's going to be great. And it's been a lot of negativity this year. And I think you've got to go that other direction. It,

I was surprised how hopeful I walked away after that game on Saturday about the rest of the year. Do I think they're going to run the table? They'll finish with five straight wins. I don't, I think some of those in offensive ineptitudes are still going to show up this year, but I didn't,

we know the Purdue matchup. We'll get into that. It's been a struggle. Wisconsin has been a struggle, Nebraska, Minnesota, both those teams obviously can beat this Iowa team. But I walked away more hopeful that what the work is being done, the offensive line development that continues, the decision to make the change,

and what they did offensively with that jet motion, something we've talked about a lot, just getting those linebackers, the safeties, getting their eyes moving just a little bit. It's not a lot. It's not a ton. But that little wrinkle here, not just using it for the sake of using it, but having it be a big part of the game plan,

I think was a huge help to everybody offensively. And it gave a little something to this offense that certainly hasn't been there in the first half of the year. Yeah. And, you know, we've tried that. We've tried some jet sweep and reverse stuff in the past. And you saw how horrible that played out against Illinois and a few other schools. And, you know, obviously that shows.

I mean, we saw something where, I mean, I couldn't believe how small Northwestern's defensive line was. I mean, just walking in, I was like, wow, their defensive tackles can't be 260. And so, I mean, we were, you know, any time our offensive line can manhandle someone right now, you know you've got some deficiencies on the other side. But, you know, anytime our offensive line can manhandle someone right now, you know you've got some deficiencies on the other side. But, you know, Trent, you mentioned at the beginning that's kind of what we strive to be as a podcast,

is when you need to be critical, I think we're probably hopefully reasonably critical. And when you need to be positive, hopefully we're positive. But I'm not sure that's the vibe everybody's getting from us, Trent, because twice in the last week or so, I've had people, now that we're a YouTube sensation and people actually can see my ugly mug, I've had people, I think I told you before, I've had people chat with me about this, which I'm not going to lie, I'm not overly comfortable with. I'm not the celebrity you are, Trent, but twice this week,

I had people come up to me and they both had kind of the celebrity you are, Trent, but next week people come up to me and they both had kind of the same hot take, which is they both hope that we didn't win another game this year because they didn't want to see Brian and Kirk back anymore. And I just kind of bit my tongue and didn't say much. But, man, I don't know how you can be a fan of any team, any team anywhere, and hope that that team loses. I mean, that to me is such a foreign, bizarre concept.

I mean, the moment you start cheering against Iowa, it might be time to go find a new fall hobby. I mean, go out and collect leaves or something instead. You know, I hope everybody that listens understands that you and I, we may whine and complain every once in a while, but come Saturday, there is not anybody in the world that cheers harder for Iowa football to win every single week. And so, you know, that performance on Saturday was just a lot of fun.

Like I said, it was fun all around. It was an enjoyable day. And if you came away from that day with anything other than a, that was fun response. If your response was, well, Northwestern sucks and we still suck, maybe you need to go find a new hobby. Yeah. At the risk of alienating some of our people listening to this, man, that's a hard way to go through life. It is.

And I understand the thinking. I don't agree with it. I could never pull myself to do it, but because of what is happening, it doesn't matter how this last month goes. Something still needs to evolve offensively, even if the offense does show signs of improvement. Kirk, when we had the Illinois game and the postgame,

we won 10 games last year. We know that. But you won 10 games in spite of your offense, and I think that's where a part of the fan base is is there has to be a change and people are are probably nervous that Kirk especially if they do go on a run here say they win three of the next four they get to seven and five every bowl game's good Kirk said that so many times and and the concern is right back to the well Brian's still the offensive coordinator no change in scheme we're going to see the same zone blocking

things that we've done for 25 years. And I think that's where the concern is. So I understand it. I can't go down that path with those people that think that way. I guess that's probably where they are. Let's say that plays out, though. Do you think that Kirk is going to be willing, not wholesale changings, but that we do see tweaks

or Brian is asked to move on? Is that likely at seven and five? It is. I still think it is. And I think those two things don't need to be mutually exclusive with each other. Trent, you can,

you can advocate and push for change in the program and still cheer for this team to do well down the stretch. I mean, just because we finished strong, doesn't mean this program is healed. It's not. I mean, we're there's too many problems right now for this. No matter what happens, this program needs some tweaks

and changes at the end of this year. And I think, honestly, the coaching staff knows that. Ferentz, he's loyal to a fault. He's not going to do it midseason, but I think he sees the right end of the wall. And I think, honestly, Brian does as well. I think Brian's ready to probably, like I said, we've talked about before, he's going to find an NFL job somewhere. He's going to land somewhere.

They've got too many connections for him to just disappear. He's going to land somewhere, and conveniently that's going to get announced. He's not going to get fired. He's going to get a new job somewhere else. But, you know, to me, the whole concept of cheering against Iowa is just a, it's a total slap in the face to our program because our players bust their ass. If you haven't listened to Jack Campbell after the games and don't believe that that guy would run through a fricking brick wall for the University of Iowa. I mean, nobody in the world could ever,

if you ever listened to Jack Campbell and then cheer against that guy, you're not an Iowa fan. I mean, it's just – to me, like I said, you can advocate for change. I think you and I clearly are advocating for change. Things need to change. But, man, it sure would be awesome if we changed as a program that won five in a row than a program that's a national embarrassment like it's been the first half of the year. So let's hope for both. Let's hope for a good end of the year.

Then some changes. That's what we're not usually exclusive items. So I just, you can do both. You can have both. Yeah. It doesn't have to be the extreme money, both sides of it.

And, and let's meet somewhere in the middle. I like that. I like that part of it a lot. Well, coming up this week, it is Purdue, a team that has had, I was number. It's not just David Bell. There's been a ton of receivers that

have given Iowa trouble. And really, the only offensive scheme that has given Phil Parker a whole lot of trouble. We'll try to figure out the reasons why, what Iowa can do to work to combat it. That's as we continue here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Did you know over the holidays, property crimes like burglaries and package theft spike nationally? That's why our friends at Simply Safe Home Security are offering 50% off their award-winning security system so that more families can feel safe and secure

this holiday season. Order your Simply Safe system for half off today and enjoy advanced security and greater peace of mind this holiday season. I have SimpliSafe, my favorite part about it, up on the phone at any time. You can see what is happening in front of your house with the cameras, the security cameras that they have, high-tech sensors, or whatever else is out there.

SimpliSafe can help you out keeping your home secure. Don't miss your chance to save big on the only security system I recommend. home secured. Don't miss your chance to save big on the only security system I recommend. Get 50% off any new SimpliSafe system at simplisafe.com slash locked on college. Again, the biggest discount of the year. Don't want to wait. SimpliSafe.com slash locked on college. There's no safe like SimpliSafe. Trenton, I do not have SimpliSafe, so if they wanted to send one to me as a well-known media personality, I feel like that's the least they can do. That's a great thing. Yeah, we'll work on that.

I'll get on the horn and see what we can do and get you hooked up with Simply Safe. It's Biz Perdue this week. A team that they tried to make this a rivalry when we had the legends and the leaders. It was I was protected rival. We know the hatred and how deep it goes you were punched in the city of purdue at one point which you deserve that aside that's a story for another day biz these last five years though four out of the last five have gone to purdue jeff brahm even when he's not there and his brothers run cullen plays they've run circles around this Iowa defense. It's yes, they've had good wider seats.

I get that. But Bill Parker finds a way, the adjustments that he makes in game, all these different things. And he's tried different things and they haven't worked. So what is it? Why does Iowa struggle so much? And importantly, Phil Parker struggles so much. Yeah, I put Stat Boy on the job and looked into

it a little bit and I think it comes down to three things. The fact of the matter is Jeff Braum has been a very, very average Big Ten coach. In fact, I think his record is now below 500 again after losing to Wisconsin. He's like 22 and 23 as a

Big Ten coach. So we're not talking about somebody that set the world on fire. But, you know, he's definitely had our number. Like you said, he's had Phil Parker's number, which, I mean, that just doesn't happen. I mean, very rarely do teams have Phil Parker's number. You saw him two weeks ago. I mean, he gave Ohio State absolute fits and had them, you know, running around and trying to figure out. He's usually one step ahead of everybody, and for some reason, he hasn't been

with Jeff Brown. So, I think there's three simple things you can look at that, if we can change at least two, hopefully three of these things on Saturday. I like our chances. Number one, and this is the one everybody knows right away, they've been successful in taking some shots against us. I saw, I think it was Scott Dockerman's article, that on average, teams average 1.4 plays of 20 yards or more against Iowa, and Brahms teams have averaged more than three against twice as successful as everybody else when it comes to just hitting some big shots.

And usually what he's done is he's just isolated one member of our secondary and said, I'm going at that person and I'm going on repeat. And we've been slow to adjust to those things. And it's happened multiple times. I mean, you know, in Purdue, a while back, you know, Raleigh Moss's freshman year, he got abused. You know, you saw here the last two times they've been at Kinnick, they've isolated one guy and gone at him repeatedly. And we've had to actually make, eventually make changes,

but it's been too little too late. So that's number one is we just got to do our standard, our standard defense as far as keep everything in front of you and don't let them get big plays. Cause they're going to take shots. Aiden O'Connell will take shots. We've got to, you know, stop those shots from being successful. So there's number one, your list, limit the big plays. Limit big plays makes a lot of sense. It's a game plan coming in every single time.

But that isolation and seeing the game, it was in Kinnick where the French receiver went off. And they're moving guys around, which they were flipping sides of the field, something that they never do. And that didn't work. I think we tried three different guys on him that day, I believe. It was, I think it was Rugamba, Ojemudia took a shot, and we finally had to move Matt Hankins over there.

I mean, it was it wasn't a magic formula. It was the same play over and over. And that's, to his credit, when he finds something that works, he's going to keep picking at it. He's the only guy that's been able to do

that. Phil does an amazing job of usually uh taking that those things away from teams but he hasn't been successful in doing that with braum so so stop the big plays that's number one number two that too this is obvious trent but win the turnover battle and the four wins that that produce had against us we've had nine turnovers they've had five you know aiden o'connell you watch him play he's going to take some risks he will throw it into some small windows he will do some uh kind of head scratching things he'll throw some 50 50 balls we got to win some of those battles not only stop the big plays from happening but turn the ball over you know aiden o'connell is risky quarterback. We need to pick him off two or three times on Saturday. So at the very least, make it a push in the turnover battle,

and that's Iowa football in general, but pretty simple. They've won the turnover battle, and they've won the games. Very simple, and it's obviously a huge recipe for success for Iowa, winning the turnover battle. Got to do that. Play clean out of Petrus again don't put it on the turf don't throw any interceptions and find a way in those tight windows and I wonder defensively and I'm sure maybe we're going to get into this that game

plan you mentioned against Ohio State more blitzing than we're used to with Phil Parker and it was a lot more man coverage on the outside it was Cooper to Jean Riley Moss you're going to have to play a lot of one-on-one today. And they won a lot of those battles against a very talented, obviously, Ohio State wide receiver group. You wonder if it's going to be a similar game plan for Phil this week. Well, you just hit the nail on the head, Trent. That's why I feel, I wouldn't say confident, but I feel decent going into this game because of Dijon and Moss.

I just think in the past, we've had probably one really good D-back, and Braum has just said, let's just stay away from that guy and go everywhere else. But I think right now, we've got two guys that Phil feels are elite cover corners. And so, it wouldn't surprise me to see him be a little more aggressive with Purdue as he's been in the past. Because I think in the past, he's been hesitant to take too many risks and he's kind of sat back and it's burned him. That wouldn't surprise me.

Number three, Trent, flip to the other side of the ball. This is the most obvious one. This is the most no-duh thing ever, but we need to score more points against Purdue. We talk about it all the time. The magic number for Iowa football is 24. That's especially true when you play Purdue.

Purdue is not a good defensive team. This year they were decent defensively on the year, but they are a mess right now. They've got a lot of defensive injuries. They – I mean, Wisconsin just walked up and down the field on them. Nebraska walked up and down the field on them. They're not a good defensive team. I mean, we talk about that Braum has Phil's number,

but the fact of the matter is, Trent, in the five games we've played them, they've scored with Braum as the head coach 24, 38, 20, 24, and 24. So four of the five times, we've held them to 24 points or less. That should be a winning formula against Purdue. If you can't score 24 points against Purdue, you're probably going to lose because the way Purdue is built, they're going to score their points. This isn't Northwestern. This isn't Rutgers.

We're not going to shut out Purdue. They're going to get their 17 points or more. They do against everybody. So the fact of the matter is can we find a way to get 24? I mean, my lock of the year two weeks ago, Trent, was Wisconsin. And the reason I picked it was because Wisconsin finds a way to score tons of points on Jeff Brown. I'll read you off. This is pretty amazing. In the six games that Wisconsin has played against Jeff Brown, they've scored 49, 17, 47, 45, 38, and 35.

So Wisconsin is not that much different from us when it comes to offensive philosophy. You just need to be tougher than Purdue. They're not a tough football program. Right now they are a mess on the back end. Score 24 points, we're going to win on Saturday. You can lock that up, Trent. We're not giving up more than 24 at Purdue.

So we can find a way to get to 24 or win it. Whether that happens, that's – That's the ask. Yeah, that's the big ask. But those are your three things. I mean, it's not rocket science. Keep them from getting – keep them from big plays. Push or win the turnover battle and score enough to to you know get to 24 points you do those three

things we're we're in good shape on Saturday so you know it's you know if you go into it thinking you got to go into the different mentality I know sometimes we play Northwestern we think you get to 14 we just got you know you can't do that Purdue you got to come out more aggressively and we got to come out thinking you got to score score some points. And if we're up 17-7 towards the end of the first half and you've got a chance with four and a half minutes left, absolutely. It has to be that kind of game. I love that

and really good stuff. All right, Biz, we'll come back. We'll put a cap on things. We've got Biz's beat still to come and our degenerate picks for the week presented by BetOnline. Both of us coming off an 0-3. Well, it can't get worse. We'll see if it gets better. That's as we continue here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast.

Mike, well, he is a Vegas resort concierge. And this is a customer review from our friends at Sweat Block. He was sweating through his suit on the job in less than an hour. Not anymore, thanks to Sweat Block. Mike, he got it done with his problem with Sweat Block. He was sweating through his suit on the job in less than an hour. Not anymore, thanks to Sweat Block. Mike, he got it done with his problem with Sweat Block. The wipes are a must-have for everyone's toiletry bag. Whether it's making a big presentation,

a hot date, everyone can benefit. If you or someone you love is experiencing embarrassing sweat or odor, try Sweat Block. Save 20% with promo code LOCKEDON at sweatblock.com. Also available on Amazon. Biz Sweat Block. Save 20% with promo code locked on at sweatblock.com. Also available on Amazon. Biz has got his. He's

ready to go. He sweats all the time. No hot dates, though, for you coming up, I don't think. No, no. Fortunately, I don't have to worry about dating anymore. My wife has not kicked me in the curb yet. Next year is year 20 of our annual beanbag competition. If it's not sponsored by Sweat Block next year, I'm going to be disappointed, Trent.

You got a year to get that in place. All right. We'll work on that. We'll make it happen. Maybe we'll have custom-designed bags or something like that that'll be available for next year. Year 20 of Floyd Aboner and possibility of going on the road? There are options. We talked about some options.

We missed you last week, Trent. on the road? There's options. We talked about some options. We missed you last week, Trent. It was a beautiful day for not only Hawkeye football, but a beautiful day for Florida Boner as well. It was some quality, quality beanbag effort. Unfortunately, not by my team. No surprise there. We went 0 for the day. Not good.

Two errands have really taken a stranglehold of our competition here as of late. Yeah, any sporting competition where Aaron Anderson, where Beef is taking a stranglehold, that means the rest of us are getting old because that should never happen. Yeah, it says a lot, I think, about our athleticism anymore and what's happening there. Biz, we put a cap on things with our picks this week.

We'll pick the Iowa game against Purdue. Currently 4.5 is the number in that. Of course, the big national game this week. We'll pick the Iowa game against Purdue. Currently four and a half is the number in that. Of course, the big national game this week. It's number one versus number three in the playoff rankings. One versus two in the AP with Georgia, Tennessee and our pick of the week. Let's start at the top with the game of the week. Tennessee, Georgia.

I know what we saw with Tennessee a couple weeks ago against Alabama. It was so much fun up and down the field, the domination we saw. I don't want to say Alabama's broken because we've had maybe those thoughts in the past and obviously it hasn't come to fruition, but Georgia, the way they play defense, the, the just swagger that they can play with in a big game like this. I know it's a big number.

I know I'm laying more than a touchdown currently at eight and a half. I'm going to do it. Give me the Bulldogs. I'm going to lay the points. I disagree, Trent. So, and this is solely from our good buddy, Statboy. He listens to a lot of podcasts. Shockingly, he doesn't listen to just us, but his, one of the podcasts he listened to,

they compared this year's Tennessee to LSU a few years ago because it was a gambling podcast. They said for half the year they kept expecting LSU to cool off. And at some point they had to come back to earth. And they realized it never happened. And they were just a juggernaut of an offense that got better and better. And so they said just ride the Tennessee wave until it doesn't tell bucks you. So that's good enough for me,

Trent, you're going to give a offensive juggernaut more than a touchdown. I don't know if they'll win the game, but I think they'll keep it close. So give me the vols at plus eight or eight and a half, whatever it is now. Yeah. And I,

I definitely can't disagree too much on that one. I think you come up with a solid point there. And we will see that one play out. That'll be the 2.30 game on CBS. Of course, we get 6 o'clock ESPN, Alabama LSU. That one's going to be a lot of fun. That's not my pick, though, for my favorite bet of the week. I'm going to the Big 12 for mine.

TCU, back at home after escaping with the victory against West Virginia last week. That was my best bet of the week. I got ripped off. I'm going back to the well again. Give me Texas Tech. They go up and down the field three different times this year. They've run over 100 plays.

That TCU defense is not good. They give up big plays. Texas Tech certainly can score in chunks there. It doesn't matter. They've had three different quarterbacks this year. All three of them have played at a high level. I'm going to grab the points here. Give me the nine and a half in Texas Tech against TCU. I'm going kind of off the grid a little for mine this week, Trent. As you know, I was in Boise, Idaho earlier this month, or I guess last month now for a wedding

and got to tour the Smurf turf. And at that point, Boise was kind of a team in disarray. They had actually hired, fired their offensive coordinator, their quarterback had just up and quit. Since then they've played really good football and they're, they're kind of rolling. They play a BYU team that is in shambles right now. And that game out there, I did not realize how much Boise State people hate BYU.

They hate them. That is their rival, and they do not like BYU. So teams go in different directions. Playing on the Smurf turf, minus 7.5. Give me Boise State. The Broncos, minus 7.5 against the Mormons. Playing the 7.5 with Boise on the Smurf turf for business. Best bet of the week. We wrap it up with Iowa Purdue four and a half is currently the number.

You haven't jumped on totals as much this year. I mean, you were a total player for a while. Maybe that's going to bring you out of the funk. There's nothing that I see total wise in this game that makes me overly intrigued. I've been playing a lot of Iowa team total unders. Of course that didn't come in last week.

I'm going to be optimistic for once. I'll be the guy. Give me Iowa. I will grab the four and a half in this spot. It is one you got to prove it. Last week was not a mirage. We will see if that is the case there. Maybe this is a hopeful pick more than anything,

but I'm going to take the Hawks this week. We agree, Trent. I actually talked about, we talked about the totals and I thought about, I actually was interested in taking the over in this game. I thought there might be some points scored, but then I saw the weather forecast. Looks like it might be 34-mile-an-hour winds, which I think could only help us because we're already a mess offensively, and hopefully the weather brings them down to our quality. But for me, Trent, this game's simple. We've talked about it in the past. Iowa football has kicked P.J. Fleck's butt. They kicked Scott Frost's butt. When Iowa gets pissed off at somebody, they usually do pretty well.

Well, we talked about last year they needed to find a reason to get pissed off at Jeff Brown. Well, they found that reason. You take Charlie Jones. I've heard some shady other stuff where they were texting recruits in the middle of visits and everything. They've got a reason to hate Jeff Brown now. And not only did the coaching staff have a reason to hate Jeff Brown, you've got a team that has a reason to hate Charlie Jones. They're saying all the right things. Charlie Jones, nice guy. That's a bunch of BS.

You leave. I mean, I don't think anybody blames Charlie Jones for what he did, but there's a way to do things. There's a payback here. I mean, there's a payback here, and I think we're going to see a pissed-off football team. I feel pretty confident going into this, probably too confident. Flip side next week, playing against Wisconsin, I'll have zero confidence whatsoever. I never did against

Wisconsin, but I think this is a game where we go and we send a message this week. I think you're going to see a pissed off football team come out and play some good football. So give me the Hawks plus four and a half. We're both on the Hawks this week. And in the past, that has not been a positive thing. Hopefully that changes here this week. We wrap things up as we do each and every week. It's time for Business Beat. Well, Trent, Business Beat, after watching two different exhibitions, the women's and the men's, I am illogically excited

for the Iowa basketball seasons to begin. You're going to have to talk me off the ledge when it comes to Iowa men's basketball, Trent. I think this is the first time in a long time where we've got a team that's going to be competing for a regular season title. Not saying we're going to win a regular season title. We probably won't. But I think this is a team, especially when you look at the Big Ten schedule, it's pretty doable the first half. I think there's a team that come February is going to be in the race still. I just think for a couple of reasons.

One, I think there's a good team. But two, outside of Indiana, I think every single team in the Big Ten lost at least two starters last year and a lot of them lost four or five. This is a year with some opportunities to be top two, top three, top four in the Big Ten. And I'm, like I said, probably too excited. I just think Franz waited a long, long time to get the team he wants. This is truly the team he wants. He wants a group of 6'8 guys that can stretch the court

and do a variety of different things. And he's got it. So time to put up or shut up. Let's, let's, let's go win a big 10 title this year. So. Had a long time. I've never seen it. And I am 42 years old. We've never even seen, we haven't seen it close. I mean, the last time we were even remotely close was 06. I went up to the barn that year and we were one game out and we got stomped by Minnesota and then we were out of it.

I mean, truly, when's the last time with four games to go in the year we were within two games? I mean, even that. I mean, I'm not asking – realistically, I'm not saying we're going to win the Big Ten title, but, you know, the Big Ten's a grind. If you go 15-5, you're going to have a chance. I think so, yes. Are they going to go 15-5?

Probably not. But can they get to 11-. Are they going to go 15 and five? Probably not. But can they get to 11 and four with, with a month to go and be in it? Yeah, they can. Yeah. I'm with you.

I'm excited about this team. Of course, the women's team is going to be great. I think it's going to be fun. You know how beloved Tony Perkins has been. I had a lot of Tony Perkins stock in halfway through last year. Looks like that was going to be a penny stock that was going to drop out. He didn't start in the lineup.

It was more about Bohannon at the time, but him running the point, his physicality, his athleticism, what he can do. This team now has got three guys that you can count on to defend on the ball. ULIS, when he comes up, kind of that backup role that we saw two years ago. He's a good defender. They're not great on the perimeter speed-wise outside of those guys, but Sanford is 6'9", playing the two-guard. I mean, that's something there.

Connor with his toughness. It's a team that's built a little bit differently. It's going to be a whole lot of fun, and I'm with you. I don't think they're going to be great, but in the Big Ten this year, I don't think you have to be great. Indiana, Illinois, Michigan State, those teams don't scare me the way they have in some past seasons. There's a real chance here for this team. Well, unfortunately, there's no such thing as the freezing cold takes for a podcast, Trent,

because I think midway through the year last year, I was the idiot that said we should stop playing Tony Perkins. I thought he had – I was lost as to what his role was on this team midway through the year. And instead, he has, man, what he's done in 10 months, he's gone from what I thought was a complete offensive liability to potentially an offensive leader. I mean, he's going to be running the show for part of it, and he's certainly, I think he's certainly capable of doing it. Is he going to be a natural point guard? No, but, man, he can do some things.

His confidence is sky high, that's for sure. Bethune Cookman on Monday to get things going. I'll be there, Trent. You got a spread on that one yet? Not yet, but I will be at Circa this weekend. I'll try to get you a look ahead line here, and you can do some early scouting for that one as Iowa opens up the season and a couple of cupcakes before things get really difficult towards the end of middle and end of November. And of course, into December, going to be a fun one. Biz, we'll talk again next week. Appreciate it. All right, go Hawks.