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IU’s Tom Allen has great respect for Iowa program: ‘You have to beat them physically’
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One of the spicier matchups around the B1g for Week 1 is Indiana-Iowa. Both programs had exceptional seasons in 2020 as they finished 2nd in their respective divisions and both only had 2 losses by the end of the season.
Hoosiers head coach Tom Allen recognized how good the Hawkeyes are during his media session on Monday and how tough they’re going to beat come Saturday.
Indiana's Tom Allen on Iowa: "You have to physically beat them. They don’t beat themselves very often. … There’s a toughness to their program that sticks out."
Says Hoosiers are trying to model that annual consistency under his leadership.
— Chad Leistikow🆑 (@ChadLeistikow) August 30, 2021
These 2 schools haven’t played in 3 years and this matchup figures to be a lot closer than the one in 2018. The Hawkeyes crushed Indiana 42-16 that season and also beat them 35-27 in 2015.
Having Michael Penix Jr. available in this game could go a long way towards the Hoosiers pulling out the victory. Allen said earlier on Monday that he’s a full-go even though he’s coming off a torn ACL from last season. Before he got hurt, he had 1,645 yards passing with 14 touchdowns to 4 interceptions.
Kickoff for this matchup will be at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sept. 4 and it’ll be televised by the Big Ten Network.