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Iowa will face a challenge in the first two weeks it hasn’t faced in nearly 50 years
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The Hawkeyes have quite the gauntlet to run as they start the 2021 season.
The No. 18 team in the country will be playing 2 ranked teams in a row in their first 2 games, something they haven’t done since 1974.
Iowa is going to learn a lot about itself during the first two weeks of the season.
The 18th-ranked Hawkeyes open with back-to-back ranked opponents for the first time since 1974.https://t.co/tM1HIt8f0w
— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) September 1, 2021
Up first for the Hawkeyes will be their home-opener against No. 17 Indiana, who went 6-2 overall in 2020. They’ll have Michael Penix Jr. back after he tore his ACL towards the late stages of last season. After that, Iowa will travel to play in-state rival Iowa State, who’s No. 7 in the country.
Hawkeyes quarterback Spencer Petras seems excited about this opportunity as it can show that Iowa is for real if they win both games:
“The emotions of it are mostly excitement, to open up with those teams,” quarterback Spencer Petras said Tuesday. “You can’t ask for a better opportunity, to open up the 2021 season at home against a ranked opponent. It’s an opportunity to show what we can do.”
Petras will be looking to build off his 2020 campaign after he had 1,569 yards passing and 9 touchdown passes. Iowa also enters this season on a 6-game winning streak.
Kickoff between the Hawkeyes and the Hoosiers will be at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sept. 4.