Iowa football: 5 things I want to see from the Hawkeyes against Illinois

Iowa’s once-promising season has come crashing to a halt after a three-game losing streak ruined a 6-1 start. There’s only two games left now, so a good finish starts with Saturday’s game at Illinois (3:30 p.m. ET; TV: Big Ten Network).

The Hawkeyes are looking for a big finish and the best bowl game possible. Here are five things I want to see from Iowa this weekend at Illinois:

1. Stay together — and motivated — after 3-game losing streak

Three straight narrow losses can wear a team down, both physically and emotionally. But there’s been no finger-pointing or tantrums, and the attitude has been good this week as they get back to work. That’s a good sign. “Today, we had such a good practice. The tempo is good,” Iowa right tackle Tristan Wirfs said Tuesday. “Everyone’s kind of getting back to having fun. Everyone’s been a little tense.” It’s an experienced team, so that attitude is refreshing. “It’s good to see the team staying together, and not falling apart,” senior Ross Reynolds said.

2. Get the disappointing running game going

The Hawkeyes are only averaging 3.8 yards per carry this season, which is downright unacceptable. Toren Young, Mehki Stewart and Ivory Kelly-Martin have split carries, but none of the three have been exceptional. No one has even reached 500 yards yet on the season, with Young leading the way at 480. Illinois is last in the league in defense, so this is the game where that needs to change. A day of 200 yards rushing should be possible, and a long gain would really be nice. Iowa hasn’t had a single run over 40 yards all year.

3. Make a difference on special teams

Iowa hasn’t had a lot of big plays this season, but when they do, Izmir Smith-Marsette is usually involved. He has had five kickoff returns of 40 yards or more, and the Hawkeyes have had only 15 just impact plays all season. Some more of that on Saturday would certainly help. “Before I go out there,” Smith-Marsette said, “I tell myself, ‘This might be the one that goes to the house.’”

4. Get some positive vibes flowing again in the passing game

Iowa quarterback Nate Stanley hasn’t been as accurate lately and the offense has struggled a good bit because of it during this three-game losing streak. We’ve talked a lot all week about getting tight end Noah Fant more involved, and we’ll have to see what happens. In any case, the Fighting Illini have the league’s worst defense, so this is a day to get everything back on track. It would be nice to see 40-plus points again, especially after scoring only 10 against Northwestern last weekend. Illinois has given up 38 points or more — often way more — in seven straight games.

5. See the nasty side of this Iowa defense again

This proud unit can also take plenty of the blame for the losing streak as well, and it’s been even more surprising that we’ve seen struggles on this side of the ball. You have to be careful with this Illinois team. They can score some points, usually out of necessity since their defense is so bad. They’ve scored 31 points or more in three straight games against Maryland, Minnesota and Nebraska. Keeping them under 20 on Saturday would be a worthwhile goal to have. That will start with a good pass rush so Iowa’s freshman cornerbacks aren’t so exposed.

Tom Brew

Tom Brew has been a recognized reporter in Big Ten sports for decades. Among other projects, he writes about Big Ten football for Saturday Tradition.