Iowa Hawkeyes vs Eastern Illinois Panthers Football Preview

Expectations are high at Iowa, which reached a BCS bowl last season. Ohio State and Iowa staged an overtime thriller last November in Columbus, and the Buckeyes – though wobbly – eked out a 27-24 decision in a de-facto conference championship collision. The narrow three-point loss to an elite foe was a stomach punch for the close-but-not-quite Hawkeyes, who want to climb to the very top of the Big Ten.

With that story of heartbreak in mind, the Hawkeyes’ march to possible Rose Bowl glory starts Saturday against Eastern Illinois, with the Kinnick Stadium Kids ranked 16th in the FCS coaches’ poll.

Ricky Stanzi returns at quarterback for Iowa.  Adam Robinson will be the starter at running back, as Jewel Hampton will miss the game due to a suspension.  Brandon Wegher is likely to miss the entire season for unspecified personal reasons.

The Hawkeyes’ offensive line has to rebuild after losing three starters, but head coach Kirk Ferentz has expressed optimism about their development.  Derrell Johnson-Koulianos and Marvin McNutt are established contributors at receiver.

Iowa returns eight starters from its outstanding 2009 defense, including outstanding defensive ends Adrian Clayborn and Broderick Binns, and safeties Tyler Sash and Brett Greenwood. Binns is suspended and will miss this game.

Iowa’s three losses on defense were all standouts: linebackers Pat Angerer and A.J. Edds, plus cornerback Amari Spievey. However, all the returning dynamos on this defense will be very effective. Few defensive coordinators throughout the nation are better than Norm Parker, the longtime mastermind of Iowa’s ferocious defenses. As long as Parker is there to coach up that side of the ball, the Hawks will be in very good shape going forward.

It has to be said, though – before you get too comfortable or overconfident in relationship to this game – that Iowa needed two blocked field goals to defeat Northern Iowa, another FCS opponent, in last season’s opener. Now, Iowa finds itself in the same spot: opening against an FCS power again this year. Ferentz’s club can’t expect to always play close to the vest and prevail.

What’s also worth noting as we head into Saturday is that Sophomores Micah Hyde and Greg Castillo are listed on the Iowa depth chart as the team’s starting cornerbacks. Shaun Prater doesn't appear on the depth chart after dealing with a leg injury in camp. Prater hasn't been officially ruled out for the Eastern Illinois game, but he’s just not likely to play on Saturday

Also on the depth chart for the Hawkeyes, James Ferentz is listed as the starting center, a spot where Iowa might be a little thin following Josh Koeppel's motorcycle accident on Aug. 30. While the aforementioned Broderick Binns is suspended for the opener, so Christian Ballard is listed as a possible starter at both end and tackle. Mike Daniels and Lebron Daniel are widely viewed as the next options behind Ballard.

Eastern Illinois is one of the top teams in the FCS, but it will be breaking in a new quarterback on Saturday, redshirt sophomore Brandon Large.  Leading returning rusher Mon Williams will miss the game with a knee injury for EIU.

> More 2009 College Football Previews from CollegeSports-fans.com