Iowa Defense to Face Biggest Challenge Yet in Week 5

In what felt like to many a make-or-break game for the budding Iowa Hawkeyes' season, they answered the call on the road in a 38-28 win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. After trailing early in the fourth quarter, both sides of the ball turned on the heat to push the Hawkeyes over the line in a by-the-books B1G game; gritty, slow-moving, and won between the margins.

While it was Iowa's offense that stole the majority of the headlines following the win - rightfully so, to an extent - the team's defense, which allowed zero passing touchdowns and managed to snag an interception, is the growing "moral of the story" for a 3-1 (1-0) team looking to compete on a high, conference level.

The Scarlet Knights offense, led by transfer quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis, is easily the best that the Hawkeyes have faced this season on paper. Despite allowing them 28 points, Iowa managed to keep the home team under wraps when it mattered. But their next opponent, the 19-ranked Indiana Hoosiers, are suited to take that crown in immediate succession next weekend.

The Hoosiers, now 4-0, just hosted Illinois on their home field in Bloomington; the Fighting Illini came into the game ranked ninth in the nation. Chalking up a whopping 579 total yards - 312 on the ground, 267 through the air - the Hoosiers downright dismantled the higher-ranked Illini on the national stage. At a final score of 63-10, Curt Cignetti's renewed Indiana team continues to make a case for themselves as a potential conference-winning squad.

The Hawkeyes, looking for the same designation, will undoubtedly face their biggest challenge yet in the process.

For an Iowa team that has made a living this season on their defensive overwhelming opponents, allowing a marginally less explosive offense to make a gradual impact as the game goes on, the Hoosiers unfamiliar brand of aggression will pose all sorts of new questions for the Hawkeyes.

It's an intimidating prospect, but after making a pointed effort last week to force more turnovers, and succeeding, there may not be a better time for the defensive spread to endure such a challenge. By the looks of it, Indiana won't be stopped from scoring; defeating the Hoosiers, something no team has yet accomplished this year, may be more similar to wrapping the wound for a time rather than outright healing it.