What Should the Iowa Hawkeyes Hope to Gain Against Northern Iowa?

Iowa's final matchup of the nonconference slate comes against Northern Iowa, which presents an opportunity for the Hawkeyes to get everything right.

Sep 15, 2018; Iowa City, IA, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz reacts during the game against the Northern Iowa Panthers at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

After a week of preparing for your bitter in-state rival and coming out on top with a win, the Iowa Hawkeyes turn the page to another program residing in Iowa: the University of Northern Iowa Panthers.

The game plan and thought process entering this game is a bit different than last week, though. Northern Iowa is an FCS foe coming to Kinnick Stadium as Iowa tries to fine-tune everything before Big Ten play begins.

As Iowa works through its final kinks, what should the Hawkeyes really hope to get out of this matchup?

Iowa's goal in this game are different

Yes, of course, the first and most important, goal of this game is to pick up the win and move to 3-0 on the season. Getting through the nonconference slate unscathed is a goal, but one that is more of an expectation.

This isn't to anoint this game a win, but the Hawkeyes have some other goals in this game that they would like to work through. Iowa was far from perfect against Iowa State and could use this game to get right.

Iowa needs to look cleaner on offense. Against Iowa State, things were clunky and hard to get going. Now, there is some credit that has to go to the Cyclones for a good defensive game plan, but every Big Ten team is going to have a plan against Iowa. How do they respond?

This game should serve as an opportunity for offensive coordinator Tim Lester and George Barnett to anticipate looks they could see the rest of the year and self-scout themselves with how they would counter those looks by working in new wrinkles on offense.

The defense has goals of depth

Iowa's defense is looking extremely stout up to this point, but there is the matter of staying healthy and staying fresh with the meat of the schedule approaching. This game is an opportunity to manage that in two ways.

First, Iowa could find itself in a situation to get some of the starters out of this game to preserve their health and get them ready to go for Big Ten play, which opens on the road at Michigan.

Secondly, Iowa should have the opportunity to rotate some depth pieces and get them experience in game action, which is nearly impossible to replicate at practice.

The Hawkeyes are going to have to call upon depth at times this season down the stretch, and every single live rep they can steal in games like these only helps when that time comes.