The need to know
What: Iowa vs. Ball State
Where: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City
When: 11:00 AM
TV: BTN

Injury report
Out: Jewel Hampton (torn ACL), Bruce Davis (torn ACL), Jason White (sprained knee), Paki O'Meara (concussion)
Questionable: Daniel Murray (hip flexor)
Very Probable: Marcus Coker (collar bone)

Keys to the game
Clean up special teams: This is a no brainer. Iowa lost last week largely because of its terrible special teams play. Ball State has been excellent thus far on special teams. The Cardinals rank 7th in the country in kickoff returns, while Iowa's kick coverage is 5th worst. Ball State is 10th in net punting and their kicker has made all five of his field goals inside of 30 yards (though he's missed all 4 longer than 30). I don't need to go into how bad Iowa's special teams have been...they just need to be better.

There's no big analysis today with the stats today...I'm letting the number speak for themselves.

Iowa Offense vs. Ball State Defense

Category	Iowa O: Stat	Iowa O: Rank	Ball State D: Stat	Ball State D: Rank	Advantage
Rushing Yards	161.00	56	149.00	64	-
Passing Yards	246.00	36	196.00	56
Passing Efficiency	164.30	12	132.80	84	+
Sacks	3.0	97	1.00	98	-
Total Yards	407.00	50	345.00	62	-
Scoring	33.00	39	20.33	48	-
Turnovers	1.00	15	2.33	19	-
3rd Down Conversion	47.37	30	55.26	113	+
Red Zone %	83.33	58	100.00	99

I started writing this up yesterday morning, but got distracted and then had a busy day. I was back on Iowa's campus though, which I always enjoy, for an IT career fair. Anyway, now this injury update is coming out kind of late and it pushes back my schedule for other posts. I'll try to get up some kind of preview, probably with statistics, on Ball State tomorrow, then it's game day.

The loss to Arizona was hard to swallow, but was not the worst thing to come out of that game. Kirk Ferentz confirmed on Tuesday during his weekly press conference that Jewel Hampton has injured his knee and will almost certainly miss the rest of the season. Bruce Davis, also with a knee injury, is also most likely out for the year and Paki O'Meara could miss this week's game out with a concussion.

In case you haven't heard, ESPN is sending SportsNation on a mini Big Ten Tour this week. Today the crew will be in Iowa City shooting live from Hubbard Park from 3:00 to 4:00 this afternoon. Fans are definitely encouraged to show up. If you aren't in the IC area, you can watch the show live on ESPN2 or check it out tonight at 11:00 PM also on ESPN2. Kirk Ferentz is schedule to make an appearance at some point as well.

Here's the info from the press release:

ESPN2’s SportsNation to Tour Big Ten Universities, Originate Live from Campuses

BRISTOL, Conn. – (Sept. 15, 2010) – ESPN2’s SportsNation will take its act on the road Monday, Sept. 20 through Thursday, Sept. 23, televised live 4 to 5 p.m. ET, from the campuses of University of Wisconsin, University of Iowa, University of Michigan and Penn State. In addition to airing on ESPN2, a SportsNation Big Ten segment will appear on all episodes of ESPN’s SportsCenter that week.

The ESPN2 program co-hosted by Colin Cowherd and Michelle Beadle incorporates user-generated polls and games based on the days’ leading sports news into a fun, interactive show. Each episode aired live on campus will feature polls and games involving the respective host university’s football program along with special guests.

“The Big Ten conference has some of the most rabid fans in all of college football and having their intensity on set is going to take the show to a crazy new level,” said Cowherd. “I know that our show has a huge following of college kids and I’m fired up to get the chance to be face to face with them.”

Beadle said, “I’m used to feeding off the energy of our in-studio crowd but this is going to be a whole new ball game. The feel of a live college football game combined with the always passionate Big Ten students will be parallel to none.”

Ray Hamilton
W Strongsville 42 - Hudson 14 | (2-2)
Strongsville won its second game in a row routing Hudson. Hamilton turned in another big night catching 9 passes for 109 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Next Game: vs. Lakewood - 09/24

Austin Blythe
W Grinnell 7 - Williamsburg 42 | (4-0)
Williamsburg continues to roll as the top ranked team in its class. They scored 28 points in the second quarter and the game was never really in question. You can see Blythe blocking on a number of plays in this KCRG highlight video (Blythe is #77).

Next Game: at South Tama County - 09/24

Austin Vincent
L Round Rock Stony Point 46 - DeSoto 29 | (3-1)
DeSoto scored on 3 of its first 4 possessions but was unable to keep up with that pace eventually falling to Stony Point. DeSoto threw for 339 yards, but had 3 interceptions. No mentions of Vincent were found.

Next Game: at NOAH Homeschool - 09/24

Jake Duzey
L Athens 40 - Royal Oak 7 | (1-2)
I couldn't find much on this game other than the score, but I did find that Duzey had 6 catches for 83 yards.

Next Game: vs. Rochester - 09/24

Riley McMinn
W Rochester 13 - Sacred Heart-Griffin 10 | (3-0)
Rochester ended Sacred Heart's 59-game winning streak in conference games on Friday. The Rockets started the game well and were about to hold off Sacred Heart at the end of the game to preserve the 3-point victory. McMinn has a ton of quotes in this article, but there was no mention on how he played.

Next Game: vs. Taylorville - 09/24