Pat Fitzgerald appears to realize that Saturday’s Big Ten matchup between Northwestern and Iowa isn’t exactly the game of the year.
His Wildcats have lost their last six games since opening the season with an upset over Nebraska in Ireland. Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes are on a three-game losing streak and haven’t scored an offensive touchdown in their last two contests.
Per SB Nation’s Inside NU, Fitzgerald joked about proposing an unusually early start time for their encounter.
“I requested to the Big Ten that we played this game at 6 a.m,” Fitzgerald said.
The game will instead start at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
After falling to Maryland, Fitzgerald expounded on his team’s struggles.
“It’s hard when things aren’t going your way,” he said. “You just gotta shut that nonsense out. Our program has never been stronger than it is today. We just gotta do our job and win games.”
Don’t expect much scoring on Saturday. Northwestern has averaged 18.6 points per game this season, a mediocre number actually ahead of Iowa’s 14.0. Most sportsbooks have the over/under line at 36.5 or 37.
Despite Fitzgerald’s wishes, loyal fans tuning into the matchup won’t have to wake up at dawn to see Northwestern and Iowa collide at Kinnick Stadium.