After months of waiting it’s just about that time of year, football season is finally here.

With what many would consider an eventful offseason for the Iowa Hawkeyes with the departure of Senior QB Jake Rudock transferring to Michigan and the loss of several top linemen to the NFL, but expectations are still low for the Hawkeyes.

After a disappointing 7-5 regular season and a blowout bowl loss to Tennessee in the  Taxslayer Bowl, Kirk Ferentz needs a good season to revitalize his tenor at Iowa. With the transfer of Jake Rudock there is a new era at the QB position in CJ Beathard at the helm.

The lightning to Beathards thunder comes in a Senior wide receiver Tevaun Smith from Ontario, Canada. Smith is one of the most underrated wide receivers in the B1G and can be known for breaking the New York Giants Odell Beckham Jr’s world record for one-handed catches in a minute. Last season Smith’s numbers lacked as he only had 43 catches for 596 yards and three touchdowns, but the Hawkeyes offense wasn’t better than Smith.

The run game should also improve despite losing two senior offensive tackles. For the first time since Mark Weisman became a running back the Hawks have a real back with Jordan Canzeri and another great rushing attack with LeShun Daniels Jr and Akrum Wadley rotating in as well. Canzeri brings a different kind of attack out of the backfield as he doesn’t have just one strength. Canzeri had the best average yards per carry between him and Mark Weisman in 2014 as he averaged 4.8 yards but he also had no touchdowns.

Defensively the Hawkeyes may have one of the most underrated set of Linebackers in the B1G.

With Bo Bower emerging as a leader on the defensive side of the ball his Freshman year, he should continue to lead a large set of talented young Linebackers. Bower had 38 total tackles in 2014 including a sack and had 2 interceptions. Redshirt Sophomore Josey Jewell also became a leader of the young Hawkeye defense last season leading all returning Linebackers with 51 tackles and added a sack.

The defensive line should have no problem despite losing Defensive Tackles Carl Davis and Louis Trinca-Pasat as raw egg eating Senior Defensive End Drew Ott returns with help from other Defensive End Nate Meier.

The Iowa Hawkeyes may have a hidden gem in their defensive backfield, led by Junior Desmond King. King had three interceptions last season including an interception returned for a touchdown as well as 64 total tackles. Despite losing last seasons leading tackler John Lowdermilk the safety position should be solid as Jordan Lomax returns and will hope to help Sophomore Miles Taylor become a solid defensive back and a leader for several years to come.

The Hawkeyes have a fairly easy schedule this season with the exception of a couple of road games specifically playing in Madison, WI vs the Wisconsin Badgers and in Lincoln, NE vs the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The key for this season for Kirk Ferentz must be to spark some sort of excitement surrounding Iowa football and stop the mediocrity that has been the last three seasons. The biggest problem that occurred last season is that the offense just wasn’t there, which can be solved by possibly upping the tempo.

It should be a good season for the Hawkeyes with a key win coming on the road vs Nebraska, winning back the Hyvee Heroes Trophy as well as the Cy-Hawk Trophy and The Floyd of Rosedale.

My Predictions:

Record: 9-3

Offensive MVP: Tevaun Smith

Defensive MVP: Tie between Drew Ott and Desmond King

Special Teams MVP: Kicker Marshall Koehn

Awards: Drew Ott, 1st team All-B1G, Tevaun Smith, 2nd team All-B1G