They'll still win 8-9 games. I've seen this movie before. Petras or his backup will improve, their OL will improve, they'll get a few WRs back. And then they'll punt and intercept their way through the pillow fight that is the B10 West. Keep it close, wait for the mistake and kick a FG to win. That's how they've done it for years. B10 teams for the most part do not know what to do when their run game is stuffed. Outside of Purdue anyway.
McCarney beat iowa by making them cover in space. He knew that he couldn't just line up and run it down their throats. I hope that our coaches have learned that lesson by now. That's one thing that I like so far about Dekkers...he seems pretty calm back there and isn't going to run around trying to make something happen and gift them a turnover. If he throws a bad pass and it gets picked, that's fine, but just don't get all rattled and play crazy.