Iowa City, Iowa ? The crowd will be large and hostile, the opponent tough and seasoned.

It’s just what the Arizona State Sun Devils figure they need right now.

No. 16 Arizona State (2-0), which has been sloppy in beating Utah State and Division I-AA Northern Arizona, faces a far more challenging task in tonight’s game at No. 18 Iowa (3-0).

If nothing else, the setting should jar the Sun Devils out of their lethargy.

“There is no excuse not to get into this game,” ASU quarterback Andrew Walter said. “With 60,000 screaming fans yelling for their team, nobody expects us to win.

“To me, this is what college football is all about. The guys better be ready, because it’s coming one way or another.”

Arizona State had trouble running in a 34-14 victory over Northern Arizona and had a slew of problems in a 26-16 win over Utah State.

A running back fumbled the ball out of the end zone, the Sun Devils twice failed to score from the 1-yard line and a potential touchdown pass was dropped.

“We can’t have turnovers period,” Walter said. “The sloppiness against a team like Iowa won’t work. To score first would be a good way to start off.”

Walter is talented enough to make up for deficiencies. He threw for 3,877 yards and 28 touchdowns last year and has completed 57 percent of his passes for 501 and six TDs this year, with just one interception.

A 6-foot-5, 221-pound junior, Walter will work against an Iowa defense that gives up ground — 209 passing yards a game — but keeps teams out of the end zone. The Hawkeyes have eight sacks even though they usually rush only four and have outscored their opponents 117-31.

They haven’t seen anyone as good as Walter, though.

“He’s extremely accurate, very decisive, very quick getting the ball out of there,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “It’s going to be tough to get to him or pressure him. He’s just an outstanding performer.”

Iowa has been just so-so on offense and will play its next three games without wide receiver Maurice Brown, who has caught 14 of the 31 passes the Hawkeyes have completed. No one else has more than three receptions.

“We got a little bump in the road here with Mo going down. But that’s football,” Ferentz said. “That’s the way the game shakes out sometimes. We’re not going to cry about it.”

Arizona State coach Dirk Koetter said the Hawkeyes are dangerous even without Brown because they still have running back Fred Russell, who’s averaging 5.7 yards a carry, and an offensive line that includes a potential first-round draft choice in 6-7, 321-pound Robert Gallery.

“I think Fred Russell is a star,” Koetter said. “I think for us the key is to stop their running game or it’s going to be a long day.”

Koetter is trying to operate a running game with five tailbacks vying for playing time. That group includes Iowa City native Hakim Hill, who led the team with 57 yards in 12 carries against Utah State.

Iowa did not offer a scholarship to Hill, whose brother, Kahlil, was a wide receiver for the Hawkeyes. Hakim Hill had a criminal record in high school that included a sexual assault charge.

“He has been looking forward to this game a lot,” Walter said. “This is his hometown and he wants to show everyone that he has matured a lot.”