Iowa vs. Iowa State Prediction
Will Iowa be able to go on the road and dispatch in-state rival Iowa State when the two meet on Saturday at Noon ET?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, Iowa is the slight favorite on the road, as the Hawkeyes are getting odds of -2.5 points against the Cyclones. The over/under total for the contest is listed at 48 points. Iowa has won and covered the spread in three of the last four meetings with Iowa State. Saturday’s game takes place from Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa and will air live on ESPN2.
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Iowa got its season started with a 24-3 win over Wyoming last Saturday as a 12-point favorite. The Hawkeyes faced a challenge on defense, going up against highly-touted QB Josh Allen of Wyoming, but they had no problems. Allen was just 23-of-40 passing for 174 yards and two interceptions with no touchdowns. Iowa held Wyoming to just 233 total yards. The Hawkeyes didn’t have a great offensive day themselves, but didn’t need to either. Iowa tallied 263 total yards with Akrum Wadley leading the way with 116 rushing yards on 24 carries. Nathan Stanley added 125 passing yards with three touchdowns. Stanley completed only eight passes in the win. Josey Jewell led the defense with 14 tackles and two sacks.
Iowa State opened its season with a 42-24 win over Northern Iowa at home. The Cyclones were a 10-point favorite in the contest. Iowa State put up 405 yards of offense in the win while allowing 378 to the Panthers. The Iowa State defense did force three turnovers, which proved to be important in the contest. One was a pick six by Kamari Cotton-Moya. Jacob Park led the Iowa State offense with 271 passing yards and two touchdowns while Allen Lazard caught eight passes for 108 yards. The leading rusher was David Montgomery, who had 82 yards on 14 carries.
Iowa’s defense seems as if it should be up to the challenge of Saturday’s game. They face a lesser offense than they did last week. The key will be for Iowa’s offense to step up a little bit against Iowa State on the road. Wadley will probably be the focal point and he could grind out a cover for Iowa on Saturday. The trends are good for both teams, but the ones that stand out are the road team being 4-1 against the spread in the last five of this series and Iowa being 17-5 ATS in its last 22 road games. I like Iowa to play with the toughness and grit that Iowa State won’t match.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREDICTION: IOWA -2.5