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One of the most underrated rivalries in college football will be one of the first games of a full slate of action on Saturday afternoon. The Iowa Hawkeyes and the Iowa State Cyclones will square off for the Cy-Hawk Trophy for the 65th time. Although Iowa is generally regarded as the better school, this series has been even over the last 20 seasons. Each team has won 10 games during that stretch, but Iowa has won the last two quite comfortably.
Watch this regular season Week 2 matchup live on Saturday, September 9, 2017, at 12 p.m. ET
at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa. This game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
College Football Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Iowa -1.5
Iowa State +1.5
Odds Analysis
The trend in this series has been that Iowa State will win the close games and Iowa will win the blowouts. The Hawkeyes have won by double-digits in eight of their last 10 victories in this series, while the Cyclones have done just three times.
Iowa started off the season strong with a win over Wyoming. Many observers put Iowa on upset alert with all the hype surrounding Cowboys quarterback Josh Allen, but the Hawkeyes were able to limit him to just 174 yards through the air and forced two interceptions. Wyoming only mustered three points and that gave the Hawkeyes the cover in a game that went under the total.
Last season, Iowa State began the year with a loss to Northern Iowa. The Cyclones made sure that wouldn’t be the case for a second straight season and cruised to an 18-point victory over the Panthers this year. Oddsmakers thought Northern Iowa had a very good chance in that game, only making the Panthers a 10-point underdog, so the Cyclones picked up the cover.
Player to Watch
Jacob Park was one of the highest-rated quarterbacks out of high school, but it never worked out at Georgia. He just couldn’t see much time behind the other big name QBs present at the school, so he sought playing time elsewhere.
He transferred here in early 2016 and spent the offseason learning under new coach Matt Campbell. Park didn’t start the year, but was the main man for the team’s final four games and put up good numbers.
He was very efficient against Northern Iowa in the opener and will be the key for Campbell’s offense to gain some traction in the coach’s second season. However, if Allen had a hard time completing passes against the defense, Park will likely struggle too.
Key Stat
Iowa had a hard time moving the ball in its first game without CJ Beathard last week. Under Nathan Stanley, the team threw the ball just 15 times even though they didn’t have much success on the ground last game.
The Hawkeyes line was unable to open many holes against the Cowboys defense. They carried the ball just 40 times for 140 total yards, but will be facing a Cyclones front that is very inexperienced along the defensive line.
Free ATS Pick
There’s a lot of bad blood in this series. These two fanbases don’t get along and it will lead to a loud, boisterous crowd.
Although a total isn’t out yet, this seems like a good spot to bet the under. Iowa doesn’t have a good offense, but it’s defense is pretty solid. The Hawkeyes operate at a very slow place, they only ran 55 plays last week, and that’s always a good thing to keep in mind for an under bet.
As for the side, Iowa is the right play. Public perception is that these two teams always play close games, but that has not played out the past two years. Only laying 1.5 is too short and the Hawkeyes should be around a touchdown favorite.
College Football Odds: Hawkeyes 26, Cyclones 18
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