The Iowa State Cyclones had a lot of optimism coming into the season under new head coach Matt Campbell, but there were questions marks surrounding an offensive line that only returned one player with experience as a starter. That concern ended up being a very real fear in the season opener, as the Cyclones could get nothing going on the ground and dropped a contest to small-school Northern Iowa.
The road gets tougher now as they face off against the Iowa Hawkeyes in Week 2 of the regular season.
This contest in Week 2 of the regular season will go down on Saturday, on September 11th, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. ET at Kinnick Stadium.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
Iowa -15
Iowa State +15
Over/Under 51
Odds Analysis
Even though the Hawkeyes are big-time favorites, the betting public is still behind them. Sixty percent of the wagers are going to Iowa to cover the spread.
The “under” is the more popular choice for the scoring total, but that could even out as the week goes on as it seems like a solid line. There isn’t going to be a ton of scoring between these teams but they could approach the over-under.
Matchup to Watch
Iowa State will have no shot at pulling the upset if its running game doesn’t get fixed. Starter Mike Warren compiled only 30 rushing yards on 12 carries in the opener and the team put up only 51 in 25 attempts.
It forced quarterback Joel Lanning to do too much, and while he threw for 256 yards and three touchdowns in the 25-20 loss to Northern Iowa, he also tossed two interceptions. The Cyclones need to be balanced if they want to win this game, which will be a tall task considering the talent gap.
Key Player
Akrum Wadley. On the other side, the Iowa ground game dominated in its 45-21 win over Miami of Ohio to start the season. Wadley, the standout running back, had 12 carries for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
He will aim to keep that up, but it’s impossible for Iowa State to key only on him as the Hawkeyes had another star performer last week. LeShun Daniels, Jr. added 10 carries for 83 yards and two more scores.
The Iowa State defense wasn’t the issue in the loss to Northern Iowa but it will certainly be tested by this talented duo in the Hawkeyes backfield.
Free ATS Pick
Iowa is a big favorite in this showdown, and if it can grab the victory it would be its third win in the past four years. The Hawkeyes captured last year’s matchup by a score of 31-17.
Quarterback C.J. Beathard threw for 215 yards and three touchdowns in that one and he is back. Beathard isn’t going to put up huge numbers but hopes to take care of the ball and help put his team in advantageous situations throughout the contest.
Iowa leads this rivalry series 41-22 all-time and has all the pieces in place to add another victory. At the end of the day football can be a simple game, and the fact that the Cyclones can’t run the ball and the Hawkeyes can makes a huge difference.
Iowa should be able to dominate the line of scrimmage which should result in an easy victory and one that will cover this large spread. The Hawkeyes have high goals this year and they are not going to be derailed by a cross-state rival.
College Football Odds: Iowa 34, Iowa State 14
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