Iowa and Iowa State will meet again, with both teams starting the season one-zero. Iowa State’s first week was underwhelming but that can change going up against Iowa. Let’s see the NCAAF odds.
Saturday, September 11, 2021 – 04:30 PM EDT at Jack Trice Stadium
There’s only one Iowa team with momentum coming into this game. Iowa State struggled, yet again, against Northern Iowa, only winning 16-10. Meanwhile, Iowa defeated 17-ranked Indiana, 34-6 and looked extremely bright on the defensive end. The Cyclones probably need to stop playing Northern Iowa. It seems like Iowa State just can’t figure out the Northern Iowa defense and they’ve struggled to score against them every time.
It truly makes no sense as Iowa State, coming into the season, were ranked seven in the nation and expected to make a real push at the Big 12 Championship. Brock Purdy is still the quarterback at Iowa State and went 21-for-26 with 199 yards passing. He didn’t throw for a touchdown and made more of an impact rushing the ball.
Returning along with Purdy is running back Breece Hall, a junior rusher who broke out last season. Against Northern Iowa, he was for 69 yards on 23 attempts, which is an average of just three yards per carry. That’s not what we saw last year from Hall. The offense secured 17 first downs and 335 yards and while it was enough to get the win, it was an underwhelming performance to say the least.
The defense played well holding Northern Iowa to just ten points though. They forced four turnovers with two fumbles and two interceptions and had two sacks with five tackles for losses. Iowa State’s running game needs to improve like it did last year and it starts with the blocking up front. Against Northern Iowa, the offensive line struggled and that’s unacceptable in non-conference, non-power five play.
The Hawkeyes, on the other hand, looked fantastic on defense. But in reality, the offense wasn’t that great. Sure, they put up 34 points against Indiana, but nobody is trusting Spencer Petras at quarterback. Petras is seriously going to be considered as one of the worst Big Ten starting quarterbacks. He went 13-for-27 against Indiana and threw for just 145 yards and no touchdowns. Petras is lucky the Hawkeyes have a running game. Tyler Goodson ran for 99 yards in 19 attempts, averaging 5.2 yards per carry.
Iowa is going to rely on their run game and defense because when they’re down and need big plays, Petras won’t be clutch and make plays happen. The Hawkeyes showed off fantastic coverage against Indiana and have a solid rush defense as well. Indiana clinched just 11 first downs and had a total of 233 yards on offense all night. That’s major respect to Iowa’s defense.
Who would you trust more in this spot. Brock Purdy at quarterback for Iowa State or Spencer Petras at quarterback for Iowa. It’s as clear as night and day to me. Petras will not be able to lead Iowa to many wins this season. Iowa State has just as good, if not better defense than Iowa and Iowa State will be the better offense when all is said and done this season.
The pass blocking was terrible from Iowa last week against Indiana and Petras is just terrible when it comes to consistency and completing passes. Therefore, for my NCAAF picks, I’ll roll with Brock Purdy and Breece Hall to help score enough and win this ball game. I trust this Iowa State offense way more. I’d agree with the game going under as well but I’m confident in the Cyclones bouncing back after a weird performance against Northern Iowa.
NFL Pick: Iowa State -4.5 (-110) with BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.