Under 44 (-110)
We ride with Joe Public on this one, as of Friday 80% of the tickets were on the under (I hate it). But I can see why, Iowa failed to hit the 44 mark in all but 2 matchups last season (1 against Ohio St) behind their defense holding opponents to 14.2 pts/game (ranked 3rd). Even more important than strong defense is their slow play, averaging 59.2 plays/game and contributing to their opponents scoring just .199 pts/play (ranked 1st*), best in the business. For reference, Utah St averaged .314 pts/play (ranked 101st). They also ran the ball 57.17% of the time last year which should help get minutes off the clock.
Other notes:
Neither team was very successful converting on 3rd downs
Utah St - 34.41% (ranked 101st)
Iowa - 28.3% (ranked 126th) 🤢
Utah St only scored on 76.67% (ranked 108th) of Redzone trips (something Iowa defended well) & only making 70.59% of their field goals (ranked 89th)
Cade McNamara now holds the reigns for the Hawkeyes and will look to spark the offense but I don't see Coach Ferentz getting to far away from their style, which he's been there doing for 100 years.
Go Defense!
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