Iowa at Indiana
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
This Saturday the No.16 Iowa Hawkeyes will look for a big win away from home when they go on the road to take on the Indiana Hoosiers in Big Ten action. Last week the Hawekeyes spoiled Michigan State’s perfect season and National Title hopes with a crushing 37-6 win at home. The Hoosiers are still without a conference win, after losing 20-17 to Northwestern at home last week. If you are thinking about betting on the game this weekend, the current odds have the Hawkeyes favored by 17.5-points over the Hoosiers.
Iowa (6-2, 3-1 Big Ten): The Hawkeyes kept their Big Ten title hopes alive with their win over Michigan State last week. Iowa is arguably the best two loss team in the country, as they very easily could be 8-0.
The Hawkeyes got another big time performance from quarterback Ricky Stanzi, who completed 11 of 15 attempts for 190 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. After throwing a touchdown pass to Marvin McNutt midway through the third quarter, Stanzi and the offense went into cruise control the rest of the way to simply run out the clock. Stanzi now has 1,922 yards with 19 touchdowns to just two interceptions, and with the way this kid is playing the Hawkeyes have a great shot at winning out the rest of the way.
Running back Adam Robinson was also impressive in the win last week, rushing for 69 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, giving him 806 yards and 10 touchdowns on the season.
After a disappointing performance against Wisconsin, the Iowa defense was dominant last week against the Spartans, allowing just 258 yards of total offense and forcing three turnovers, including an interception by Tyler Sash that was pitched to Micah Hyde and returned 66 yards for a score. The Hoosiers offense will test Iowa’s secondary this week, as they come in 8th in the country averaging nearly 313 yards a game.
Indiana (4-4, 0-4 Big Ten): The Hoosiers offense really struggled to get things going against Northwestern last week. Indiana scored 10 points in the first half, but didn’t put any points on the board in the second half until there was just under a minute to go and the game all but over.
With the running game not working once again, quarterback Ben Chappell attempted 54 passes, completing 30, for 308 yards with a touchdown and an interception. It was the fifth time this season that Chappell threw for over 300 yards in a game, but he hasn’t been producing touchdowns in conference play. Chappell has just five touchdowns in four conference games, and three of those came against a poor Michigan defense.
A lot is going to have to go right for the Hooisers to even think about winning this game. The offense is going to have to be flawless and the defense is going to have to play its best game of the season. I think it will be impressive if the Hoosiers can simply keep this game close.
Looking at the Odds: While betting on big road favorites in the Big Ten is not strong play over the years, I think this is one game where you have to give the points and take the Hawkeyes. Iowa’s defensive front is going to put a ton of pressure on Chapell, which should lead to a few interceptions, and defensively I don’t think the Hoosiers have a chance at slowing down the Iowa offense. Iowa is 11-2 ATS in road games over the last 3 seasons, and 16-6 ATS (+9.4 Units) in road games after 2 consecutive games with a turnover margin of +1 or better since 1992. My final score prediction is Iowa 45, Indiana 23.
Got something to say?
