Iowa at Nebraska Line

Written by Steve Janus - Google +

The Nebraska Cornhuskers will host the Iowa Hawkeyes in a Big Ten showdown between two teams that really don’t like each other. While these two schools haven’t played since Nebraska won 42-13 back in 2000, this figures to be a huge rivalry going forward. While neither team can win the Legends Division, the atmosphere will be as if these two teams were playing for the Big Ten Championship.

Taking a look at the week 13 lines, oddsmakers currently have Nebraska favored by 9.5-points over the Hawkeyes after opening up the line at Nebraska -10.5.

Iowa:

The Hawkeyes put their road woes to rest with a 31-21 win at Purdue this past weekend, and are now 7-4 overall and 4-3 inside the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes have been up and down all season long. They haven’t won more than two games in a row all year, and will finish the regular season without losing two games back-to-back.

In their last game against the Boilermakers, Iowa’s offense racked up 408 yards of total offense. James Vandenberg went 22 of 32 for 273 yards and three touchdowns, Marcus Coker rushed for 139 yards and a score, and star wide out Marvin McNutt hauled in nine passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns.

These three are going to have to step up and really play well if Iowa is going to pull off the upset in Lincoln. Few have been able to slow down the combination of Vandenberg to McNutt. In the last six games they have combined on 45 completions for 754 yards and 8 touchdowns, but they will face a strong Nebraska pass defense that is allowing just 189.7 ypg through the air. Where Iowa figures to really take advantage offensively is with Coker. The Cornhuskers run defense has been suspect all season, and come in allowing just over 203 rushing yards over their last three games.

Nebraska:

Many believed the Cornhuskers would come in and win the Big Ten Legends Division in their first season, and they looked like they were on their way after dominating Michigan State 24-3 at home back in late October. However, Nebraska would lose the following week at home to Northwestern and were just crushed 17-45 at Michigan this past Saturday. The same Michigan team Iowa beat just a few weeks back.

Nebraska kept it close early thanks to a 54-yard touchdown pass from Taylor Martinez to Brandon Kinne, but the offense would struggle from that point on. The Cornhuskers would end up gaining just 260 yards of offense, while their defense got torched for 418 yards and six touchdowns.

Despite the early long touchdown, Martinez would finish just 9 of 23 for 122 yards. He did the lead the team with 49 rushing yards on 16 attempts, but the Cornhuskers managed just 138 yards on the ground, well below their season average of 224 yards.

The offense figures to have an easier time getting things going against the Hawkeyes this Friday. Iowa’s defense has played better of late, but are 61st against the run (153.8 ypg) and 64th against the pass (234.0 ypg). The key for Nebraska will be taking care of the football. Iowa forced four turnovers against Purdue last week, and are 5-1 when they win the turnover battle this season.