Northwestern at Iowa Line

Written by Steve Janus

The Iowa Hawkeyes get ready to host the Northwestern Wildcats in a matchup between two Big Ten teams searching for their first conference win. Iowa fell to 3-2 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten with a 3-13 loss at Penn State last week. The Wildcats jumped out to a 24-14 halftime lead against then No. 12 Michigan, but wound up losing the game 42-24. The loss dropped Northwestern to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten. The Wildcats have won five of the last six meetings between these two schools, including three straight at Kinnick Stadium.

Taking a look at the week 7 college football spreads, oddsmakers currently have Iowa favored by 6-points over Northwestern with the total set at 54 points.

Northwestern Wildcats:

The Wildcats have really struggled to close out games. They come into the game against Iowa having lost three straight, despite being tied or in the lead at half. The last two losses have been very painful for Northwestern fans. The Wildcats blew a 28-17 4th quarter lead at Illinois followed by a devastating loss against Michigan. In the Wildcats three losses they have been outscored 42-14 in the final period of play.

Starting quarterback Dan Persa will try and get the Wildcats on the board with a big win this week. Persa started his first game of the season against Illinois, completing 10 of 14 for 123 yards and four touchdowns. He followed that up by going 32 of 44 for 331 yards against Michigan, but had no touchdowns to one interception. Look for the senior to continue to get more comfortable in the offense as the season goes on.

While Persa carved apart the Michigan secondary, the Wildcats rushing managed just 107 yards on the ground. They did manage to score three rushing touchdowns, but came into the game averaging nearly 208 rushing yards a game.

Northwestern should be able to move the ball against a Hawkeyes defense that is giving up 387 yards a game. While the Hawkeyes held Penn State to just 13 points, they allowed the Nittany Lions to rush for 231 yards.

Iowa Hawkeyes:

The Hawkeyes were simply outmatched on both sides of the ball last week against Penn State, and were lucky to even be in the game as long as they were. Iowa managed just 253 yards of total offense.

Iowa had come into the game averaging 28 points and nearly 281 yards passing behind junior quarterback James Vandenberg. The passing game was no where to be found against Penn State, as Vandenberg finished just 17 of 34 for 169 yards with two interceptions.

The Hawkeyes got 74 yards on 18 carries from starting running back Marcus Coker, but just couldn’t string together enough big plays to get into Penn State territory and put points on the board.

The good news for the Iowa offense is they face a Northwestern defense that has been torched for 80 points and 1,014 yards of total offense in their first two Big Ten games. The Wildcats have been especially vulnerable to the pass, giving up 391 passing yards to Illinois’ Nathan Scheelhaase and 337 passing yards to Michigan’s Denard Robinson. Not exactly two quarterbacks who are known for putting up those kind of passing numbers.

Betting Trends:

Northwestern is 17-4 ATS in their last 21 games as a road underdog of 3.5-10.0.

Iowa is 30-12-1 ATS in their last 43 games following a S.U. loss.

Be sure to stop back and check out what Steve Janus has to offer in week 7 of college football. Steve is 18-4 over his last 32 NCAAF plays, which has him ranked No. 8 on the college boards in 2011!

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