Utah at Iowa State
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
This Saturday the 10th-ranked Utah Utes will head to Ames, Iowa to take on the Iowa State Cyclones, who are coming off a huge upset win over Texas Tech, where they rolled the Red Raiders 52-38 at home. It is the second straight win for the Cyclones, but grabbing their third straight will be no easy task. Utah is a perfect 4-0 on the season, including their big overtime win over Pittsburgh earlier this season. While the oddsmakers are calling for the Utes to win on the road, they don’t think it will be a blowout, as the current college football odds have Utah favored by 6-points over Iowa State.
Utah (4-0, 2-0 MWC): We will find out a lot about this Utah team on Saturday. If they go into Iowa State and struggle, then they likely aren’t a top 10 team at his point in the season. This is the first real road test for the Utes this season, as I don’t count the road win at New Mexico much of a challenge. Utah has been very good in their last three games on both offense and defense, as they have scored 150 points and allowed just 27. The competition hasn’t been all that good, but they are dominating these teams, which is a good sign for the rest of the season.
Last week against San Jose State the Utes got Jordan Wynn back at quarterback, as he was forced to sit out the previous two games with a thumb injury. Wynn looked pretty good in his first game back, throwing for 124 yards and two touchdowns on 14 of 18 passing. The running game has also been strong to start the season, as Eddie Wide and Matt Asiata have combined to run for 397 yards and five scores. While the offense looks good, the key in this game will be the defense, if they can slow down the Iowa State offense they are going to win this game easily.
Iowa State (3-2, 1-1 Big 12): I was very impressed with the way the Cyclones came to play last week against the Red Raiders. The Cyclones exploded for 24 points in the second quarter, but did allow the Red Raiders to score twice in the final minute before half. Texas Tech managed to tie the game at 24-24 after three quarters of play, and it looked as though the Cyclones were done for, but Iowa State went off for 28 fourth quarter points to secure the win. It was the first time the Cyclones scored 50 points in a game since 2002.
Quarterback Austen Arnaud was outstanding in the win, as he threw for 190 yards and four touchdowns on 20 of 28 passing. The Cyclones also had a big day on the ground, as they rushed for 251 yards as a team. Alexander Robinson and Shontrelle Johnson combined for 205 of those yards with two touchdowns. While the Cyclones came away with the win, I was not all that impressed with the defense, as they gave up 508 yards of total offense and repeatedly allowed the Red Raiders back in the game. To their credit they did create 3 turnovers, but they are going to have to play much better this week if they want to upset No.10 Utah.
Looking at the Odds: As good as Iowa State looked at home last week against the Red Raiders, I don’t think you can take them this week against a very good Utah team. The Utes understand they have to take the Cyclones seriously and I believe they possess a much better defense than the one Texas Tech put on the field last week. The Cyclones defense is still not very good and the Utes are going to put points on the board. This is simply not a good matchup for the Cyclones. My final score prediction is Utah 35, Iowa State 24.
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