Week one is in the books and vibes were… not ideal. The Hawkeyes took care of business against Albany, but it took a very slow start and the best rushing performance in an opener in 23 years to get the job done.
Excitement levels entering week one had reached a fever pitch with Tim Lester’s improvement on the offense in year one setting the table for optimism we don’t typically see when speaking about a Kirk Ferentz team scoring. Add in SDSU quarterback transfer Mark Gronowski and not only were we expecting
points, we were expecting forward passes.
Enter Lucy and her football.
We did not get points, at least not early on Saturday. And we certainly did not get forward passes. On the day, Gronowski went 8/15 for 44 yards with one TD. He avoided any turnovers and was not sacked (OK, technically he was sacked but if you watched, we all are aware he was not sacked and made a great, Stanley-esque play to throw the ball away), but the performance was anything but inspiring. Gronowski looked rusty and overloaded with nerves.
Now he hits the road to go into a hostile environment in Ames.
With the first road trip comes the first game of the year where Iowa is not favored. After failing to cover the massive 38.5-point spread in week one against Albany, the Hawkeyes opened as 2.5-point underdogs to the Iowa State Cyclones according to FanDuel Sportsbook. With an over/under set at 41.5 total points, that gives an implied final score of Iowa State 22, Iowa 19.5.
The matchup is always a wild one, but this week sets up as another in the series. The Hawkeyes tallied 310 yards of rushing offense in week one, the most in an opener since 2002, led by freshman Xavier Williams’ 122 yards – the most by a freshman in his first game since Shonn Greene. Now that rushing attack heads to Ames where the Cyclones gave up 110 yards on the ground to Kansas State and just 82 yards rushing to South Dakota.
On the flip side, the Cyclones are averaging nearly 247 passing yards per game and have five TDs through the air over their first two games. Iowa gave up just 134 yards through the air to Albany with several of them coming on perfect throws with incredible catches.
The folks in the desert are expecting a close one with points at a premium. That’s on par with recent history. The Hawkeyes and Cyclones have combined to score more than 40 points in El Assico just once over the last six meetings. The average margin of victory in that span has been just over five points. Surely this one won’t come down to turnovers and special teams, right??
Here’s an early look at the details for Iowa’s week one matchup with the Cyclones:
Date: Saturday, September 6th
Time: 11:00 am CT
Matchup: Iowa Hawkeyes (1-0, 0-0) at Iowa State Cyclones (2-0, 1-0)
Location: Jack Trice Stadium, Ames, IA
TV: FOX
Early Weather Forecast: mostly sunny with temps in the upper-60s to low-70s, 5% chance of rain
FanDuel Opening Line: Iowa State -2.5, O/U 41.5
