Here we go, everyone – Floyd. Floyd is back on the line. You remember the last time Floyd was on the line in Iowa City? Surely you do. Surely.
Let’s check the weather quick. It looks like a palatable weekend, with highs Saturday in the high 50s. It’s expected to be cloudy all day with winds out of the southeast at 10 miles per hour. Not bad at all.
Back to Floyd. I’ve had limited exposure to Minnesota this year outside of their 24-6 win over Nebraska on October 17 and their 27-14 loss at Cal on September
13. I can’t recall much from the Cal game – I was at a wedding that night and by the time I watched any of that at a random bar in Fort Collins I was pretty well crispy by then.
I did catch most of the Nebraska game and came away impressed as Minnesota jumped into a 7-team logjam in third (Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Oregon, UCLA, and USC all sit at 3-1 in league play entering the weekend). The Gophers looked physical, well-coached, Darius Taylor is a good running back, and they had a monster game defensively with 9 sacks. They imposed their will on Nebraska and slowly choked them out. Sounds awfully similar to how Iowa likes to play with Kirk Ferentz.
Except this particular Iowa team actually feels potent themselves, physical, has a stable of running backs, and possibly the best offensive line in the league. They do a lot of the same things Minnesota does, only slightly better. They have one of the best rushing attacks in the league (5th in the league in rushing yards, 5th in yards per carry, 4th in rushing touchdowns) and the defense is 4th in yards allowed (just under 4 yards per game behind Oregon in 2nd).
The line for this game started at Iowa -7.5 and now sits at Iowa -8.5. Seems high for a game that’s been close for most of the last decade – Iowa’s won three by blowout in 2024, 2020, and 2018, but otherwise the margin of victory has been 2, 3, 5, 4, 7, 7, and 5 dating back to 2015 – but I think Iowa is just a better team overall. They have a better roster, the game is in Iowa City…I’m taking Iowa to win this and cover, 24-10. Floyd stays warm in Iowa City for another winter.
Date: Saturday, October 25th
Time: 2:40 pm CT
Matchup: Minnesota Golden Gophers (5-2, 3-1) at Iowa Hawkeyes (5-2, 3-1)
Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa
TV: CBS
Updated Weather Forecast: Cloudy with temperatures in the mid 50s at kickoff
Updated FanDuel Line: Iowa – 8.5, O/U 39.5
