Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NCAA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Iowa fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
Iowa Hawkeye football is back! It is finally
game week in Iowa City and boy does it feel like fall. Temps are in the low-70s, the students are back on campus and football is in the air!The Hawkeyes kick off their 2025 campaign with a home matchup against the Albany Great Danes. Albany is
fresh off a 4-8 season in the CAA and comes in with a new face at QB and a new head coach wearing an interim tag.
This is a pay game against an FCS opponent and has all the makings of a good old fashioned rear end kicking. Or at least that’s how it’s supposed to play out. The Hawkeyes have a history of letting these things look uglier than they’re supposed to and many an Iowa fan has the cardiovascular damage to show for it.
But that was under a different offensive coordinator and oftentimes with worse quarterback play. We’re now entering year two of the Tim Lester experience and heading into year one of a power five quarterback room.
So what exactly should we be expecting from the Hawkeyes this week? FanDuel Sportsbook has the Hawkeyes as 37.5 point favorites early in the week with an over/under now at 50.5 total points. That implies a final score of Iowa 44, Albany 6.5. Is that realistic?
The average margin of victory in Iowa’s last five season openers has been just 15.6 points. That includes an asterisk back in 2020 when the Hawkeyes opened their season in late October on the road at Purdue and fell 24-20. You could also put a smaller asterisk on the following season when Iowa opened at home against then #17 Indiana and Michael Penix, Jr. They throttled them 34-6, but still a bit of a different scenario than hosting Albany.
The Hawkeyes haven’t topped the implied 44 points in an opener since 2016, when they took down Miami (OH) 45-21. Last year’s 40-0 opening win over is the first time they would have cleared that 37.5 spread since their 46-3 win over Maine in the opener back in 2008.
Iowa is 4-1 against FCS opponents over their last five matchup, which date back to 2014. That stretch includes a 31-23 win over UNI in 2014, a 23-21 loss to North Dakota State in 2016, a 38-14 win over UNI in 2018, a 7-3 win over South Dakota State (and QB Mark Gronowski) in 2022, and last year’s 40-0 blowout of Illinois State in the season opener.
So our Reacts question for week one is simple: can the Hawkeyes actually cover the big 37.5 point spread against Albany? Vote below and give us your thoughts on the final score prediction in the comments below!
