It’s Hate Week and game day is officially here!
The Hawkeyes are in Ames to square off with the Iowa State Cyclones as they look for revenge after the Clones came to Iowa City and and took home the Cy-Hawk Trophy a season ago. That win marked the second straight for Iowa State inside Kinnick Stadium after a stretch of five straight Hawkeye victories in the series. The Hawkeyes, however, have still won six straight in Jack Trice with their last road loss in the series coming in a 44-41 defeat back
in 2011.
Coincidentally, that win in 2011 in Ames was the beginning of the last time the Cyclones won back-to-back games in the series (2011-2012).
A season ago, Iowa was able to overcome abysmal QB play (starter Cade McNamara completed just 13 of 29 passes for 99 yards with a pair of interceptions) on the back of All-American RB Kaleb Johnson, who rushed for 187 yards and 2 TDs, to hang with the Cyclones until the final seconds. But then-freshman Kyle Konrardy shrugged off an earlier miss to drill a 54-yard field goal with 6 seconds remaining and seal a victory for Iowa State.
As we turn to this matchup, there are myriad new faces on both sidelines. The Hawkeyes have an entirely new QB room and Johnson is now in the NFL. So too are the stud WRs that came up with big plays for the Cyclones in 2024’s matchup. But Iowa State returns QB Rocco Becht and Konrardy’s shadow looms over the Hawkeye faithful looking for redemption on the road.
The Cyclones enter the day ranked #16 in the nation after they started their season with a win in Dublin over then-#17 Kansas State. While that one was a bit ugly at times and tight most of the way through, they followed it up with a dominant win over South Dakota in Jack Trice in week one, moving to 2-0 on the young season.
That’s in contrast to Iowa, who struggled to create separation early against UAlbany in week one and never really found anything at all in the passing game.
The Hawkeyes opened as 2.5-point underdogs in this one, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. That has climbed to 3.5 points in favor of the Cyclones, while the over/under has remained steady at 41.5.
The weather looks absolutely beautiful in Ames for an early September Saturday.
As we countdown to kickoff, here’s everything you need to know about today’s matchup.
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
Updated Weather Forecast: Sunny with temps in the low-60s, and NO RAIN
Updated FanDuel Line: Iowa +3.5, O/U 41.5
