Iowa Football vs. Northwestern: Updated Game Line and Weather Forecast

We’re less than a day away from Iowa’s week two matchup with the Northwestern Wildcats and Hawkeye fans everywhere are anxiously waiting to get the taste of last week’s frustrating loss out of their mouths. Northwestern, meanwhile, is fresh off a 43-3 pounding of Maryland and their fanbase is waiting to see if that was more a function of a strong Wildcat team or hot garbage in Maryland.

Weeks ago, when local sports books released the early line for this one, the Hawkeyes were 14-point favorites. No Iowa fan in their right mind would be expecting such a line now.

Since then, the line opened at 2.5-3 in favor of the Hawkeyes at most books and has hovered in that same area. The one place we’ve seen some movement has been on the over/under. This one opened up around 48 most books and is now down to 46.5 and as low as 45.5 in some places.

Matchup: Northwestern (1-0) at Iowa (0-1)
Location: Kinnick Stadium - Iowa City, IA
Time: 2:30pm CT
TV: ESPN
Weather Forecast: 55 with 50% chance of rain, winds 10-15 mph
Game Line: Iowa -2.5
Over/Under: 46

Regardless of the line, weather shouldn’t be a factor. It’s unfortunate we can’t have fans in the stands this week as it’s shaping up to be an absolutely beautiful day in Iowa City. Around game time, temps should be north of 60 degrees without a drop of precipitation in site, a far cry from the snow in town a week ago.

Image via AccuWeather.com

That’s about as nice of a late October afternoon forecast as you can hope to get. The one caveat here is there is a chance at some pretty gusty winds. With a warm front moving through this late in the year, that’s to be expected, but it could perhaps factor in to the kicking game and maybe even QBs making deep throws, but with the way both teams ran last week that may not matter.

Let’s hope the Hawkeyes can take advantage of the beautiful weather (ex-wind) and manufacture points better than they did a week ago.