Iowa Football: Hawkeyes Open as Favorite Against Iowa State in Week 2

The Iowa Hawkeyes looked like a caricature of what we all expected in week one. The defense was expected to be very good, they were great. The special teams was expected to be very good, they were great-ish outside an early botched FG attempt from Aaron Blom. The offense was expected to be very meh and it was putrid.

Despite the historically bad offense, the Hawkeyes were able to escape the week with a 7-3 victory over the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. That put the game very firmly under the DraftKings Sportsbook over/under of 42.5 total points and the Jacks comfortably covered even as the line moved quite a bit throughout the week.

Things opened at Iowa -16.5 before falling to -14.5 heading into the weekend. But Iowa fans woke to a major move on Saturday morning as the line fell all the way to -10.5 before we learned definitively that star receiver Keagan Johnson would miss the game. It made no matter as getting to 10.5 points total seemed like an insurmountable climb, let alone trying to top that as a differential.

Now we turn the page to week two and Iowa’s matchup with the Iowa State Cyclones. Iowa’s in-state rival opened up the season with a 42-10 win over Southeast Missouri State. The Cyclones come into Kinnick in week two looking to stop a six-game losing streak to the Hawkeyes. Notably, Iowa State’s last win in the series came in Iowa City 8 years ago in 2014.

Despite the struggles for Iowa in week one, Vegas is still on the Hawkeyes this weekend. Iowa opens as a 3.5 point favorite in this one according to DraftKings. That line will be interesting to watch as money surely pours in on the Cyclones.

As of this writing, there is no over/under available. Whatever it opens at will surely be too high based on what we saw in Kinnick in week one. And based on the movement we saw ahead of that week one matchup, Hawkeye fans looking to hedge their happiness should move quickly to place their bets.

Kickoff for this week’s matchup between Iowa and Iowa State is set for 3pm CT. The game will be broadcast on BTN.

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.