Iowa Hawkeyes vs Iowa State Cyclones Game Center

It wasn’t always pretty, well, actually it was never pretty. Like, at all. But Iowa came away with a week one victory over South Dakota State 7-3. No, there were no touchdowns by the offense, but the Hawkeye defense outscored the Jackrabbits by itself.

Now Iowa moves on to a week two showdown with in-state rival Iowa State. The Cyclones are fresh off a 42-10 thrashing of Southeast Missouri State in their season opener and are sure to be confident entering Iowa City this weekend.

Here’s an early look at what you need to know about this week’s matchup.

Date: Saturday, September 10th
Time: 3:00Pm CT
Matchup: Iowa State Cyclones (1-0, 0-0) at Iowa Hawkeyes (1-0, 0-0)
Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, IA
TV: BTN
Preliminary Weather Forecast: sunny with temps in the upper-70s, 20% chance of rain
DraftKings Opening Line: Iowa -3.5, -180 ML, O/U 41.5

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

History

Saturday’s matchup will be the 69th such meeting between the Hawkeyes and the Cyclones. Iowa holds the all-time series lead 46-22. The Hawkeyes enter the weekend riding a six game winning streak. While it has been six straight wins for Iowa, it’s actually been seven years since the Cyclones got a win in the series as the 2020 matchup was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The current winning streak of six games is the second longest is series history. The longest streak came from 1983-1997 when the Hawkeyes won 15 straight under legendary head coach Hayden Fry. Iowa State’s longest winning streak in the series came from 1998-2002 at the beginning of the Kirk Ferentz era for Iowa. The Cyclones won five straight in that period under head coach Dan McCarney.

Ferentz holds a 13-10 record against Iowa State during his 23 seasons as Iowa’s head coach. He faces off Saturday against Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell who is 0-5 during his season seasons in Ames.

Preseason Prep Work

As we march toward kick off, be sure to check out our preseason preview for this week’s matchup. There’s loads of important details and unique looks at this week’s opponent, including this great set of stats:

37% of Iowa State’s 2021 production returns: They turn over a lot of guys, especially when compared to Iowa’s 76% mark, which puts 106 teams between them in the linked rankings. While there are some reasons to be skeptical of that mark - would you rather return 100% of Spencer Petras & Alex Padilla’s production or 0% of Brock Purdy’s - it indicates just how much work may be ahead of Campbell in getting his group up to speed.

45 starts: The difference in consecutive starts ISU’s presumed starting quarterback, Hunter Dekkers, will have vs his predecessor, Brock Purdy, at 46. The 46 is about as much continuity as one program can have at the quarterback position in today’s NCAA football.

29 sacks: The career number for edge rusher, Will McDonald...

That last one is likely the biggest concern for Hawkeye fans. Iowa’s offense is clearly in focus entering week two and while the Hawkeyes always look to establish the run first and foremost, allowing quarterback Spencer Petras to set his feet and make clean throws is a focal point looking to the remainder of the season.

Iowa’s offensive line was a proverbial revolving door in week one and McDonald could single-handedly destroy any hopes of success in the passing game week two.

Staff Prediction: Iowa Win, 70% of the vote

Fan Prediction: Iowa Win, 87% of the vote

BizarroMath Prediction: Iowa State 24.74, Iowa 21.23 (ISU -3.51); 44.37% chance of Iowa win

Stay tuned all week as we dive deeper on the players, matchups and stats to know as the Hawkeyes face off with the Cyclones.