Iowa Football: Hawkeyes Open as Favorites at Iowa State

The Iowa Hawkeyes kicked off their 2023 campaign with a bang, as RB Kaleb Johnson returned the opening kickoff to the Utah State 39 yard line. Two plays later, Cade McNamara’s first pass as a Hawkeye found fellow transfer Seth Anderson for a 36-yard TD pass.

For Iowa fans, it was euphoria - the type of start we’ve dreamed of for years. While the first half as a whole was largely a positive, Iowa fizzled out into the second half and it was hard to feel much beyond letdown with the 24-14 week one result.

Now it’s time to flush game one and embrace the hate as we turn to week two and Iowa’s first road trip of 2023. The Hawkeyes travel to Ames to take on the Iowa State Cyclones in week two.

The Cyclones are fresh off a 30-9 win over Northern Iowa in their season opener. More importantly for Hawkeye fans, they’re fresh off their first win in the Cy-Hawk series in seven years.

But that was last year and this is this year. And despite the stalling second half offense and questions on both sides of the line, the Hawkeyes opened up as favorites to take down the Cyclones on the road this week.

DraftKings Sportsbook opened the line at Iowa -4 on Sunday. In the early goings, DraftKings has yet to publish an over/under total points, but based on what’s out there at some other operators within the state, expect this one to be even lower than the 43.5 total points for Iowa’s week one matchup with Utah State. Notably, the Hawkeyes and Aggies were safely on the under.

The Hawkeyes and Cyclones are set to kick off at 2:30pm CT on Saturday. This week’s game will be televised on FOX. The preliminary forecast looks like lots of sunshine with temps in the low-80s.

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