Iowa Hawkeyes at Iowa State: Game Thread

It’s here! Game day is here and now game time is here!

And we didn’t schedule the game thread for the wrong time! What a great start we’re off to.

Anywho, the Hawkeyes are set to face their first true test of the season and it comes in their first road game of 2023. Week one saw a hot start and then a whole lot of turtling as Cade McNamara appeared to tweak his injured quad and Brian Ferentz went back to being Brian Ferentz. The Hawkeyes managed just 2.4 yards per carry for the entire game and that is not a winning number.

Contrast that with the Cyclones, who got up early on Northern Iowa and then stepped on their throats. New starter Rocco Becht wasn’t asked to do much, throwing just 13 total passes, but he ended the day with a pair of TDs and a 100% effective completion percentage. That’s.... not bad.

Now both teams will see how the new-look offenses stack up when they face a real defense. For Iowa, there was a noticeable dropoff defensively from a year ago. That was exacerbated by the pre-game loss of corner Jermari Harris. Can the Hawkeyes bounce back in week two and overcome the Cyclones? Or Iowa State use a combination of stifling defense and just enough offense to out-do the Hawkeyes for a second straight year?

We’re about to find out!

Here’s a quick reminder on the details for today’s matchup:

Date: Saturday, September 9th
Time: 2:30 pm CT
Matchup: Iowa Hawkeyes (1-0, 0-0) at Iowa State Cyclones (1-0, 0-0)
Location: Jack Trice Stadium - Ames, IA
TV: FOX
Streaming: foxsports.com/live
Updated Weather Forecast: mostly sunny with temps in the low-80s, 10mph winds
DraftKings Sportsbook Line: Iowa -4, O/U 36.5

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

It’s been a few months, but remember to play nice in the comments. No personal attacks, no politics, keep the language somewhat in check and please, report any spam bots that show their digital faces.

Go Hawks!