Iowa Hawkeyes at Iowa State Availability Report: Nwankpa, Stephens Back

It’s week two of the college football season and we’re starting to get into some semblance of a rhythm on game day.

Recall that the Big Ten is now requiring teams supply an availability report two hours prior to kickoff. A week ago, that’s when we officially learned that corner Jermari Harris would be joining defensive tackle Noah Shannon on the sidelines, presumably due to involvement in the ongoing gambling scandal.

This week, we’re a few hours later due to later kickoff, but we’re back at it with another availability report from the Hawkeyes.

The two big ones here remain Noah Shannon and Jermari Harris. We know Shannon is expected to be out all season (pending his NCAA appeal), but the expectation is that Harris will be out this week and back next. He has already been spotted on the sidelines today with the team.

Beyond those two, Jacob Bostick, Reese Osgood and Chris Reames are all presumed injuries and remain on the list for the second straight week. Similarly, starting QB Cade McNamara remains questionable for the second consecutive week. Of course, he played most of Iowa’s week one win over Utah State and is expected to get the start today despite the questionable designation.

A name to call out this week is Beau Stephen’s. Stephen’s was not expected to start last week, but did figure into the rotation on the offensive line. He missed week one with what was described as a bone bruise but is not listed on the availability report today so we may see him added to the mix of 7-8 guys getting reps up front.

Xavier Nwankpa is another notable name that isn’t on the report today. He left week one early with what were presumed to be cramps so there was no real expectation he would miss time this week, but any time a key player exits early it’s worth monitoring.

The only two other names to mention are Jayden Montgomery and Jamison Heinz. Heinz was listed as out last week while Montgomery was questionable. Both are off the report this week so good news there.

As we march toward kickoff in Ames, here’s a reminder of the details on 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.