Good Cop

Jack Shover

Against Iowa, Iowa State faces a team that is significantly different from the team of last year.

Gone are the likes of studs like Josh Jackson, Akrum Wadley and Josey Jewell, but Noah Fant, Amani Hooker and a deep defensive line will anchor a solid Iowa team this fall.

Notice how I didn’t mention quarterback Nate Stanley. From what I’ve seen, Stanley is one of the most hot-and-cold quarterbacks in the country. On his best days, he will lead the Hawkeyes over the likes of then-No. 6 Ohio State. During that game, he went 20-for-31 with 226 yards and five touchdowns en route to a 55-24 win.

At his worst, he will go 8-for-24 with 41 yards and one interception in a 38-14 loss to Wisconsin. Those two games were one week apart.

Stanley has shown a tendency to stare down his read over the middle of the field and has displayed spotty accuracy on throws to and down the sideline. Last week, he threw an interception against Northern Illinois on one such throw.

In addition to spotty quarterback play, the Hawkeyes had struggles last week in their linebacker play.

Last year, Iowa was anchored by All-American Jewell and two other veteran linebackers. This year, Iowa has a completely new starting unit and it showed last week against Northern Illinois.

While Iowa’s defensive line was able to plug up holes and dominate the point of attack for the majority of the game, when a seam did appear Iowa’s linebackers often weren’t able to correctly read the play and resulted in them sometimes stepping to the wrong side of the formation leaving the defense vulnerable.

If Iowa State’s offensive line is able to get running back David Montgomery enough space to reach the second level of the defense, Montgomery will be able to expose Iowa’s linebackers’ poor play to the tune of at least 120 rushing yards.

Prediction:

Iowa State 28

Iowa 17

Bad Cop

Spencer Suckow

Can you really call it a rivalry if the result is the same pretty much every time?

As much fun as it is to crack jokes at the expense of the University of Iowa (especially during Cy-Hawk week), we have to face facts: the Hawkeyes own the Cyclones on the gridiron.

Iowa is 43-22 all-time against Iowa State, and 3-0 in the last three years. Up until last year, former Hawkeyes quarterback Ricky Stanzi had as many bowl wins in his career (three) as the Cyclones had in their history. I’m not even going to mention “the streak.”

There’s plenty of statistics you can point to, but they all say the same thing: Iowa is the superior team in this rivalry. Honestly, if it weren’t for geography, the Hawkeyes would have no reason to even care about the Cyclones. As it stands, Iowa State is probably second to Nebraska on Iowa’s hatred hierarchy.

Last year, coach Matt Campbell tried to inject some life into this rivalry by dismissing Iowa as “The Team Out East.” It worked so well that Iowa State promptly gave up 44 points to the Hawkeyes and blew a 10-point, fourth-quarter lead to lose the game in overtime, proving that karma is real and it hates the Cyclones.

As for this year, I don’t see things changing. I correctly predicted last week that Iowa State wouldn’t win, and I expect the team’s winless streak to extended to two games after Saturday.

Iowa’s defensive ends are too strong and skilled for Iowa State’s offensive line and potential first-round pick Stanley, who threw five touchdowns in last year’s Cy-Hawk game returns at quaterback for the Hawkeyes. Not to mention, Iowa has a full week of game experience Iowa State doesn’t have, meaning “the Team Out East” has had a chance to shake off its early season rust.

Oh, and the game is in Iowa City, where the Cyclones have won twice in the last 15 years. Good luck with that.

Prediction:

Iowa State: 17

Iowa: 27