Good Cop

By Noah Rohlfing

Iowa State is due for a win over Iowa and that win’s going to come Saturday.

Iowa is in their traditional four-year lull between 10-win seasons, and Iowa State has possibly their best team since Paul Rhoads’ 2011 edition. 

Iowa beat Wyoming 24-3 last week, but there were plenty of signs for optimism for the Cyclones to take from that game. The Hawkeyes only managed 263 yards of offense, and only had 125 passing yards. With a new quarterback and almost no depth at wide receiver, the Hawkeyes shouldn’t pose a threat through the air. 

The Cyclones, on the other hand, had 271 yards passing last weekend in a great offensive display. While Iowa is certainly a better defensive team than UNI, I’m confident in Jacob Park’s ability. If he can fare better than Josh Allen of Wyoming (174 yards), and connect with Allen Lazard and Hakeem Butler in the process, Iowa State should be in good shape.

Now I’m not saying it’ll be easy, because Iowa is still a pretty decent football team. What I am saying is that Iowa State wins in a nail-biter.

Prediction:

ISU 27, Iowa 24

Bad Cop 

By Garrett Kroeger

OK Cyclones, you proved me wrong. You were able to beat the lowly UNI Panthers. However, now you get to play vastly superior Iowa Hawkeyes.

Before I went to Jack Trice last Saturday, I caught a glimpse of the Iowa football game. The Hawkeyes looked 10 times better than the Cyclones did.

Last Saturday, Iowa faced a potential top-10 pick on Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen. The Hawkeye defense forced two interceptions out of Allen and held him to 174 yards on 40 pass attempts with zero touchdowns. Imagine what they will do to Iowa State signal caller Jacob Park. Here’s a hint: They will absolutely devour him.

While the Cyclone offense will struggle against the Hawkeye defense, the Iowa State defense will face its own problems in Iowa running backs Akrum Wadley and James Butler.

The Cyclone front seven did not impress me against UNI. The Panthers were still able to break off some big runs. 

Wadley and Butler are two of the Big Ten’s best backs. Both of them ran for 1,000 yards last season. These two backs will give Iowa State nightmares on Saturday.

Come Saturday at 11 a.m. at Jack Trice, the Cyclones will take the field and face-off against their in-state rival. But once the final whistle blows, Iowa will show why Iowa State is the true fake I.D. of college football.

Prediction:

Iowa 34, ISU 17