– The oddsmakers have Iowa as 13.5 point favorite in the game on Saturday. That spread is absolutely ridiculous to anyone who knows anything about these two teams. I have watched both games these teams have played and I really think these two teams are pretty even. Let’s see how they breakdown position-by-position and see if this spread makes any sense. I am only going to include players that are likely to play on Saturday.
OFFENSE
Quarterbacks – ISU (Meyer) vs Iowa (Tate/Manson)
Advantage: ISU
Comments: If Tate was healthy I would have it even, but Tate is not 100%.
Running Backs – ISU (Hicks/Johnson/Scales/Kock) vs Iowa (Young/Sims/Busch/Davis)
Advantage: Iowa
Comments: Iowa has a stable of Running Backs, I think Sims has looked more explosive then Young.
Tight Ends – ISU (Nickel/Barkema) vs Iowa (Chandler/Moeaki/Majerus)
Advantage: Even
Comments: There will be several good tight ends in Iowa City on Saturday.
Wide Receivers – ISU (Blythe/Davis/Flynn/Sumrall/Hamilton) vs Iowa (Grigsby/Davis/Brodell/Douglas)
Advantage: ISU
Comments: The Cyclones have the three best receivers on the field.
Offensive Line – ISU (S Fisher/Brant/Zehr/Schmeling/Stephenson/P Fisher/Stephens) vs Iowa (Richardson/Jones/Eubanks/Elgin/Yanda/Olsen)
Advantage: Even
Comments: ISU and Iowa both have a good mix of veterans and talented youngsters on the line.
Overall Offense – ISU vs Iowa
Advantage: Slight Advantage Iowa State
Comments: ISU has a huge advantage at WR and Iowa has a big advantage at RB. The rest of the positions are fairly even. With Tate not quite 100% I will give ISU a slight advantage.
DEFENSE
Defensive Ends – ISU (Parker/Moorehead/Dale) vs Iowa (Iwebema/Mattison/Kanellis)
Advantage: Iowa
Comments: I give Iowa the edge because they are deeper. Parker and Moorehead usually play the entire game while Iowa can rotate.
Defensive Line – ISU (Curvey/Frere/Rubin/Braaksma) vs Iowa (King/Kroul/Ewen/Bain)
Advantage: Even
Comments: Curvey and King are standout players, both teams have decent depth.
Linebackers – ISU (Carper/Bowen/McKenzie) vs Iowa (Humpal/Klinkenborg/Miles)
Advantage: Even
Comments: If Klinkenborg doesn’t play, I would give Iowa State a slight advantage. My thoughts and prayers are with the Klinkenborg family.
Cornerbacks – ISU (Jackson/Singleton/Johnson) vs Iowa (Shada/Godfrey/Fletcher)
Advantage: ISU
Comments: Deandre Jackson tips the scales in favor of Iowa State.
Safeties – ISU (Banks/Berg) vs. Iowa (Paschal/Merrick)
Advantage: Iowa
Comments: Paschal was laying the wood last Saturday.
Overall Defense – ISU vs. Iowa
Advantage: Slight Edge to Iowa
Comments: Iowa has huge advantage at safety with Paschal and Merrick. ISU will need big games from their defensive stars (Curvey and Jackson) to even out the advantage.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Kicker – ISU (Culbertson/Griebahn) vs Iowa (Schlicher/Signor)
Advantage: Iowa
Comments: I think Shaggy and Schlicher are pretty even but ISU has been poor on kickoffs and coverage.
Punter – ISU (Brandtner) vs Iowa (Fenstermaker)
Advantage: Iowa
Comments: Fenstermaker is an experienced Senior and Brandtner will be playing his first collegiate road game.
Return Units – (PR Baum / KR Jackson/Flynn/Williams) vs Iowa (PR Brodell / KR Greene/Sims)
Advantage: ISU
Comments: Baum has been awesome on PR and Jackson was one of the best KR in the Big 12 last year.
Overall Special Teams – ISU vs Iowa
Advantage: Iowa
Comments: This is an area that Iowa State will need to improve on this week if they are going to beat Iowa. The Cyclone special teams have made too many mistakes the last two weeks.
OVERALL – I would give Iowa a slight advantage for two reasons: home field advantage and special teams. The X factor will be turnovers. If ISU can win the turnover battle then they have a good shot at winning this game.
This breakdown was fun to do but Bret Meyer and Drew Tate won’t be lining up across from one another. A more accurate way to breakdown the game is to do it position group vs position group. I will have a full breakdown on www.isuisu.com by the end of the night (Wednesday). Click on Cyclone Update – ISU @ Iowa for the full story.
You are an idiot.