The Iowa Hawkeyes and Minnesota Golden Gophers face off on Saturday in a college football showdown in the battle for the Floyd of Rosedale at Huntington Bank Stadium. Iowa has won the last seven games over Minnesota.
Iowa comes into this game with a 6-4 record overall and they have gone 6-4 against the spread. Iowa has had some issues this season, but they are playing better as of late. In the last game against Wisconsin, the defense gave up only 10 points, and that led to the 14 point victory. The offense scored 24 points, but the offense still didn’t look that great. Quarterback Spencer Petras completed 14 of his 23 passes for 94 yards. Iowa is averaging 17.9 points while their defense is giving up 13.9 points per game. The defense is ranked 5th in the league and is going to need to be good here.
On the other side of this matchup is Minnesota who sits with a 7-3 record and they have gone 6-4 against the spread. In the last game against Northwestern, the defense again was lights out, and that led to the 31-3 victory. Athan Kaliakmanis was under center again in the last game and he completed 7 of his 13 passes for 64 yards. The star of the show is Mo Ibrahim and in the last game, he finished with 178 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. The Gophers are averaging 30.6 points while their defense is giving up 13.1 points per game. The defense is the 4th best in college football. The big question for the Gophers is who will start at quarterback. Kaliakmanis has started the last two games because Tanner Morgan has been out with an upper-body injury. It’s unclear if Morgan will be able to play in this game.
Iowa is 4-1 against the spread in their last five games. The Gophers are 7-1 against the spread in their last eight games. The favorite is 4-0-1 against the spread in the last five meetings played between the two teams.
This is going to be the game where the Gophers finally get the Floyd of Rosedale back. Iowa has been winning games, but Spencer Petras still has struggled to move the ball, and the Gophers defense is going to lockdown. Ibrahim is going to have a big game here for Minnesota, and the Gophers will get the job done. Back Minnesota against the spread.