North Dakota vs Iowa State Prediction College Football Picks 8/31/24

The North Dakota Fighting Hawks and the Iowa State Cyclones meet in week 1 college football action from Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday afternoon. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a North Dakota vs. Iowa State prediction.

North Dakota Team Preview

The North Dakota Fighting Hawks come into the 2024 season to build on a decent 2023 campaign where the Hawks finished 7-5 overall but ended their season prematurely with a first-round FCS playoffs loss to Sacramento State. The Hawks still have to choose between Trey Feeney, Simon Romfo and Jerry Kaminski for the starting QB job, but whoever does, gets a top receiver in Bo Belquist who comes in with preseason all-conference first-team honors after logging 66 receptions for 772 yards and 6 touchdowns.

Gavin Ziebarth and Luke Skokna make up a solid 1-2 punch in North Dakota’s backfield after combining for just under 1,000 yards last year. On defense, Wyatt Pedigo is the name to keep track of, as the Hawks’ linebacker and all-MVC second-teamer led the Hawks in tackles, forced fumbles and fumble recoveries last season.

Why the North Dakota Fighting Hawks will win

• Iowa State has lost each of its last three games against non-conference opponents.
• Iowa State has failed to cover the spread in five of its last six season openers.

Iowa State Team Preview

The Iowa State Cyclones come into the 2024 campaign looking to take a step forward after a better-than-expected 2023 season where the Cyclones went 7-6 overall including 6-3 in Big 12 play. The Cyclones fell short in the Liberty Bowl against Memphis by a final score of 36-26. Rocco Becht is back as the solidified QB1 of the Cyclone offense, finishing the year with 3,120 yards, 23 touchdowns and 8 interceptions on 62.9% passing, which includes 446 yards in the bowl game and 10 TDs to just 1 interception over the final 4 games of the year.

Abu Sama returns at running back after logging 614 rushing yards and over 7 yards per carry while Jaylon Jackson transfers in from Eastern Michigan to provide some depth. The other good news for Iowa State is that all their top receivers are back, including Jayden Higgins, who had over 18 yards per reception last year and Jaylin Noel, who led the Cyclones with 66 receptions and 7 TDs.

On defense, JR Singleton and Domonique Orange make up the defensive tackles and Joey Petersen and Tyler Onyedim are on the ends while Caleb Bacon and Jack Sadowsky make up a formidable tandem at linebacker. Myles Purchase is back at corner for Iowa State after finishing 3rd on the team with 56 total tackles while Jeremiah Cooper comes back after logging 5 interceptions with 45 tackles and Beau Freyler had a team-high 107 tackles and 3 picks of his own.

Why the Iowa State Cyclones will win

• Iowa State has won each of its last six games against non-FBS teams.

North Dakota Vs. Iowa State Prediction

I’m on the under in this one. I want to take the Hawks and the points, but the quarterback situation for North Dakota has me a bit uneasy as they say when you have three quarterbacks you don’t have one quarterback and whoever sees the bulk of the reps is going against a stout Iowa State defense. On the other side of the coin, Iowa State’s not known for their offensive prowess even with a fair share of weapons, and I just think this game’s going to be a slog for 60 minutes. Give me the under.