Penn State @ Iowa (Week 8 Preview & Prediction)
Penn State (4-2) travels to Iowa City for a night game against the (4-2) Hawkeyes. The Lions are fresh off a bye following a come from behind victory over Northwestern who was previously undefeated. The Hawkeyes are back home off an impressive double overtime road win 19-16 at Michigan State as an (8) point underdog which I called on this page last week! Coach O’Brien has really done a solid job in his first year at PSU considering all the adversity they have had to overcome. After an ugly home loss to Central Michigan the Hawkeyes are off to a 2-0 conference start as well which includes a home win over Minnesota.
The Lions are getting good play out of senior QB Matt McGloin as he has passed for (1,499) yards but more importantly (12) touchdowns and only (2) interceptions and is completing passes at a clip of (61%). The main weapon for McGloin in the passing game has been super sophomore Allen Robinson (41) receptions for (524) yards and seven scores. The ground game is paced by RB Zach Zwinak who has registered three straight (100 yard) performances.
The Hawkeye attack has been led by RB Marc Weisman (631) yards rushing but he was sidelined with an ankle injury late in the fourth quarter last week. The Hawks will look to true freshman Greg Garmon and the return of Jordan Canzeri (knee) to carry the load this Saturday night. Senior QB James Vandenberg will have to take on more responsibility in the pass game as yards will be tough to come by in the run game. WR Keenan Davis has emerged as planned at flanker and junior TE CJ Fedorowicz could be counted on heavily in the intermediate passing game.
Penn State @ Iowa -3 (Betting Prediction)
Penn State is riding high with a four game win streak intact. The Hawkeyes will be backed by a raucous home crowd as kickoff is set for 7pm central a rare night game in Iowa City. The home team has owned this series of late going 4-1 ATS over the last five. Penn State is 3-8 ATS in the last eleven contests in this rivalry. There is one decided advantage and that is in the kicking game where Iowa’s Mike Meyer is 14/15 on FG conversions this year. Penn State finds themselves going for it on fourth down continuously because their kicking game is anemic as Sam Ficken has gone 3/9. This hidden yardage in this game will be very important…….the Lions missed four field goals in a loss at Virginia they will lose here again. Prediction: Hawkeyes 24 Nittany Lions 16
PLAY: Iowa -3 (5Dimes.eu)
Check out our other picks for the week here: /college-football
Iowa Football Betting ; Penn State Football Betting