The Cy-Hawk game is rapidly approaching and the dissection of both the Iowa Hawkeyes and Iowa State Cyclones is nearing its close.
Every stone has been unturned and every bit of data analyzed. Soon, things will get kicked off inside Kinnick Stadium and settle on Duke Slater Field.
One common trend about this matchup is that whichever way the picks are coming in, they are coming with a ton of confidence in predicting how this one shakes out.
CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli may be the most confident of them all. He stamped the Cy-Hawk rivalry pick with his “lock of the week” across all of college football. He doesn’t just like Iowa to win, but also to cover the spread.
It’s fun to goof around about Iowa being an offensive juggernaut after it put up 40 points against Illinois State. The Hawkeyes aren’t likely to set scoring records this season, but I believe the offensive improvements are legitimate. QB Cade McNamara isn’t perfect, but he’s leaps and bounds better than Deacon Hill. The Hawkeyes appear to have playmakers at receiver this season, which hasn’t been the case in a while.
Iowa State looked mediocre last week, but that doesn’t concern me. Here’s what does: this team is extremely thin at linebacker right now, and it could be down a player or two on the offensive line. Stud running back Abu Sama was banged up against North Dakota, but I believe the Cyclones were simply being cautious taking him out of a game they felt they controlled. This a rivalry game, and I know anything can happen, but I can see a scenario in which the Cyclones can’t get stops against this Hawkeyes offense. Yes, it feels very strange to type that sentence out and read it back, but it’s true. Pick: Iowa -2.5 (-112) – Tom Fornelli, CBS Sports
It seems like an alternate universe where the picks of this game are focused on a competent, point-scoring offense, but here we are. There was an infusion of life into the Iowa offense by Tim Lester in Week 1.
Iowa does get the return of Kaleb Brown as a wide receiver and will utilize Kaleb Johnson as the top running back after his explosive showing last week. They have playmakers who can take it the distance at any time, a far cry from previous years.
Cade McNamara doesn’t have to be a superhero, he just needs to complete a few key passes and keep the defense honest. The Cyclones are without Caleb Bacon, a key loss at linebacker, and all signs point to Iowa trying to pound the rock and handle their business in this year’s Cy-Hawk matchup.
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