Executive
650% Florida
300% Kansas St
300% NC State
150% Virginia Tech
100% Cincinnati
100% TCU
Brandon Lang
150 Dime SMU
ASA
6* Iowa
4* Arkansas
3* Northwestern
Jack Jones
25* Syracuse
20* Maryland
20* Arkansas
15* LSU
15* Kansas St
15* Northwestern
Lenny Stevens
20* LSU
20* Arkansas
10* Kansas St
10* Virginia
Mike Neri
5* Tulsa
4* Arkansas
4* LSU
Underdog
LSU
Wildcat
10* Wyoming
7* Arkansas
5* Texas San Antonio
Texas Sportswire
5* Kansas St
3* Georgia Tech
3* TCU
3* Iowa
3* Syracuse
Cal Sports
GOY - SMU
Scott Rickenbach
10* Duke Over
10* Wyoming
8* Alabama
8* NC State
Dr Bob
Tulsa
OC Dooley
2 Units Iowa +6.5
FYI GANG - ASA 6* was on Penn State -6 NOT IOWA
ASA 6-STAR TOP PLAY ON #406 Penn State Nittany Lions (-6) over Iowa Hawkeyes Saturday at 7:30 PM ET:
While it is true that Iowa does have a long winning streak on the road in regular season games, it is also true that the Hawkeyes have only gone 5-5 overall their last 10 games since starting last season 12-0. It is also true that Iowa is sorely missing their senior wide receiver, Matt VandeBerg, who is out with a foot injury. Even though the Hawkeyes have an excellent quarterback in C.J. Beathard, the trouble is that he's got a very inexperienced wide receiver group to throw to. That sets this game up as a classic case of two teams heading in opposite directions. The Hawkeyes had their big year last season (even though it ended in disappointment) and the fact is they never won more than 8 games in a season the five prior seasons. As for the Nittany Lions, they brought in new coordinators and a pair of new position coaches after the 2015 season. It took a little time for everyone to get on the same page this season but this is also head coach James Franklin's third year with Penn State and things have indeed come together. Penn State has won 4 straight games (including a win over Ohio State) and the Nittany Lions have averaged 38.3 points per game in those four victories. Penn State has won all 5 of their home games this season and, even though the Hawkeyes have won all 3 of their road games this season, a close look shows reason for concern as Iowa now faces the Nittany Lions in a night game at Beaver Stadium where Happy Valley will be rocking with a raucous atmosphere. The Hawkeyes only beat Rutgers (a team that is actually an embarrassment to the Big Ten) by a score of 14-7 and the Scarlet Knights actually outgained Iowa in that game. In their next road game Iowa only beat Minnesota by a 7 point margin as the Hawkeyes were held to 321 yards of offense in that game. Though the Hawkeyes did win big over Purdue (another bad Big Ten team), Iowa gave up 458 passing yards to the Boilermakers. Penn State has played a much tougher schedule than Iowa has as the Nittany Lions have had to do battle with teams like the Buckeyes and Michigan (each team undefeated other than Ohio State's loss to PSU). Two of Penn State's other Big Ten games included Purdue and Minnesota and the Nittany Lions obliterated them by a combined score of 100 to 38. As you can see, there is a big difference between the offensive firepower of these two teams. Iowa's inexperienced wide receiver corps continues to be a problem and Penn State is allowing only 3.9 yards per carry in home games so the run defense will force the Hawkeyes to try and beat the Nittany Lions through the air and we don't see that happening. Iowa has been held to 21 points or less in 4 of their last 6 games. Penn State, excluding the Michigan game, has averaged 37 points per game in their other 7 games this season. Looking at the Nittany Lions last 4 games, their offense struggled at times against Ohio State but PSU averaged 502 yards per game in the other 3 games. The point is that this offense is clicking, this is a home night game, and this line is a very manageable number in a game that the Nittany Lions should win by a multiple TD margin. Penn State is on a 7-0 ATS run when they are a home favorite and off of a game where they covered the spread by more than 14 points. Filled with confidence after putting up 62 points in an easy cover at Purdue last week, the Nittany Lions offense keeps rolling this week. Iowa is off of their bye week but their loss at home against Wisconsin the prior week was very telling. Even though they were catching the Badgers off of back to back hard-fought games against Michigan and Ohio State, the Hawkweyes not only lost the game 17-9, they were outgained by 187 yards by Wisconsin! The final scored easily could have been much worse if the Badgers had executed better in the red zone. This final score, on the road and facing a red hot offense, will indeed be worse for Iowa. We'll lay the points with Penn State for a TOP PLAY in a game we expect will turn into a blowout in the 2nd half!