College Football: Minnesota Golden Gophers at Iowa Hawkeyes

By BetOnline November 14, 2019

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In most of the recent Minnesota-Iowa matchups, bragging rights is all that’s been on the line between in this series. However, this week’s “Floyd of Rosedale” – that name refers to a pig whose miniature statue is the trophy these two teams play for – has plenty at stake as both teams are ranked in the Top 25 and Minnesota has yet to lose a game this season.

Minnesota beat No. 4 Penn State last week but still isn’t getting much respect from the College Football Playoff committee as well as the oddsmakers. Can they surprise here?

MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS AT IOWA HAWKEYES
CFB ODDS: IOWA -3
CFB TOTAL: 44.5

WHY THE GOLDEN GOPHERS WILL COVER THE SPREAD

The Golden Gophers are really good. They are obviously better than a lot of people thought they were as most thought was going to get kicked around by the Penn State Nittany Lions. Instead, it was Minnesota which did most of the kicking. The Golden Gophers built leads of 24-13 and 31-19, holding on for a 31-26 win when they intercepted Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford in the end zone in the final minutes. Minnesota’s defense collected multiple interceptions of Penn State and its defensive backs read the ball well and have great closing speed.

On offense, Minnesota has a quick passing game which spreads the ball to multiple wide receivers who have NFL-level speed and can win catches in traffic against good defense. Minnesota has the fastest wide receivers Iowa will see all season and keep in mind this team has already has played Wisconsin, Michigan, and Iowa State. The Gophers are faster than the Hawkeyes, and that will matter.

The other thing is that Minnesota, which is playing for the Big Ten West title and a big bowl bid, possibly a spot in the College Football Playoff, is a three-point underdog despite being an unbeaten team. The Golden Gophers know they are being doubted and disrespected. That is powerful motivation for this game, something which can propel Minnesota and prevent the Gophers from being overconfident or complacent.

Iowa’s offense has scored more than 22 points only twice in its last seven games and they’ve really struggled when stepping up in competition. This looks like it’s another one of those spots.

WHY THE HAWKEYES WILL COVER THE SPREAD

The Golden Gophers are now a target on a level which did not apply before the Penn State game. Now Minnesota is the team everyone in the Big Ten wants to beat and Iowa gets that chance on its own home field. The Hawkeyes have played good teams close this year – even if they haven’t finished the job. They lost to Michigan by only seven points, holding the Wolverines to 10 points in a road game, then held Penn State to 17 points, which is nine points lower than Minnesota’s defense against Penn State. They also lost at Wisconsin by only two points due to a failed 2-point conversion late in the fourth quarter.

Iowa is better than its record shows and it seems like the oddsmakers see that. They will treat this game against Minnesota as the biggest challenge of its season, so expect their best punch.

TAKING A LOOK AT THE TOTAL

The Iowa offense isn’t very good and the Minnesota offense is likely to run into a very intense and focused Iowa defense. This game feels like a battle which will be played in the high teens, which will go under.