Iowa Hawkeyes Season Betting Preview
Kirk Ferentz guided the Hawkeyes to a BCS bowl last season, netting the Iowa coach his third Big Ten Coach of the Year honors. If his club can get past Ohio State this year, Ferentz could pick up his fourth trophy and push the Hawkeyes into the BCS picture once again. Only the Buckeyes rank above Iowa on the Big Ten college football betting futures list, setting up a huge battle between the two schools on Nov. 20.
Congratulations, Iowa Hawkeyes. You went 11-2 last year (8-4 ATS) and upset the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (-6) at the Orange Bowl for your first major bowl victory in 50 years. Your reward: a pretty cushy schedule for 2010. Can you convert that into another successful season?
Hawkeyes supporters have lots to be optimistic about. The Ohio State Buckeyes are the only team above them in the Big Ten pecking order, and OSU has to travel to Kinnick Stadium to face Iowa this year. So do the other would-be contenders: the Wisconsin Badgers, the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Michigan State Spartans.
All of Iowa’s four Big Ten road games are against teams at the bottom end of the conference. The toughest away date for the Hawkeyes: September 18, when they’ll face the Arizona Wildcats in Tucson (10:35 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Iowa couldn’t ask for a better set-up for another BSC Bowl bid. It might be a little much to ask the Hawkeyes to win the national championship at 20-1 college football betting odds, but going 'over'their posted total of 8.5 wins should be a piece of cake. It’s so tasty that you’ll also have to eat a mouthful of chalk with that slice at -190.
Success for 2010 starts with coach Kirk Ferentz. He was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the third time in 2009, reaching the postseason for the eighth time in the past nine seasons. His combination of running and strong defense is as bulletproof as they come; when QB Ricky Stanzi sprained his right ankle in Week 10 against Northwestern, Iowa still came within a field goal of beating the Buckeyes (-16.5) at the Horseshoe with James Vandenberg at the controls. Aside from Stanzi’s injury, Iowa ran the table last year.
Stanzi is on the 2010 Manning Award Watch List for the top quarterback in college, although he’s nowhere to be found on the Heisman odds. Fair enough: he’s not the most consistent pivot in the FBS, throwing 15 interceptions last year (five of those in a win against the Indiana Hoosiers) to go along with 17 touchdowns. He might even be the weak link in the offense. But he’s got a reasonably good arm and a knack for coming up with winning drives when necessary.
Is that a repeatable skill? Hard to say, but Stanzi’s primary job is to hand the ball off to Adam Robinson (4.6 yards per carry, five TDs) and Brandon Wegher (4.0 yards per carry, eight TDs). That’s provided Wegher returns to Iowa for his sophomore season; if he doesn’t, Jewel Hampton has the tools to take his place.
The holes on the offensive line are more of a concern, but even there, the Hawkeyes are loaded with young talent. Ferentz cut his teeth as an offensive line coach at Iowa and in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens. His son, James Ferentz, has a shot at the starting center job this year. Stanzi and his tailbacks will get the protection they need.
They’ll also get ample time to operate. The strength of the Hawkeyes remains on the defensive side of the ball, and they should be even better this year despite losing stud linebackers Pat Angerer and A.J. Edds, along with cornerback Amari Spievey – all taken in the top four rounds of the 2010 NFL Draft. Senior DE Adrian Clayborn has the potential to go No. 1 overall in 2011, and senior LB Jeff Tarpinian (a former option QB and safety) has the physical and mental makeup of a star player at 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds.
Even with all this talent, the conference title is probably going to boil down to that November 20 game against the visiting Buckeyes. That’s the penultimate game of Iowa’s regular season; the stakes should be sky-high, provided everything goes according to plan. Ohio State has won 11 of the past 12 games against the Hawkeyes. That’s why OSU is 2-5 to win the Big Ten, compared to Iowa at 4-1. Looking for value? It ain’t with Ohio State.
Kirk Ferentz guided the Hawkeyes to a BCS bowl last season, netting the Iowa coach his third Big Ten Coach of the Year honors. If his club can get past Ohio State this year, Ferentz could pick up his fourth trophy and push the Hawkeyes into the BCS picture once again. Only the Buckeyes rank above Iowa on the Big Ten college football betting futures list, setting up a huge battle between the two schools on Nov. 20.
Congratulations, Iowa Hawkeyes. You went 11-2 last year (8-4 ATS) and upset the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (-6) at the Orange Bowl for your first major bowl victory in 50 years. Your reward: a pretty cushy schedule for 2010. Can you convert that into another successful season?
Hawkeyes supporters have lots to be optimistic about. The Ohio State Buckeyes are the only team above them in the Big Ten pecking order, and OSU has to travel to Kinnick Stadium to face Iowa this year. So do the other would-be contenders: the Wisconsin Badgers, the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Michigan State Spartans.
All of Iowa’s four Big Ten road games are against teams at the bottom end of the conference. The toughest away date for the Hawkeyes: September 18, when they’ll face the Arizona Wildcats in Tucson (10:35 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Iowa couldn’t ask for a better set-up for another BSC Bowl bid. It might be a little much to ask the Hawkeyes to win the national championship at 20-1 college football betting odds, but going 'over'their posted total of 8.5 wins should be a piece of cake. It’s so tasty that you’ll also have to eat a mouthful of chalk with that slice at -190.
Success for 2010 starts with coach Kirk Ferentz. He was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the third time in 2009, reaching the postseason for the eighth time in the past nine seasons. His combination of running and strong defense is as bulletproof as they come; when QB Ricky Stanzi sprained his right ankle in Week 10 against Northwestern, Iowa still came within a field goal of beating the Buckeyes (-16.5) at the Horseshoe with James Vandenberg at the controls. Aside from Stanzi’s injury, Iowa ran the table last year.
Stanzi is on the 2010 Manning Award Watch List for the top quarterback in college, although he’s nowhere to be found on the Heisman odds. Fair enough: he’s not the most consistent pivot in the FBS, throwing 15 interceptions last year (five of those in a win against the Indiana Hoosiers) to go along with 17 touchdowns. He might even be the weak link in the offense. But he’s got a reasonably good arm and a knack for coming up with winning drives when necessary.
Is that a repeatable skill? Hard to say, but Stanzi’s primary job is to hand the ball off to Adam Robinson (4.6 yards per carry, five TDs) and Brandon Wegher (4.0 yards per carry, eight TDs). That’s provided Wegher returns to Iowa for his sophomore season; if he doesn’t, Jewel Hampton has the tools to take his place.
The holes on the offensive line are more of a concern, but even there, the Hawkeyes are loaded with young talent. Ferentz cut his teeth as an offensive line coach at Iowa and in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens. His son, James Ferentz, has a shot at the starting center job this year. Stanzi and his tailbacks will get the protection they need.
They’ll also get ample time to operate. The strength of the Hawkeyes remains on the defensive side of the ball, and they should be even better this year despite losing stud linebackers Pat Angerer and A.J. Edds, along with cornerback Amari Spievey – all taken in the top four rounds of the 2010 NFL Draft. Senior DE Adrian Clayborn has the potential to go No. 1 overall in 2011, and senior LB Jeff Tarpinian (a former option QB and safety) has the physical and mental makeup of a star player at 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds.
Even with all this talent, the conference title is probably going to boil down to that November 20 game against the visiting Buckeyes. That’s the penultimate game of Iowa’s regular season; the stakes should be sky-high, provided everything goes according to plan. Ohio State has won 11 of the past 12 games against the Hawkeyes. That’s why OSU is 2-5 to win the Big Ten, compared to Iowa at 4-1. Looking for value? It ain’t with Ohio State.
