Game Time: 3:30 pm ET, Saturday, September 25th, 2021 

Venue: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa

Where to Watch: FS1

BetMGM:  Spread: Iowa -23.5  O/U:  44.5 points

Caesars: Spread:  Iowa -23.5,  O/U:  45 points

DraftKings:  Spread: Iowa -23.5, O/U: 44.5 points

Co State:  1-2 (Mountain West)

Iowa State: 3-0 (Big 10) 

The Iowa State Cyclones were flying high just a week ago.  They were ranked in the top ten in the nation.  They had a vision of stepping outside the Big 12 and doing damage to college football teams with big names and big pedigrees.  All they had to do first was beat their cross-state rival Iowa Hawkeyes.  The Iowa players stepped up and beat back Iowa State, in the process Iowa retained their own top ten ranking and announced themselves to the nation as contenders for real.  Also there was some kind of trophy made out of Corn… or it looked like corn.

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Colorado State has taken their lumps in 2021. The Rams opened against South Dakota State and gave up a lot of points in a loss 42-23.  The second game brought Vanderbilt to to town, Vanderbilt left with the close win 24-21.  Game 3 was a gimme… a much needed gimme!  Colorado State got their first win against Toledo 22-6.  Remember Toledo?  Corporal Klinger’s favorite town.  They also have college football.

The Iowa Hawkeyes still have all the big dreams they took from Iowa State.  They want to keep winning and land an Iowa school in the national discussion with the big programs… Penn State, Texas A&M, Ohio State.  Why not Iowa?  They are rolling so far against Indiana, Iowa State, and the Kent State Golden Flashes.. They are 3-0 and if they win when they are supposed to they should host Penn State on Oct, 9th while having a 5-0 record… Colorado State and Maryland stand in their way but they aren’t standing very tall.

The Colorado State Rams have a logo that looks suspiciously like the Starbucks logo… green, white, swirls.  The Rams also look like a team that struggles on offense.  22 points per game, 408.7 yards per game, with a large percentage of these numbers coming against Toledo.

Iowa is scoring 30.3 points per game on only 298 yards per game.  They don’t seem like top ten stats… until you watch them and realize they focus on rushing and playing D.  They control the time of possession with a beastly offensive line.  QB Spencer Petras leads the team with 460 passing yards, and he is not going to be scampering anytime soon with -18 yards rushing on the season (6 times sacked).  Spencer hands the ball off to Tyler Goodson a power runner who fits his offensive line perfectly. When they do pass, TE Sam LaPorta is the top target. So, power running and tight end dump-offs.  This is an old-school offense that is looking to flatten Colorado State.  They will.

Colorado State has a porous defense. They allow too much scoring and that is reflected in their record.

Iowa has a top ten defense.  Iowa relies on their D to bail them out of a low scoring offense and it worked against the top ten team Iowa State… worked like a charm.

Our prediction for Saturday, September 25th is… Iowa 28 CSU 17

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This is the first-ever matchup between Colorado State and Iowa.

Iowa is 5-0 ATS in its last five games.

The total has hit Under in 10 of Colorado State's last 15 games

N/A

Colorado State:  Backup WR Justice McCoy.  Colorado State will try to break Iowa’s pass coverage… if Justice hangs 5+ catches then CSU has a chance.

Iowa:  TE Luke Lachey.  This is a team that relies on short yardage plays for the first down, they rely on blocking… blocking form the line, the FB, the TE’s… The D will come up on Sam LaPorta all day long… The best way to beat that is to go to the other TE.  

“Still thinking about Defense on Saturday”  - Colorado Rams Twitter account, about the BIG win over Toledo.

"Nobody really cares if we're young at this spot or that spot,....Because ultimately when you play the games, it's about getting the job done that day.” -Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz

Colorado State:  QB Todd Centeio, RB David Bailey, TE Cam Butler, TE Trey McBride, WR Danta Wright, WR EJ Scott

Iowa:  QB Spencer Petras, RB Tyler Goodson, FB Monte Pottebaum, TE Sam LaPorta, WR Tyrone Tracy, WR Nico Ragiani

Colorado State:

Passing:  Todd Centrino  652 yards

Rushing:  David Bailey  258 yards

Receiving:  Trey McBride  339

Tackles:  Dequan Jackson  29 

Iowa:

Passing:  Spencer Petras  460 yards

Rushing:  Tyler Goodson  307 yards

Receiving:  Sam LaPorta  169 yards

Tackles:  Jack Campbell  25

Interceptions:  Matt Hankins  2 

Iowa:  Kirk Ferentz

Mostly Sunny.  72* high.  40% humidity.  Wow!  You are in Iowa!