Iowa Hawkeyes (6-4) vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-3)
November 19, 2022 4:00 pm EDT
The Line: Minnesota Golden Gophers -2.5 / Iowa Hawkeyes +2.5; Over/Under: +32.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Minnesota Golden Gophers and Iowa Hawkeyes sqaure off Saturday in a Big Ten week 12 college football matchup from Huntington Bank Stadium.
The Iowa Hawkeyes will be out to build on their current three-game win streak after a 24-10 win over Wisconsin last time out. Spencer Petras has thrown for 1,495 yards, 5 touchdowns and 5 interceptions on 56.2% passing while Kaleb Johnson has a team-high 610 rushing yards with 5 touchdowns and Leshon Williams has 329 rushing yards as well on the year. Sam LaPorta leads Iowa’s receivers with 45 grabs for 506 yards and is one of four pass catchers with 100+ receiving yards for Iowa this season. On defense, Jack Campbell has a team-high 97 total tackles while Cooper DeJean has 4 interceptions and Iowa’s defense as a whole has 28 sacks this season, led by 6 apiece from Lukas Van Ness and Joe Evans.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers will be looking to build on their own three-game win streak after a 31-3 win over Northwestern last time out. Tanner Morgan’s thrown for 1,324 yards, 7 touchdowns and 5 interceptions on 67.3% passing while Mohamed Ibrahim leads Minnesota’s ground attack with 1,261 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns. Brevyn Spann-Ford leads the Gophers with 374 receiving yards while Daniel Jackson and Michael Brown-Stephens each have 300+ receiving yards as well for Minnesota on the year. On defense, Mariano Sori-Marin has a team-high 69 total tackles while Danny Striggow has 3.5 sacks this season.
Iowa is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 road games while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 games following a win. Minnesota is 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games against a team with a winning record and 7-1 ATS in their last 8 home games while the under is 6-1-1 in their last 8 conference games.
I was originally going to side with the under but this total is so low it’s near impossible to get there on such a low number. Instead, I’ll back Minnesota here as I just trust their offense more than I do Iowa’s. these are two top-5 scoring defenses, but the one exploit the Gophers have is the run game, which with Iowa’s inept offense, is likely all they need. Give me Minnesota here.
