With the NCAA Football moving on into Week 11 we have an interesting match-up between the unranked Golden Gophers of Minnesota 4-5 playing at the No. 5 Hawkeyes of Iowa 9-0 with the game being played at the Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa with the kick-off scheduled for 8:05 PM ET.
For those that Bet on College Football, the Hawkeyes of Iowa are early favorites in this game at -12 ½ with the Over/under at 45 ½ and -500 on the ML, while the underdog Golden Gophers of Minnesota are at +12 ½ and +400 on the ML. The Gophers lost to the No.2 Buckeyes of Ohio State 28-14 last Saturday and that’s their 3rd consecutive loss. Thus this game gives them an opportunity to make a comeback, but can they upset the unbeaten Hawkeyes.
If you’re a fan of the 4-5 Golden Gophers of Minnesota your team for the 1st 3 quarters of the game against the Buckeyes of Ohio State kept the game even, but their lack of total offense caught up with them and the Buckeyes came back and beat them 28-14 in that Week 10 game, their 3 consecutive loss.
They stayed close in the game with their QB M. Leidners’ passing for 2 TD to WR’s Maye and R. Still as they pulled to within 7 points of the Buckeyes. So now in this Week 11 they face another undefeated team for the 2nd straight week in the undefeated No. 5 Hawkeyes. Their QB Leidner will have to get his offensive unit to step it up if there to have any chance in an upset, because the Iowa team rank among the best in the Big Ten as they have allowed opponents a total of 301 yard each game in 2015.
Having said that then certainly the Minnesota Gophers will be seeking top performance from their 25 top WR’s and RB Smith. In the game against the Buckeyes Smith only had 6 rushes for 9 yards, but the rookie to date leads the rushing offense with 550 yards and 1 TD. On the other hand WR Maye had his best game against the Buckeyes with 10 catches for 116 yards and 1 TD.
Also their defense will be a key in this game if they are to win, as the Iowa offense has been fierce in their rushing game this season as they are averaging some 206 yards a game for 9 games in 2015 and have scored an average of 32.7 points each game to date. In their ultimate 10 road games the Gophers have 4 wins and 6 losses.
Then, the fans of the undefeated No. 5 Hawkeyes of Iowa State 9-0 and leaders in the Big Ten West still appear to be difficult to halt, and they displayed that in their 35-27 win over the Hoosiers of Indiana and overall 9-0 and 5-0 in the conference and that win over the Hoosiers gave then their best start in team history.
The stars in that game were RB’s A. Wadley and L. Daniels as they combined for 36 carries for 199 yards and scored 3 TD’s, and WR M. VandeBerg who had 5 receptions for 69 yards in the game. But they all were assisted by QB C. Beathard who led the team offensively as he had a 62% completion rate as he passed for 1 TD and no interceptions, while accumulating some 234 yards passing.
Heading home now to take on the Golden Minnesota Gophers the Hawkeyes seek to continue their role and stay undefeated. If they are to win this game they need to take advantage of their strong running game since the defense of the Gophers is allowing opponents at least 153 yards each game in 2015, since the Hawkeyes leading rusher J. Canzeri has a team high 699 yards rushing and 9 TD’s in 9 games this 2015 season. In the Hawkeyes ultimate 10 games at home they have 7 wins at 3 losses straight up.
The prediction for this game is that the Hawkeyes of Iowa are just too powerful for the Golden Gophers and they win their 10 game in this Week 11 and remain undefeated.