Saturday, September 20, 2014

Heinz Field in Pittsburgh

For Updated Odds on This Game Click Here

It will be interesting to see what kind of hangover remains for the Iowa Hawkeyes as they try and recover from a 17-20 loss to in-state rival Iowa State last Saturday. The Pittsburgh Panthers don't seem to be a good form of hair of the dog as they've reeled off three straight wins to open the 2014 campaign. The Hawkeye defense could be reeling as they must go on the road and face the nation's 5th ranked Pitt rushing attack.

Iowa's season was going according to plan as they opened the year with a 31-23 win over Northern Iowa followed by a 17-13 escape from Ball State. The writing may have been on the wall for an upset at the hands of the Cyclones and a 42-yard ISU field goal with :02 left confirmed those worries. Hawk fans are on the ledge after losing to their supposedly inferior rivals for the 3rd time in the last 4 years and allowing the Cyclones to get their first win of the season. Still Iowa can get back in the good graces of the FBS Gods with a quality road win before starting play in the downtrodden Big Ten, where their only 2 real challenges come at home late in the year against Wisconsin and Nebraska.

Pitt has earned two sound road wins in a row, a 30-20 win in Boston College followed by a somewhat close 42-25 victory over FIU. Either way Pitt has found themselves in the upper tier of statistical rankings early in the season and another sound win could place them in the AP Top 25, where they received 40 votes last week. Pitt ranks 16th in the nation in both points for (44.7) and points against (15.0) and they're led on the ground by the nation's leading rusher James Conner who has already amassed 544 yards and 8 TD.

It's no secret that Pitt will once again turn to Conner to capture the win against the Hawkeyes. A big game can catapult Conner into more serious Heisman contention, especially considering the Iowa run defense is a top 10 unit allowing just 65.7 YPG and 0 TD thus far. Expect a conservative, grind it out game.

Iowa Hawkeyes Betting Trends

Iowa Hawkeyes are 0-3-0 Against the Spread

Iowa Hawkeyes are 1-2-0 against the Over/Under

Pittsburgh Panthers Betting Trends

Pittsburgh Panthers are 2-1-0 Against the Spread

Pittsburgh Panthers are 2-0-0 against the Over/Under

Injuries to Watch

Iowa Hawkeyes

08/31/14 WR Riley McCarron Shoulder out indefinitely
08/27/14 DL Darian Cooper Knee out for season
08/18/14 FB Adam Cox ACL out for season

Pittsburgh Panthers

09/15/14 DL David Durham Shoulder "?" Saturday vs. Iowa
09/07/14 OL Artie Rowell ACL out for season
08/20/14 DB Trenton Coles Personal has left team
08/02/14 LB Ejuan Price Pectoral out for season
08/02/14 DB Titus Howard Suspension out for season

Tony's Pick: Take Iowa

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