Iowa vs Minnesota Free CFB Betting Prediction, 10/8/2016 — Documented Handicappers
Iowa Hawkeyes vs
Minnesota Golden Gophers
FREE CFB Betting Prediction 10–8–2016
Iowa (3–2, 1–4 ATS) vs Minnesota (3–1,1–2–1 ATS)
Date: Saturday October 8th
Game Time: 12:00pm EST
Venue: TCF Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN
Line: Golden Gophers +1.5, o/u 51
Documented Handicapper: Kelvin Baker
The Iowa Hawkeyes are headed up to Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers for a shot at the Floyd of Rosedale in this Big Ten rivalry game. Iowa secured the “pig” last year winning 40–35 but Minnesota has won 2 of the last 3 matchups.
The Iowa Hawkeyes have not lost a road game since November of 2014, which happened to be against Minnesota. Iowa is looking to bounce back from a 38–31 defeat by Northwestern. Iowa struggled to contain Northwestern’s offense early allowing 17 points in the first 20 minutes of play. Senior quarterback C.J. Beathard sacked six times in the loss to the Wildcats. Iowa will need to do a better job protecting their quarterback vs the Gophers if they expect to win on Saturday.
The Hawkeyes are giving up 182.8 yards on the ground per game to rank 11th in the conference and more than 190 in each of their last three. That doesn’t bode well for a matchup with Minnesota, which ranks fourth in the Big Ten averaging 228.3 yards rushing per contest.
Minnesota is also hoping to bounce back from a defeat last weekend after losing to Penn State in OT. A late second field goal for Penn State pushed the game to overtime and ruined Minnesota’s perfect record. QB Mitch Leidner has been impressive on the season completing 62.9 percent of his passes for 840 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions.
Rodney Smith has been the workhorse tailback and he’s going to see plenty of reps against the struggling Iowa run defense. He ran for 104 yards last week against Penn State and is averaging 4.9 yards per carry on the season with five touchdowns.
The Golden Gophers were expected to have a top 25 defense but so far they have had trouble stopping the run and are giving up over 120 yards per contest.
The Golden Gophers are 6–0 ATS in their last 6 games following a straight up loss
The Hawkeyes are 2–5 ATS in their last 7 meetings
The underdog is 5–2 ATS in their last 7 meetings
Minnesota hung with Iowa on the road last season and the Hawkeyes do not look impressive thus far in 2016. The Golden Gophers grind out games and are tough to beat at home. I see this game coming down to the 4th quarter in a tight matchup but I like Minnesota to get the win at home. Take the Golden Gophers and the +1.5 points at home.
Iowa vs Minnesota CFB Betting Prediction: Minnesota +1.5
