Utah State vs. Iowa Prediction, Odds, Trends and Key Players for College Football Week 1
By Josh Yourish
The Iowa Hawkeyes come into the 2023 season at No. 25 in the AP Preseason Poll and things look a little bit different in Iowa City after an 8-5 season that ended with a 21-0 win over Kentucky in the Music City Bowl.
New Iowa Quarterback Cade McNamara transferred from Michigan after losing the job to JJ McCarthy last year and will look to jumpstart what has been a poor Hawkeyes offense for the last several years. Iowa opens 2023 play up against Utah State.
Utah State went 6-7 a year ago with a 38-10 loss in the First Responder Bowl to Memphis. Blake Anderson’s team rebounded from a rough start last year and will look to return to winning double-digit games like they did in his first season, 2021.
Let’s get into the odds for this Week 1 matchup at Kinnick Stadium.
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Utah State vs. Iowa odds, spread and total
Iowa and Utah State Betting Trends
- Iowa went 8-5 ATS last season
- The UNDER went 9-4 in Iowa’s games last season
- Utah State went 4-9 ATS last season
- The UNDER went 8-5 in Utah State’s games last season
Utah State vs. Iowa How to Watch
- Date: Saturday, September 2
- Game Time: 12:00 PM EST
- Venue: Kinnick Stadium
- How to Watch (TV): Fox Sports 1
- Utah State Record: 0-0
- Iowa Record: 0-0
Utah State vs. Iowa Key Players to Watch
Utah State
Terrell Vaughn, WR: Cooper Legas is returning at QB, but he lost his No. 1 receiver from last season, Brian Cobbs. Vaughn was his second leading receiver and is returning to take over the top spot on the depth chart. Vaughn caught 56 passes for 624 yards last year with five touchdowns. He’ll be important to this team and he might have a very tough Week 1 matched up against Cooper DeJean, Iowa's top cornerback.
Iowa
Cade McNamara, QB: Back in 2021, Cade McNamara led Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan Wolverines to a 12-2 record and a 42-3 win over Iowa in the Big 10 Championship Game and a College Football Playoff appearance. However, McNamara was passed over for the younger McCarthy last season. In 2021, McNamara passed for 2,576 yards with 15 touchdowns to six interceptions. He completed 64.2% of his passes and averaged 7.9 yards per attempt. He isn’t a superstar, but he might seem like it compared to the 1,725 yards with five touchdowns and five interceptions that Spencer Petra threw for last season. If Iowa’s defense is close to as good as last year and McNamara proves to be a big upgrade and Iowa could find themselves back in the Big 10 Championship Game this season.
Utah State vs. Iowa prediction and pick
There's cause for optimism in Iowa City this season. A year ago, their defense was one of the best in college football. The Hawkeyes allowed 4.0 yards per play, the best in the country and at home that number was even better, 3.6. DeJean is one of the best corners in the country and could be a first round pick next spring. He’ll be able to shut down Terrell Vaughn in this one and this entire defense will make things very difficult for Legas, who threw 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions last year.
Iowa thrives off turnovers, they were 11th in turnover margin per game last year at +0.8 while Utah State was 116th at -0.7. If Iowa can give Cade McNamara some short fields, he should be able to have an impressive debut.
It's worth noting that McNamara suffered a hamstring injury in training camp. Ferentz expressed optimism that McNamara will be good to go for this one, but with a rivalry game on deck against Iowa State, the team may be cautious.
Iowa’s offense didn’t just add McNamara from Michigan, they also brought in tight end Erick All to join Luke Lachey who is their top returning pass catcher with Sam LaPorta gone. Iowa will succeed primarily with their tight ends in the passing game and back in 2021 when McNamara was the QB at Michigan, All was the second leading receiver with 38 catches for 437 yards and two touchdowns. Last year, Lachey caught 28 passes for Iowa for 398 yards and four TDs.
It’s a really big number, but I think Iowa is the much better team and after last season’s team was painful to watch play offense, they’ll be interested in adding a few more points late in the game to see what kind of horsepower this year’s unit has with McNamara behind the wheel. Give me Iowa to win big and I think we’ll learn a ton about this team in Week 1.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change