Red Flags: 5 college football teams on upset alert in Week 11
- Letdown spots loom in the Pac-12 and Big 12
- Iowa's offense always has the Hawkeyes in danger
- Georgia and Michigan face their biggest tests to date
4. Iowa Hawkeyes
Opponent: Rutgers | Time: Saturday, Nov. 11, 3:30 p.m. ET (BTN) | Spread: IOWA -1.5
Just when you thought they were dead and done, the Iowa Hawkeyes are back into the Top 25 as the No. 22 team in the country and the likely favorites to win the Big Ten West. And yet, they are a team that no one should ever feel even an ounce of confidence in.
We all know about the Iowa offense under offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, the son of head coach Kirk Ferentz. It's been an unmitigated disaster and unhyperbolically one of the worst offenses in the country this season. To make matters worse, he's now a lame-duck coach as Iowa has already announced they will part ways with him after this season, but are allowing him to remain on the staff for the remainder of the 2023 campaign.
Now the Hawkeyes welcome a Rutgers Scarlet Knights team that has been one of the more pleasant surprises in the Big Ten this season to Kinnick Stadium on Saturday. Rutgers is coming off of an upset bid against Ohio State that was much closer than the final score would indicate.
Frankly, this game is going to be ugly. Rutgers is also limited offensively and the one staple for Iowa amid their offense's struggles has been the defense being stellar. Yet, with Iowa's offensive woes and the strength of the Rutgers defense, it's hard to see a world where the Hawkeyes are able to move the ball almost at all in this matchup.
With this game total set at 28 points, I don't see Iowa coming out unscathed as Rutgers looks like the better team to me and picks up the road win to give each team a 7-3 record on the year.