Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Michigan State Spartans Pick & Prediction OCTOBER 19th 2024

Preview and Prediction

In the upcoming Saturday night game, Iowa and Michigan State will face each other for the first time in consecutive seasons since 2012 and 2013. The game will take place in East Lansing, Michigan.

For the home team Spartans (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten), this will be yet another difficult matchup in what has been a grueling stretch of their schedule.

After starting the season with three straight victories, Michigan State has suffered losses on the road to Boston College, at home against Ohio State, and at Oregon.

The Spartans had a bye week to regroup and prepare for the tough games ahead.

According to Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith, Iowa is a physical team that excels in running the ball and has a strong defense. He also noted their impressive special teams and ability to make plays in the passing game.

Michigan State's success this season has largely depended on first-year starting quarterback Aidan Chiles, who has thrown for 1,212 yards and five touchdowns. However, he has also made some costly mistakes resulting in eight interceptions.

The Spartans are hoping for a strong performance from Chiles against an Iowa team that has shown improvement on the offensive side.

Led by running back Kaleb Johnson's 937 rushing yards and quarterback Cade McNamara's solid play, Iowa (4-2, 2-1) has scored 30 or more points in four games this season, including a 40-16 victory over Washington last week.

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz believes that Michigan State is a difficult team to evaluate. He acknowledged their record of 4-2 and the fact that many teams in the Big Ten have similar records. He also mentioned that the Spartans have faced two of the top teams in the conference and possibly in the country in their last two games, making it a challenging matchup for his team.

This will be Iowa's first trip to East Lansing since 2017. The Hawkeyes have won the last two meetings against Michigan State.

PREDICTION

Iowa Hawkeyes

Michigan State Spartans