Iowa vs Arizona prediction

When Arizona has the ball-
Their offense will be more like Iowa’s than the first two of Iowa’s opponents. They would have had an All American caliber TE playing, but he is injured and not playing. They will deploy more of a power running style as the main RB, Grigsby, is one of the top rushers in the nation so far this season. This will be an excellent test for the Hawkeye defense that matches up much better against Arizona than they have against UNI and ISU. The defensive line will finally be matched up against an offense that won’t have so much mis-direction and wide open alignments. One thing to note is that Arizona’s QB will be starting his first road game in college and this week was quoted as saying that he wasn’t worried about it because he played against some big crowds in college. I think that he is underestimating the 70,000 that will pack Kinnick Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

When Iowa has the ball-
Iowa will probably be without Bulaga and Moeaki this week as both are going to be game time decisions. If that is the case it really hurts Iowa’s running game. Reiff can fill in for Bulaga at an all right level, but the run blocking drops off significantly from Moeaki to Reisner. Look for Iowa to run a lot away from the TE and possibly employ more three and four wide sets to run out of. Arizona’s defense is fast, but they don’t have a whole lot of size up front, look for Iowa to start with the running game to set up the play action pass.

Score Prediction: Iowa 23 Arizona 10

Predictions:
Iowa forces 3+ turnovers
Stanzi has at least one pass completion for 40+ yards
Iowa running game is held to under 150 yards, but Stanzi throws for more than 200
Arizona will have a big defensive or special teams play, possibly a TD
Murray kicks 3 FG’s
Binns racks up 2+ sacks