Friday night sees the Big 10 take center stage as Iowa and Rutgers meet in their first conference tilt of the season.
Rutgers is hoping to pull the upset and start 4-0, but beating Iowa is never easy. Here are my top Iowa vs. Rutgers player props and college football picks for Friday, September 19.
Be sure to also check out our Iowa vs. Rutgers predictions ahead of kickoff.
Iowa vs Rutgers props for Week 4
Gronowski o29.5 rush yds (-114)- Patterson o44.5 rush yds (-114)
Raymond u69.5 rush yds (-114)
Prop bet #1: Mark Gronowski Over 29.5 rushing yards
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights narrowly defeated Ohio in its opener, a 34-31 overtime victory. One of the reasons the Bobcats gave them a fight was the play of Parker Navarro.
The Ohio quarterback had a strong passing output, but he also ran nine times for 93 yards and a touchdown. That included a 28-yard burst, as Ohio ran for 6.5 yards a carry.
Last week, the Scarlet Knights easily took care of Norfolk State. But Otto Kuhns, while having a rough day passing the ball, had a 20-yard scramble. He ended up with 15 rushing yards on five carries, but a few sacks played a role in that number being so low.
Mark Gronowski has a history of making plays with his legs. He only had 12 yards rushing last week, but that’s because he didn’t need to scramble. He had 37 yards or more in his first two games though, where his passing numbers were quite poor.
Rutgers has allowed an explosive run rate of over 12%, one of the worst marks in college football. Opponents are also converting on 45.7% of late-downs, an area where the Iowa Hawkeyes are thriving so far.
As long as the Iowa passing game is struggling, Gronowski’s going to need to make plays with his legs to extend drives. He’ll get 30+ here once again.
Prop bet #2: Jaziun Patterson Over 44.5 rushing yards
Gronowski isn’t the only Hawkeye I’m backing to find success on the ground. I fully expect Jaziun Patterson to have a big game as well.
Let’s go back to that Norfolk State game. Two different Spartan running backs went for 50+ yards on less than 10 carries each. They each had runs of 16+ as well.
Patterson and Xavier Williams are splitting time in the Iowa backfield, but Patterson has rushed for at least 47 yards in all three games. Williams ran for 122 in the opener against Albany, but hasn’t topped 40 yards since then and has had fewer carries than his stablemate the last two games.
Iowa’s offense is averaging 3.7 line yards per rush, in addition to 1.2 second-level yards. The Hawkeyes have had fewer than 10% of their runs stuffed, and Rutgers is allowing two open-field yards per carry.
Patterson’s picking up 5.8 yards a pop. The Hawkeyes know their best path to victory is to pound the ball early and often, and Patterson will get double-digit carries and go over his total.
Prop bet #3: Antwan Raymond Under 69.5 rushing yards
The Rutgers rushing attack has been fairly solid, but has suffered from a lack of explosive plays. That will be an issue against Iowa’s stout run defense.
Antwan Raymond leads the Scarlet Knights with 248 yards on the ground on 43 carries, but two other backs have already topped 20 carries as well. CJ Campbell Jr. had double-digit runs in Rutgers’ first two games, with Raymond getting only a couple of more touches.
In addition to Raymond splitting touches, he’s facing an Iowa front seven that ranks 23rd in success rate. It also ranks in the Top 15 in explosive rush rate, and Top 25 in stuff rate.
The Hawkeyes are allowing just 2.5 line yards per rush and less than one second-level yard par carry. Rutgers will likely find it difficult to break off chunk runs, and it’s difficult to see Raymond hitting his current 5.8 yard average per carry.
Raymond has 79+ yards in his first three games, but not one of those run defenses come close to what Iowa has in store for him. Unless he suddenly gets the bulk of the carries, I’m not sure how he gets to 70 yards here.
Bet on CFB at FanDuel!
Make your college football bets at FanDuel, America's No. 1 sportsbook! Sign up now and by placing $5 on your first bet, you could win $300 in bonus bets if your wager is a winner!
*Eligible U.S. locations only
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
Not intended for use in MA.
Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
