Stop me if you’ve heard this before. The Iowa Hawkeyes' offense is struggling. Despite that being the case, I like the Hawkeyes to turn things around against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Friday night.
That’s because I still have faith in the fact that transfer QB Mark Gronowski can figure things out. The former FCS national champion with South Dakota State should be better against a suspect Rutgers defense. So, I’ve put together an SGP for this Big Ten matchup that banks on a big night for the Hawkeyes' signal caller.
And for more college football picks for this game, check out my Iowa vs. Rutgers predictions for September 19.
Our best Iowa vs Rutgers SGP for Week 4
Rutgers begins the year 3-0 but has played a fairly soft non-conference and in the only real tough matchup the Scarlet Knights had, they allowed the Ohio Bobcats to rush for over 200 yards, including 93 to dual-threat QB Parker Navarro.
But the difference in this game will be the Iowa defense. The Hawkeyes rank 30th in defensive success rate and are fourth in opponent yards per play.
Rutgers has been hucking it on offense, but it has yet to face a defense at the level of Iowa. At less than a field goal, I’ll back that defense to be the difference here.
On offense, the Hawkeyes will try to get QB Mark Gronowski going. The former South Dakota State Jackrabbits star has thrown for just 306 yards and averaging 2.7 yards per carry.
But this is a guy who averaged 8.7 yards per attempt and rushed for over 1,700 yards over four seasons with the Jackrabbits. I expect the Hawkeyes to really try and get Gronowski going in this one, particularly on the ground, against a Rutgers defense that is surrendering 5.6 yards per carry.
His rushing prop is sitting at 26.5. And even despite his struggles, he's still gone Over this number twice in three games this season.
Now, we do have to note Rutgers’ passing attack. QB Athan Kaliakmanis has been impressive and has spread the ball around to his receivers well. If the Scarlet Knights find the end zone through the air, I like KJ Duff to be on the receiving end.
Duff is a big-bodied receiver sitting at 6-foot-6 and could use his size to his advantage in the redzone against Iowa. Duff has 17 catches on 23 targets for 244 yards and two touchdowns.
Note if there is an applicable parlay boost available.
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