Iowa at Rutgers

Iowa heads out on the road after a stunning home loss to North Dakota State. The Hawkeyes were without starting offensive linemen Sean Welsh and James Daniels, and it showed in the run game as the Hawkeyes got just 34 yards rushing on 25 carries, for 1.4 yards per carry. They prefer a balanced, ball-control style as Coach Kirk Ferentz has never run an up-tempo offense. At least they have a great defense, off a poor game, but is talented all around. They are allowing 15.3 points per game after ranking ninth and #15 in the nation in points allowed the last two years. Iowa is on an 8-3-1 run UNDER the total in September, when defenses are ahead of the offenses. They face a rebuilding Rutgers team under a new coach that struggled in its only step-up game, scoring 13 points at Washington. Rutgers has senior QB Chris Laviano (four TDs, two INTs), who is completing just 51.7% of his passes. For his college career he has 20 TDs, and 15 INTS. The strength of the Scarlett Knights is the defensive line, which returns Darius Hamilton after sitting out 2015. They held Washington to 91 yards rushing, just 3.0 ypc. Rutgers is 16-7 UNDER the total after allowing fewer than 170 yards passing in their previous game and this shapes up as a defensive duel. Play Iowa/Rutgers UNDER the total.