The Iowa Hawkeyes open the 2024 season at Kinnick Stadium Saturday afternoon against the Redbirds of Illinois State. Iowa, however, will be without their head coach and wide receivers coach as Kirk Ferentz and Jon Budmayr are sitting out due to self-imposed suspensions for a recruiting violation. Seth Wallace will hold the clipboard for Coach Ferentz.
The big event happening on the Iowa sideline, however, will be the presence of the new offensive coordinator, Tim Lester. His charge is obvious: Wake up what has been an offensively dormant offense and help the Hawkeyes improve on their 10-4 mark from 2023.
Illinois State brings a solid FCS-resume into Iowa City. They finished 2023 with an overall record of 6-5. This does not look like much of a matchup on paper, but we only need to go back to 2022 when FCS power South Dakota State played Iowa to a near draw losing in the end 7-3 to see how dangerous an FCS school getting an opportunity against an FBS foe can be.
Fun Fact about that game in 2022. There were as many punts as there were completed passes – 21.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first-pitch, projected pitching matchup, lineup cards, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game details & how to watch Redbirds vs. Hawkeyes Saturday
● Date: Saturday, August 31, 2024
● Time: 12PM EST
● Site: Kinnick Stadium
● City: Iowa City, Iowa
● TV/Streaming: BTN
Game odds for Illinois State vs. Iowa
● Moneyline: Illinois State (+1600), Iowa (-4000)
● Spread: Hawkeyes -22.5
● Total: 41
*odds courtesy of BetMGM
NBC Sports Bet Best Bets
Brad Thomas (@MrBradThomas) is only thinking about the Total in Illinois State vs. Iowa
“Under 40.5 or pass for me on this game. Only two games for Iowa last season went over 40.5 points.”
Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports) thinks the Iowa defense will Dominate
“You can get Illinois State’s Team Total from 7.5 to 9.5 between +100 and -125 odds, which are solid bets. Tough sledding for an Illinois State team replacing their program-leading QB on the road against a stacked Iowa defense. I believe this Iowa Hawkeyes team will be the best they’ve been in the past five years or so.”
College Football talk is taking over Bet the Edge every Thursday throughout the season. Bet the EDGE is your source for all things sports betting. Get all of Vaughn Dalzell, Eric Froton, and Brad Thomas’ insights Thursdays at 6AM ET right here or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.
From the Trading Desk at BetMGM courtesy of John Ewing:
Odds to Win the Big Ten (Opened, Current)
Ohio State (+550, +150)
Michigan (+170, +600)
Penn State (+600, +500)
Oregon (+225, +200)
USC (+2200, +2200
Iowa (+3000, +4000)
Names to Know for Illinois State and Iowa
○ Redbirds: RB Mason King – originally a transfer from Northern Illinois, King enters his 2nd season with the Redbirds hoping to build on a special 2023 in which he averaged 6.6yds/carry and totaled 983 yards.
○ Hawkeyes: QB Cade McNamara – 6th-year starter played in the 1st 5 games for the Hawkeyes last season before sustaining a knee injury that kept him out the rest of 2023. McNamara needs to complete more than 51.1% of his passes which was his rate in 2023. The defense is experienced and will be resilient, but this fanbase desperately wants to see TDs in 2024…and the Hawkeyes will need offense to vie for a playoff spot
Rotoworld has you covered with all the latest player news from the NFL and MLB. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!
Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Redbirds vs. Hawkeyes on August 31, 2024
● The Redbirds have been shut out by their last 2 FBS opponents: 38-0 @ Wisconsin in 2022 and 28-0 @ Western Michigan in 2021
● Iowa has not completed 60% of its passes in a season since 2015. Last year they ranked 129th out of 130 teams completing just 48.9% of their passes
● Under Kirk Ferentz, Iowa is 26-53 when the opposing team has a 100-yard rusher
● Iowa’s defense has allowed fewer than 20pts/gm for eight consecutive seasons
Expert picks & predictions for Illinois State vs. Iowa game
Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Saturday’s Redbirds vs. Hawkeyes game:
- Moneyline: NBC Sports is staying away from a play on the Moneyline.
- Spread: NBC Sports is leaning towards a play on the Redbirds getting 22.5 points
- Total: NBC Sports is recommending a play on the Total UNDER 41 points
Follow our experts on socials to keep up with all the latest content from the staff:
- Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
- Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper)
- Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)
- Brad Thomas (@MrBradThomas)
