The Iowa State Cyclones host the Bowling Green Falcons on Saturday. Iowa State is operating under a first-year head coach after the departure of Matt Campbell to Penn State. The Cyclones are very much in a rebuild, yet they almost pulled off the upset over their rival Hawkeyes last week, losing late, 16-13. For Bowling Green, it has been two tough losses to Tarleton St and Nebraska, the latter of which was 56-7. Second-year coach Eddie George has a tough road ahead of him. I think the best play on Saturday is the game total under 44.5.
Both teams should be run heavy in their scheme. Of course Eddie George would have a run-heavy offense, and the best part of his roster is the RB room. However, this is not a strong offense overall, and they will have a hard time generating much of anything against Iowa State. The Cyclones are in a total rebuild, but this defense seems solid nonetheless, especially up front. The 'Clones should dominate that side of the ball. When Iowa State has it, they should be able to push Bowling Green around quite a bit, but I don’t expect them to be too exotic in the passing game. They have a transfer QB who probably isn’t ready to take on a whole lot, and the ground attack will be their strength. This should be a slow game; I do not expect Iowa State to hang 50+ on the Falcons the way Nebraska’s much-more-aggressive offense did.
Bowling Green vs Iowa State Prediction: Under 44.5 (-115) available at the time of publishing. Playable to 42.5.
