The Utah Utes head to Ames on Saturday to face the Iowa State Cyclones. Despite losing their head coach, Utah has dismantled all their opponents so far, including a 43-10 beatdown of Arkansas two weekends ago. This will be their first trip away from home though, and Ames is a tough place to play. The Cyclones are nearly in a total rebuild after a coaching change of their own, and thus far, they have looked more competent than many expected. They gave Iowa all they could handle, and they smoked Bowling Green last weekend. That early success has this line much closer than these two rosters really ought to be. Even on the road, Utah should be way better. I am hammering Utah in this spot.
Iowa State did most of their damage on the ground last week against Bowling Green. Let’s be clear: they absolutely will not do that to Utah, a team whose defense is just as physical, nasty and mean as it has ever been. Arkansas managed a mere 61 yards on the ground against them. On the other side, this Utah offense is really, really good. Devin Dampier is one of the better QBs out there, and he has full mastery over a complex offense with lots of wrinkles. The strength of this Iowa State team is probably its pass rush, but Utah is usually good about scheming around that. I don’t see how the Cyclones keep this close, barring an injury to Dampier or a weird game with lots of turnovers.
Utah vs Iowa State prediction: Utah Utes -8 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to -13.5.
