UMass Minutemen vs Iowa Hawkeyes Prediction, Odds and Picks for Saturday, 09/13/25

The 1-1 Iowa Hawkeyes are set to welcome in the 0-2 Massachusetts Minutemen this week into Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes are coming off a 16-13 rivalry loss against the Iowa State Cyclones. Quarterback Mark Gronowski threw for 83 yards and had a rushing touchdown, and Jaziun Patterson was their leading rusher with 60 yards on 11 carries. Massachusetts is coming off a tough 27-26 loss against the Bryant Bulldogs in their previous game. The Minutemen were 16.5-point home favorites, but ended up falling short after a late field goal put Bryant ahead. UMass will be heavy underdogs heading into Iowa City.

Iowa was similarly a large favorite in week one against Albany. Iowa won the game 34-7 but failed to cover a spread of 39.5. Gronowski failed to exceed 100 yards passing, only throwing for 44 yards on 15 attempts. He did manage to run for another 39 yards on 11 attempts. With this style of offense, I don’t believe the Hawkeyes are built to be blowing opponents out by five touchdowns. Their style is to control the time of possession with the run and play good defense. This line did happen to go up with the news of Massachusetts quarterback Brandon Rose set to miss his second straight game, but overall I don’t believe that will play a large role. Senior quarterback Grant Jordan filled in nicely against Bryant, throwing for 211 yards on 60% completion. The story will be Iowa’s offense. I believe some fans will want to see the Hawkeyes open up the offense and try to work in big plays for Gronowski, but I believe we see another game where the Hawkeyes’ staff keep this game tight but overpowering their opponent with the run.

UMass +35 is available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number.