Iowa Receives Massive Prediction for Michigan State Game

The Iowa Hawkeyes have received a massive prediction for their matchup against Michigan State.

Oct 12, 2024; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes defensive back John Nestor (7) and running back Jaziun Patterson (9) react after a touchdown by Nestor during the fourth quarter at Kinnick Stadium. / Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

The Iowa Hawkeyes put together an incredibly strong performance last week against the Washington Huskies. When everything was final, they ended up dominating Washington by a final score of 40-16.

Coming off of a tough loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes the week before, picking up that win was huge. Kirk Ferentz and company are back in business and they looked extremely good doing it.

Following that win, CBS Sports has even listed Iowa as a top contender in the Big Ten. That alone shows just how positively the media viewed the Hawkeyes performance against the Huskies.

Looking ahead to this coming weekend's game, Iowa is set to face off against the Michigan State Spartans.

ESPN's FPI has revealed the projected winner of this week's game. It has the Hawkeyes having a 71.2 percent chance to pull off the win.

That shouldn't come as a surprise. On paper, Iowa should win this weekend's game. They are the better team on both sides of the football.

However, there is a concern that continues to be an Achilles heel for the Hawkeyes. Cade McNamara has been unable to get going in the passing game. Iowa has relied almost exclusive on star running back Kaleb Johnson to move the football consistently.

Thankfully, Johnson has been able to handle that workload for the most part. That being said, against Ohio State, he was shut down due to the Buckeyes not respecting McNamara and the passing game.

On the season, Johnson has racked up 118 carries for 937 yards and 12 touchdowns. He has also caught 12 passes for 53 yards and a score.

If Iowa is going to continue winning, they will need Johnson to keep up his level of production, but they also need McNarama to improve. They have to get to a point where he can consistent produce around 200 yards of passing offense.

Hopefully, the Hawkeyes will start seeing him be able to do that moving forward. He has a great opportunity for a big performance against Michigan State, whose defense is not very good against either the run or the pass.

All of that being said, it will be interesting to see how Iowa looks this weekend against the Spartans.