Iowa Receives Brutal Prediction for Ohio State Matchup

The Iowa Hawkeyes have received a brutal prediction for their game this weekend against Ohio State.

Sep 21, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback Cade McNamara (12) takes a snap against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the first half at Huntington Bank Stadium. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The Iowa Hawkeyes are going to face a very difficult matchup this weekend when they take on the No. 3 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.

While they are coming off of a big-time win last week, Ohio State is a different beast. It will take a perfect performance for Iowa to have a shot at pulling off the upset.

That being said, there is always hope. Crazier things have happened.

Keeping that in mind, the Hawkeyes have received an absolutely brutal prediction for this matchup.

John Steppe of The Gazette has dropped a final score prediction for this week's game. He has Iowa losing the game by a rough final score of 42-16. Clearly, he doesn't think this is going to be a game.

"Iowa is better-equipped for a game like this than it would have been in 2023 or 2022, but the Hawkeyes still need many things to go their way for this to remain a competitive game."

Looking at the Hawkeyes, they will need another elite performance from star running back Kaleb Johnson. However, that won't be enough to power the offense. Cade McNamara will need to step up in a big way and put together a strong performance through the air as well.

So far this season, he hasn't shown a great ability to do that.

Not only will Iowa have to play at an elite level offensively, they'll need their defense to make some plays. Going up against names like Will Howard, Quinshon Judkins, TreVeyon Henderson, Jeremiah Smith, and Emeka Egbuka will not be able to defend against.

Even though the game still needs to be played and the Hawkeyes can't be written off just yet, the wide expectation is that Iowa will get dominated by Ohio State.

Hopefully, those predictions and expectations end up being proven wrong.

Make sure to tune in this weekend to see if the Hawkeyes can shock the world and pull off the upset in Columbus over the Buckeyes. The game will kick off at 3:30 p.m. EST on CBS.