I hear ya MM.... I just think iowa will turn that game into a slugfest on the ground. Cook will get his yards thru the air but they typically don't run to many routes beyond 20-25 yards, and Iowa has a very good and well seasoned secondary. They play some damn good man to man matchup and certainly aren't afraid to leave their DBs alone on islands. The whole defense is physical. They have the personnel to only bring 4-5 every down and still plug the run or get pressure on cook, and dropping those lbs into soft zones all day is going to give cook fits. Throwing short to intermediate routes on Iowa all day is going. To be tough because of how tight those DBs play and how aggressive those lbs are going to be reading his eyes. I don't think sparty can run the football well enough against that front to drastically open up the play action part of their game. It's going to be entirely on cook making NFL throws all game and the O-line giving him 3+ seconds every drop back. Tough to ask of your O-line. Now if they can establish a solid running game I think it's a whole new story, but Iowa is very physical at the point of attack. Sparty getting all the love and poor Iowa is getting none..... Has the makings for a public massacre.... I would imagine without knowing the amount of money coming in on either side, that sparty is fielding most of the bets, or at least will by kickoff. Wouldn't be surprised to see them win, but not by more than a fg.
Last thing to mention is that other than one game against a defunct Ohio state offense that's been sputtering all year, spartys defense has been far from stellar, in fact I see it as completely average. I expect them to get exploited by the run first and then the play action game. Lots of safe passes from Iowa, but the chains should keep moving.
Bol gentleman
