Measuring up to 2002´s accomplishments will be an all season struggle for the Hawkeyes who were hit hard by graduation. Gone is Mr. Everything Brad Banks, one of the best TE´s in the country Dallas Clark and virtually all of the men up front. The major producers on their defense are also gone so there are a lot of holes to fill and they are up against the ghost of expectations. Miami of Ohio is not the best season opener either. The Redhawks don´t carry the prestige of some of the other opponents that Iowa could have faced from within their own conference but fewer teams from smaller conferences have covered point spreads vs. big time programs than Miami of Ohio.
The Redhawks opened the 2002 season with an upset win over North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They will walk into this game with the necessary confidence and will have the talent to do it. We all saw Maryland bite the dust on Thursday Night going up against Mac competitor Northern Illinois. There´s little reason to believe that the same couldn´t happen here. Miami of Ohio has 12 returning starters and 7 of them are on offense. The Redhawks have covered every last one of their season openers since Vegas started offering odds on games involving teams from the MAC. Let the streak continue.
MIAMI OHIO +10.5 (1 UNIT)
The Redhawks opened the 2002 season with an upset win over North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They will walk into this game with the necessary confidence and will have the talent to do it. We all saw Maryland bite the dust on Thursday Night going up against Mac competitor Northern Illinois. There´s little reason to believe that the same couldn´t happen here. Miami of Ohio has 12 returning starters and 7 of them are on offense. The Redhawks have covered every last one of their season openers since Vegas started offering odds on games involving teams from the MAC. Let the streak continue.
MIAMI OHIO +10.5 (1 UNIT)
