MSU Iowa

At the beginning of the season I thought Iowa had the best lines on both sides of the ball. I wasn't sure how they would answer the running back question and what sort of pressure the defensive line would get on the qb, but it terms of getting pushed around, these boys are big and strong.

That said, Iowa is not a great or explosive team. Stanzi is pretty solid at QB and getting better with experience. I really think this is a chance for MSU's safeties and corners to pump up the interception numbers. While they have been solid against the various spread offenses the last few weeks there haven't been many opportunities to pick off passes. When you throw the ball 8 yards or less on 80% of your passes there aren't many chances. Add in the fact that you can't gamble and jump a route because everyone is so compact on defense (miss one tackle and there is no help deep) and the Northwestern style spread makes you play on your heels. I like MSU to get two interceptions Saturday night.

In terms of the night game talk, I'm not sure what to think. The fans love it. The running backs love it. I'm not sure how Cousins will react. I do like that Nichol appears to be out for this game. His footwork would be nice against this Iowa line but I don't like his tendency to just make a throw to make a throw. You can't take risks against Iowa because they are disciplined on defense and wait for you to beat yourself.

Not sure if I missed the update this week but it appears Nichol might have given us the first true diagnosis since the arm injury. It looked like a dislocation after watching the replay but Dantonio gave no information. Nichol gave no information at first but the LSJ recently wrote:

MSU's trainers have told him "I'm healing faster than they've ever seen a dislocation heal."

I like MSU to get the upset, surprise people with a pretty good running game, and hold the Iowa passing game in check. Iowa will get some yardage on the ground but MSU wins the turnover battle and the game.

MSU - 27
Iowa - 13