Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Week 5 Big Ten picks and predictions | How bad we think Iowa will beat Middle Tennessee State

Episode Date: September 27, 2019

As with every Friday, we give you our Big Ten picks and predictions before finally picking the Iowa vs Middle Tennessee State game! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I thank God I was born on the good arms of the Midwest, and not on the battlefields of the U.S. It's a time of panic, and it's intercepted! It's picked off right away! Intercepted by Marty Hooker! Pick six! Eight seconds into the game! Buffen sets up deep in the pocket, goes down the field for Smith!

Oh! He's got it! Smith! Touchdown. 85 yards. High on. Touchdown, 10. Taking a shot in the end zone.

It is caught. No offense. Touchdown. That's either one or you have it. Go ahead and three. Yes. Two-point lead for the Hawkeyes. Hey, y'all.

We are back with a Friday morning episode of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. You're doing... Scared the living hell out of me. I wasn't sure the hell... Okay. Woo! All right. It is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. I am thrown way the hell off.

I am your host, Andrew Wade, and I'm joined here by Zach Cohen with the Sirens. What are those little – The high porns. Zach Cohen. I'm in here. We have game day tomorrow. Middle Tennessee State. I'm the human high porn.

I'm excited. I want us to go out there. It's been a little bit since Iowa football, but we're back. We're good. We get to watch the boys on TV. I'm excited. I want us to go out there. It's been a little bit since Iowa football, but we're back. We're good. We get to watch the boys on TV. I'm excited. I hope you can go out there and we could just have some disrespect on the field against middle Tennessee state. As I talked to Andrew before the show, he wants them to never want to play football again, which is a little kind of extreme. I think that's kind of mean to you,

Andrew. I mean, these guys are kids, but I hope, I hope you go out there and we do kind of put a whooping on them. Absolutely, man. I mean, I want to win by 50 at this point. One of the things we also talked about before the show that we wanted to make sure we talked about with the fans of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast is, is there actually an opportunity for Iowa to move up after this week?

If they beat Middle Tennessee State by 50, will they move up? And I think – I just want to at least my opinion, they are not moving up just from beating Middle Tennessee State, but there are some opportunities on the schedule for them to possibly move up, you know, if other teams in front of them lose. And like you talked about, it's kind of interesting, Iowa ranked 14th. There's not a lot of teams in front of them anymore to have to lose. So let's take a look at a couple games. What are a couple of the trap games that you have that you think Iowa might be able to benefit from a loss in? Yeah. So as Andrew said, this is the kind of,

since I was not playing a great matchup male Tennessee, I mean, they're not terrible, but also they're not good. So what, what Iowa fans can do this weekend is they could do a little research. They can watch a little, some of these other games, because you know what? These could have some immediate impact on Iowa in the rankings, even though we are playing Middle Tennessee State. The first game I'll go off, I'll just go in order. Friday is Penn State at Maryland.

Yes, Maryland lost to Temple. I know you're thinking, Temple, do they even have a football team? Like, what's that? I thought Maryland was ranked, blah, blah, blah. They scored a million points per game. But listen, Maryland is still a good team, even with that loss. I love their quarterback. Anthony McFarland is a beast at running back. And they go and play a Penn State team that looked a little like a fraud against Pitt. They didn't look too hot. They

actually didn't look good at all. They should have actually lost that game. Their offense, you know, isn't that 70 point offense. It was as we saw before, but they are playing a road game at home at Maryland against a piss off Maryland team who lost against temple. So I think this could be a trap game. Penn state is ranked 12th. We are ranked 14th. So, you know, if they could take an upset loss on the road, which is very possible, road games are hard, even in the big time, then that can move us up. So I think that's one of the games to look at. So it is state and maryland which is friday at seven o'clock central time uh what

other games are you looking at andrew yeah man there's a there's a couple of the games i also realized i just completely spaced off on doing any of our housekeeping crap so i'm gonna quickly jump through that make sure to like review and subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast at also follow us on twitter facebook Facebook, and Instagram. All right, I got through that crap. Let's get into it again. My bad for disrupting that piece. I think a big game to look at for me is going to be that Virginia number 18 versus number 10 Notre Dame game. If Virginia beats Notre Dame, do they jump over Iowa or does Notre Dame drop below Iowa? I mean, it'll be interesting to see how that plays out. Virginia going on the road to Notre Dame. I really do think Notre Dame is going to end up winning, so I don't think it's going to ultimately matter a ton, but that is a game to watch out for.

The other game that I was really interested in is Mississippi State at No. 7 Auburn. That is a big one. Losing to an unranked team will drop you pretty darn far. What would that mean for Mississippi State and Auburn? Could Iowa potentially jump up over a number seven Auburn team where I don't actually feel like they're that good. Bo Nix seems, you know, he's solid, but I feel like people are more in love with the story than they are with him as an actual player.

Didn't do a lot of great things against Oregon until the very end. I just don't think this Auburn team is actually that good. So that'll be interesting to watch that game as well. Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and give this game as my potential upset of the week. I think that Mississippi State looks actually really good. Auburn is good, but Bo Nix also is a freshman. They kind of – are they kind of as well running dry? Are they kind of hitting the point where the season toll is hitting on him?

He is only a freshman. He hasn't had a lot of experience. Um, so you know what I'm going to do? Kylan Hill is also really good too at Mississippi state, a sneaky name. He has over 500 rushing yards in four games. Keep an eye out on him. No one's talking about him in the sec or in the nation. Um, Kylan Hill, the running back from Mississippi State, and then the backup

quarterback from Mississippi State. The name's blanky on me. I'm not going to look it up, though, because I don't care that much. He filled in for Tommy Stevens, who's hurt, and actually played really well. So, you know what? I'm going to go ahead and give this game as my hype horn Mississippi State upset of the week.

So, keep a lookout on that. If Auburn loses, they will be tanking, where they will drop. Who knows? If you lose in Mississippi State unranked at home. So keep a lookout on that. If Auburn loses, they will be tanking where they will drop. Who knows? If you lose in Mississippi State unranked at home, they'll probably drop below 14th. So this is me reaching out straws. This is me and Andrew putting our rose-colored glasses on. This is us sipping our tea, eating our crumpets in a perfect world.

Listen, they probably aren't going to win, but if they do win, it is huge for Iowa, and that's why we're talking about it. Oh, man. So the backup quarterback is Garrett Schrader, just as an FYI. Yeah, by the way, Garrett Schrader, if you watch that game, has the grossest chin beard. It's like a billy goat. It's disgusting.

He's actually a pretty good player, but he made me want to throw up. So other things that matter for today. So we are going to jump into talking more about the Big Ten Conference in general. I know we already covered the Penn State game a little bit, but we're going to be doing our Big Ten picks and predictions, and then we're going to actually jump into the Iowa game and give our picks

and predictions before that or after that, excuse me. Before that, though, make a memory that lasts a lifetime and let the Vivid Seeds app help you get to your favorite live event. Enter promo code KICKOFF at checkout to receive a discount of up to $100. All right, man. So we already touched on that Penn State game. I think you kind of have a little bit of confidence in Maryland, which I don't see how, but that's just me personally.

I have never been a fan of Maryland. I think they always kind of suck. I thought they were a joke before. But going into this game, Penn State's on the road. They're actually giving six and a half points. So Penn State is favored by six and a half points. What are your thoughts? Do you think Penn State is going to cover that?

Hmm. Let me go into my head and pull out my crystal ball. I think – all right, so the Iowa fan in me says Maryland's at home. They just lost at Temple. They're pissed off. They could definitely make it competitive. But the realistic college football fan in me says Penn State covers. Six and a half is pretty low, but I do think Penn State pulls this game out. But I do hope that they do lose. But, yeah, let me get Penn State. Six and a half is pretty low um but i do think penn state pulls this game out but um i do hope

that they do lose but yeah let me get penn state six and a half isn't that much all right interesting so from my perspective i actually think penn state we want them to win because maryland doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things they're not going anywhere if we beat a highly ranked penn state team at kinnick that looks better than beating a number 22 ranked penn state team at kinnick in my personal opinion than beating a number 22 ranked Penn State team at Kinnick in my personal opinion. I do think Penn State wins though. I think a lot of people are down on Penn State from that Pittsburgh game. I think Pittsburgh is just a better team than people are used to seeing. So I think Penn State is going to win by more than six and a half points

against Maryland on the road. The next game on the docket though is northwestern versus wisconsin what a freaking spread here northwestern is getting 24 and a half points and the over under is 46 so you do the math basically northwestern predicted to score like 10 points um what are your thoughts on this game um i can't remember are you are you big on the w Um, I can't remember. Are you, are you big on the Wisconsin train? I can't remember. I know there's a couple of guys at Daryl gold who are, but are you a Wisconsin guy? Yeah. So this game is my pack the bags, find the best restaurant,

eat some cheese curds, enjoy some spotted cow game for Northwestern. Listen, they're going into Wisconsin and camp Randall where Michigan state got absolutely destroyed. Northwestern looks terrible. Hunter Johnson looks like he's a half-star quarterback. What's going on there? Offense looks inept. Defense doesn't look great either. They gave up over 30 points to a Michigan State team.

They didn't look like they can put up 10 points in a game. So what happened there? For a team that's supposed to have a good defense, Pat Fitzgerald is the legacy of Northwestern. He was a big-time linebacker. They pride on defense and sure-handed tackling just not happening this year. I don't know what's happening. Wisconsin looks like a well-oiled machine.

They absolutely worked Michigan. They worked everyone they play. This game is not going to be any different. I mean, I'm taking Wisconsin minus 24. I think they could win by 40-plus. But this is a game, you know, Northwestern, silver lining. They're going to Wisconsin, find a good place. They have great burgers there. They have some awesome cheese curds. Try the ranch dipping sauce, little Chipotle ranch.

It'll be great. Some spotted cows have some good homegrown beer in Wisconsin, and then go on the way back home to Northwestern and Evanston, you know, just find some positives out of the game for Northwestern because the positives is probably going to be the cheese curds over the game because they're going to get smoked. Man, all right. I am going to go complete opposite of you because I think Northwestern has looked like crap, but they do turn it on, in my opinion, in Big Ten play. I know they didn't do a good job against Michigan State,

but I think they're going to be more prepared and ready for Wisconsin. I always am worried about Northwestern. I think Wisconsin wins this game, but I think Northwestern covers the 24 and a half points I think they're going to turn it on and actually I bet you know Pat Fitzgerald is like laid a rocket under those guys's butt to actually do something better so far because this hasn't looked like your traditional Northwestern team so far which I think is it's kind of one of the more interesting things just like Iowa man like Iowa Iowa plays Iowa football every single year it's a similar brand of football almost every year and Northwestern is the same thing and usually that

means they can keep the games close even if they're not the most talented team and I think they're still gonna keep it close this year yeah I mean I think one good point is is that when you are a team and you have an identity like Iowa and Wisconsin where we run the ball we have big offensive linemen we kind of battle in the trenches. No matter what happens in the game flow, you go back to what you're good at, right? This year, what is Northwestern good at? What are they going to go back to when the game's in their hands,

when it's a close game or they can't pass and they really can't run? So, I mean, what do they – you know what I mean? So that's the only thing that kind of worries me. I do understand that maybe Wisconsin is kind of a look ahead game for them. They saw what happened to Michigan State to them. They absolutely destroyed Michigan. So they probably saw going off that high. So I could see them winning, but I just think that Jonathan Taylor could have over 200 yards against Northwestern. I just, he scares me, man. And the fact that Jack Cohen basically has the best position job in the big time of having the best running back.

And then they just stack the box every time and you can just play action and throw it downfield and get the completions. I mean, I think that he is definitely set up, but I'm taking Wisconsin minus 24, taking Northwestern and I guess we'll kind of see how that one plays out. Yeah. I just have one more quick comment to say. Northwestern wasn't that great last year, man, and they came out and ran the ball down our throats with Isaiah Bowser. So, I don't know. I can never trust a Northwestern team in the sense of I always think –

Bowser Schmauser. Dude, Bowser Schmauser crushed the hell out of Iowa. But other games, Rutgers versus Michigan. The spread here is pretty interesting. Rutgers is actually getting 27.5 points, so a similar spread to Northwestern versus Wisconsin. Rutgers is on the road at Michigan. I hate to do this, but I think Michigan covers.

I think Michigan is going to come out motivated. They look like crap against Wisconsin. Now they're going to go pick on – basically they got beat up by a bigger bully. Now they're going to go pick on a small kid, and I think Michigan is going to cover by 27.5 points. Yeah, Michigan's going to win this game. They're going to cover. Take this game.

Take this spread. Put it on a nice Wheaton. Put it on a Triscuit. Put it on a potato chip. Eat the spread. It'll be delicious. They're going to win by 40. This is a no-doubt, no-brainer.

Michigan's pissed off. They look terrible. Rutgers is basically, I feel so bad for them. They're going to go into the game. They're having high hopes. You're going to get pumped up, but they faced Michigan at the wrong time. They may lose by 50 plus. So yeah, I'll take Michigan. I love that. That's like one that we actually agree on. That's kind of weird. All right. Minnesota versus Purdue. And I think this is a really sneaky game. This is a really interesting game in the Big Ten. I want to see

which team is real. And I know we talked earlier on some earlier episodes this week about, you know, you don't think Purdue is a good team at all. I think Purdue is a team that we're not going to know about until they get into the Big Ten, just like last year, their 0-3 came into the Big Ten, and we're competing for a Big Ten title for a little bit. Kind of an interesting scenario there. Minnesota is a team that was a dark horse contender for, you know, Big Ten West Championship. They've looked like crap through three games so far. But that being said, there is a even line here. Minnesota on the road. So basically, Minnesota is essentially favored considering the home team gets three points.

I'm taking Purdue to win this. What are your thoughts? I'm taking Purdue to win this. What are your thoughts? It kind of sucks because even though the game they played against TCU, I think that they didn't even have Elijah Sindelar, so that game really shouldn't have counted. Elijah Sindelar is basically almost leading the NCAA. He was before last week in touchdowns and yards.

The kid is a stud. He has almost 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns in only two games. Think about that. Two games. That is freaking ridiculous. Seriously. So, I think if he plays, he's going to carve up Minnesota. Rondell, if he doesn't play and he's not 100% healthy, I'll take Minnesota.

But thinking Elijah's going to play, I mean, I think even money, Purdue is great, especially because they're at home. I think that's fair. Yeah, I mean, I think even money Purdue is, is great, especially because they're at home. I think that's fair. Yeah. I mean, I just, I would love to see Minnesota lose. I'm tired of them being even considered. They're getting fricking votes for the AP pool. And that is absolutely ridiculous in my opinion, but you know, I can only complain so much real quick though. We have two more games to cover and then we're going to cover the Iowa versus middle Tennessee state game, giving our takes and predictions on that.

We're going to jump into a few messages from our sponsors and come back to you with the final segment of the Friday morning episode of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. Alright, man, we are back with the final segment of this week's show of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. We have Indiana versus Michigan State. Indiana is getting 14 points on the road at Michigan State.

Michigan State showed an offense last week. We thought that game might have been, you know, 7-6, but they actually showed some life against a Northwestern team. Indiana, I think, is a – I think they're a better team than what they've shown, especially after getting blown out by Ohio State. I think Michigan State wins, but I think Indiana covers. What are your thoughts, man? Taking Michigan State to cover. I think that last week they kind of showed if there is an offense deep down there, that they have the

playmakers, they have the ability to score, which I thought they never did. Indiana, they can score, but their defense is really bad. That doesn't help them at all, considering Michigan State has one of the best defenses in the country. So I think they're going to suffocate Indiana. I'm not saying the game's going to be completely high scoring, but I could definitely see like a 24-10 game or 24-7 or something along those lines.

It's not going to be necessarily a blowout, but I think they could suffocate the Indiana offense. All right, man. Well, if it's 24-10, that is a push, man. So I think you're kind of teetering on that line of Indiana covering. But the final game before we jump into the Iowa game. 27-10. All right.

All right. That's your final. Okay, I get it. Deal. So Ohio State versus Nebraska. This is college game day. Arguably a terrible this is college game day, arguably I'm a terrible choice for college game day, but nevertheless,

Ohio state is favored by 18 on the road at Nebraska. And this might just be me hoping, but I hope Ohio state wins by 50 man. And I'm picking Ohio state to cover. I don't care if that's me just wanting Nebraska to lose, but I do think Ohio state is incredibly talented. I don't think Nebraska has a defense to stop Ohio State. I don't think they have the offense to keep up with Ohio State. Despite having Adrian Martinez, I'm taking

Ohio State to cover by a lot. What was that noise? That is my sound effect of the I'm Unsure Game of the Week. I'm just going to talk it out. Everyone's going to be here. You're going to dive inside my brain whether you want to or not. It could be a scary place. Nebraska, home game day. Kind of the Iowa State effect. Have a lot of juice behind them. Ohio State is a factory of football players. Justin Fields looks like he is the greatest player

on earth or in the history of college football. Nebraska can score. They have a very good offense. The receivers are good. Running backs are good. Major Martinez had showed last week that he is a very good quarterback. Very impressed by him. So I think the question begs, this is going to be a shootout, I guarantee you. If you're betting anything, take the over 66.5. This is going to hit no problem, so take the over. But I – let me – this is tough because I think that Nebraska is going to have to have a shootout with Ohio State and be able to compete with them, kind of like a

traditional Big 12 type game. 18's a lot, especially at home, especially on college game day. I'm taking Ohio State to win, but Nebraska to cover. I think 18's a lot, and it's kind of disrespectful. The whole state of Nebraska is going to be at this game. There's going to be so much hype around it, and I do think that Nebraska is very capable. Their defense sucks, which kind of scares me. But, I mean, let me take – I think Ohio State wins, but I think 18 is a little too much. All right, man.

It hates me to say that. I don't want to say that, but I just feel gross. I need to take a shower. Well, I hope – you should, man. That was disgusting. I hope you're absolutely wrong. On the docket for today, though, is Iowa versus Middle Tennessee State. Iowa is favored by 23.5.

The over-under is 53. I'm taking – I think, man, I don't know. I could be a homer here, but I think Iowa is about to show some things they haven't shown yet. I think they're still kind of unveiling their playbook, and I think they're going to win by – I'm calling them, man. They're going to win by 30 or – I'm going to say they're going to win by 32. Yeah, I think that going by 30 or I'm going to say they're going by 32 yeah I think that can you hear me yeah I can hear you man okay cool um I think that Iowa is going to go out there and they're going to take care of business I think

they're going to blow them out traditionally like we usually do to an Illinois type thing every year so let me take Iowa minus 24 um this game doesn't really scare me. I think that if our defense plays to their ability, they're going to lock down middle Tennessee. And I think our offense is going to take care of business and do the rest. So give me Iowa minus 24. Yeah, that's big for an Iowa team, but it's also a team that has an offense that is kind of clicking like we've never had before. Yeah, man, it'll be, it'll be interesting to see when we talked about on yesterday's show, middle Tennessee state does have some talented players, but you know, a dual threat quarterback,

unless you're a trace McSorley and you have Saquon Barkley doesn't really scare me a ton. You know, Asher O'Hara I think is going to be contained pretty well by AJ Epinesa and Chauncey Golsan. They're also pretty athletic. So even if he does get out of the pocket and breaks contain, I think they can track him down. I don't think middle Tennessee state's offense is going to get much going, and I could see a possible another shutout

or maybe just seven points put up by Middle Tennessee State. Otherwise, I just think this is going to be a pretty easy game, and I think we're going to see Spencer Petras come into the game at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Yeah, I mean, I think we're going to blow him out. I think that we have to, like I said before, I think we need to show that we're going to click on all cylinders in order to prepare for this Michigan game.

Absolutely, man. Well, hey, that wraps it up though for our Friday morning show. We'll be back Monday morning with another brand new episode of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast, giving you a full breakdown of the Iowa versus Middle Tennessee state game. Excuse me. We appreciate you all tuning in on this week's episodes of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. Appreciate you all, Hawkeye Nation.

Excited to have Hawkeye fall back. And go Hawks. Go Hawks, baby! We'll see you next time.