Iowa Hawkeyes vs Rutgers Scarlet Knights Point Spread Picks

It feels like old times at Rutgers as Greg Schiano has the Scarlet Knights off to their fourth consecutive 3-0 start in his second term as head coach. Schiano turned the program around when he went 56-33 from 2005-2011, his last seven seasons in his first stint at Rutgers. They come off a 60-10 pounding of FCS Norfolk State with 563 yards of offense, and Athan Kaliakmanis threw for 309 yards and a TD with no picks. The Spartans were held to 92 passing yards. Rutgers is 6-0 ATS in its past six games following a win by 20-plus points, 11-2-3 ATS after any win. Iowa has two wins over Albany and Massachusetts, but lost its only game against a quality opponent, 16-13, to Iowa State. The Hawkeyes are 1-7-1 ATS their past nine following an ATS win and 0-3-1 ATS their past four road games against teams with winning home records. Rutgers averages 46.3 points, but Iowa allows just 10.0 per game. Take Rutgers and the UNDER. 

Both of these teams won their openers by large margins with Rutgers winning 48-21 and Iowa winning 38-14. That's 86 points of offense, which has bettors' attention, especially because both games went OVER their posted totals. As a result, I believe the linesmakers have shaded this total up and there is value on the UNDER. Let's face it, Rutgers was a 17 point favorite vs. UMass and Iowa beat up on lowly Miami Ohio as a 25.5 point favorite. Not much credit to be given there. Rutgers is 16-5 to the UNDER in their last 21 road games after a non-conference game. THey are also 13-4 UNDER in their last 17 road games after notching a 21+ point win. Iowa is 50-29 after a 17+ point win as well. Under head man Chris Ash, the Scarlet Knights are 8-1 UNDER on the road after a spread win. And, under Kirk Ferentz, the Hawkeyes are 29-16 UNDER as a favorite in this range (10.5 to 21 points) and 40-27 UNDER after a 17+ point win. Take the UNDER here.

Iowa heads out on the road after a stunning home loss to North Dakota State. The Hawkeyes were without starting offensive linemen Sean Welsh and James Daniels, and it showed in the run game as the Hawkeyes got just 34 yards rushing on 25 carries, for 1.4 yards per carry. They prefer a balanced, ball-control style as Coach Kirk Ferentz has never run an up-tempo offense. At least they have a great defense, off a poor game, but is talented all around. They are allowing 15.3 points per game after ranking ninth and #15 in the nation in points allowed the last two years. Iowa is on an 8-3-1 run UNDER the total in September, when defenses are ahead of the offenses. They face a rebuilding Rutgers team under a new coach that struggled in its only step-up game, scoring 13 points at Washington. Rutgers has senior QB Chris Laviano (four TDs, two INTs), who is completing just 51.7% of his passes. For his college career he has 20 TDs, and 15 INTS. The strength of the Scarlett Knights is the defensive line, which returns Darius Hamilton after sitting out 2015. They held Washington to 91 yards rushing, just 3.0 ypc. Rutgers is 16-7 UNDER the total after allowing fewer than 170 yards passing in their previous game and this shapes up as a defensive duel. Play Iowa/Rutgers UNDER the total.