Saunders
Administrator
2015 Game 12 “Expert” Picks: Iowa at Nebraska
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CollegeFootballNews.com
http://collegefootballnews.com/2015/iowa-vs-nebraska-prediction-game-preview
Why You Need To Care.
Nebraska has fought the good fight. After several close calls, near-misses, chokes, whiffs and strange losses, it’s on a two-game winning streak with a chance to go bowling with one giant win. Through all the problems, the team has never quit and it’s never stopped playing hard for head coach Mike Riley – winning this would be a massive payoff. As the only team to beat Michigan State, the Huskers have a chance – possibly – to be the only team to beat the two teams in the Big Ten title game.
Iowa is pushing for something more than a 12-0 record. Could the Hawkeyes still get into the playoff at 12-1 with a Big Ten championship? Maybe, but it’s hardly a sure-thing unless Notre Dame loses to Stanford. But one of college football’s two remaining unbeaten teams – Clemson is the other – can take care of business itself by winning this week and then going on to take the Big Ten title. The team might be thinking far bigger, but at the very least, a win should assure a New Year’s Six game, most likely the Rose Bowl. That’s not a bad consolation prize.
Why Iowa Will Win
Iowa hasn’t been living off of turnover margin, but it hasn’t been on the negative side since losing a fumble in the opener against Illinois State. This isn’t an explosive Hawkeye team, but it does just about everything right with few penalties, great ball control, and a +11 turnover margin on the year. One of Nebraska’s biggest issues has been turnovers at a -10 on the year and losing the margin in eight of the last nine games. You can’t make mistakes and beat Iowa, and Nebraska will give it up at least twice.
Why Nebraska Will Win
Iowa has an efficient, token passing game, but it lives on the ground. Nebraska can’t seem to stop anyone from pushing the ball deep, but it’s terrific against good ground games allowing more than 150 yards just twice on the year. Can the Huskers hold up? They’re 1-6 on the year when allowing more than 100 yards – only beating Michigan State – but even if the Hawkeyes get hot, they’re not going to gouge the excellent Nebraska defensive front. Only BYU and Northwestern have averaged more than five yards per carry.
Player Who Matters
This is Tommy Armstrong’s time – at least it needs to be for Nebraska. The veteran starting quarterback had a strange game last year in the 37-34 win over Iowa, throwing four touchdown passes but with two picks, and he misfired way too often. He got the win as the team pulled out the thriller, but this week he’ll have to be razor-sharp moving the chains with his legs, while not making any mistakes with his eyes – he can’t throw picks. The team might have won the last two games, but he’s thrown five interceptions as he’s forcing the ball down the field a bit too much.
What’s Going To Happen?
Shoulda, coulda, woulda. Nebraska should’ve beaten BYU and Illinois. It could have beaten Wisconsin, Miami and Northwestern, and it would’ve beaten Purdue with just one big late stop. But the Huskers didn’t get it done. Iowa should’ve and could’ve lost to Pitt and Indiana, and it would’ve lost to Wisconsin if the Badgers didn’t keep screwing up. But the Hawkeyes did get it done – that’s what the good teams do. However, at home, with the bowl game on the line, and after everything that’s happened this year, Nebraska will get its second big, giant win. It needed a minor-miracle to beat Michigan State, and it’s going to need a late field goal to stun the Hawkeyes.
PREDICTION: Nebraska 27- Iowa 24
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SBNation/Football Study Hall
http://www.footballstudyhall.com/2015/11/25/9798500/college-football-picks-week-13-s-and-p
Iowa 29 - Nebraska 28 (Iowa 52% win percentage)
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ESPN FPI
http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/fpi?id=158&year=2015
Iowa - 50.2% chance of winning
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AP - Ralph D Russo
http://collegefootball.ap.org/article/ap-picks-feast-major-implications-thanksgiving
Iowa 31- Nebraska 27
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CBS Sports
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/features/writers/expert/picks/straight-up/13
Dennis Dodd: Nebraska
Jon Solomon: Nebraska
Jerry Palm: Iowa
Tom Fornelli: Nebraska
Jerry Hinnen: Iowa
Chip Patterson: Nebraska
Robby Kaland: Iowa
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ESPN Big Ten Blog
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/127428/big-ten-week-13-game-picks-hawkeyes-buckeyes-on-upset-alert
Brian Bennet: Iowa 31 - Nebraska 30
Josh Moyer: Iowa 31 - Nebraska 24
Dan Murphy: Iowa 24 - Nebraska 21
Mitch Sherman: Iowa 30 - Nebraska 24
Jesse Temple: Nebraska 24 - Iowa 17
Austin Ward: Nebraska 27 - Iowa 24
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Big Red Wrap-Up
http://netnebraska.org/interactive-multimedia/sports/big-red-wrap-iowa-prediction-1
Larry Punteney: Iowa 17- Nebraska 10
Blake Lawrence: Nebraska 27- Iowa 21
Damon Benning: Nebraska 31- Iowa 28
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Daily Nebraskan
http://www.dailynebraskan.com/sports/dn-sports-desk-score-predictions-for-nebraska-vs-iowa-game/article_5c466966-9192-11e5-bc27-774f462cb83b.html
Josh Kelly: Iowa 34 - Nebraska 31
Brett Nierengarten: Iowa 34 - Nebraska 20
Nick Wilkinson: Nebraska 31 - Iowa 27
Michael Dixon: Nebraska 28 - Iowa 24
Vanessa Daves: Iowa 34 - Nebraska 31
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Athlon Sports
http://athlonsports.com/college-football/predictions-every-college-football-game-week-13
Steven Lassan: Iowa
Mitch Light: Iowa
David Fox: Iowa
Braden Gall: Iowa
Mark Ross: Iowa
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Athlon Sports Preview by Brandon Cavanaugh
http://athlonsports.com/college-football/iowa-hawkeyes-vs-nebraska-cornhuskers-preview-and-prediction-2015
No matter who wins, one team loses out on some major mojo. If the Huskers get the “W”, Mike Riley ties the number of top-ten wins Bo Pelini racked up during his seven years and the Big Red gets 15 more invaluable practices thanks to their bowl game. If Iowa wins, one of the most unlikely of picks could be knocking on the College Football Playoff’s door. My advice: Eat yourself stupid on Thanksgiving so you can unbuckle your belt and watch a probable back-and-forth old-fashioned Big Ten slugfest.
Nebraska 27 - Iowa 23
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BTN.com
http://btn.com/2015/11/25/polls-its-time-to-pick-your-week-13-big-ten-football-winners/
Tom Dienhart: Nebraska 30 - Iowa 29
Sean Merriman: Iowa 31 - Nebraska 24
Brent Yarina: Nebraska 31 - Iowa 30
Jason Galloway: Iowa 34 - Nebraska 24
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CollegeFootballNews.com
http://collegefootballnews.com/2015/iowa-vs-nebraska-prediction-game-preview
Why You Need To Care.
Nebraska has fought the good fight. After several close calls, near-misses, chokes, whiffs and strange losses, it’s on a two-game winning streak with a chance to go bowling with one giant win. Through all the problems, the team has never quit and it’s never stopped playing hard for head coach Mike Riley – winning this would be a massive payoff. As the only team to beat Michigan State, the Huskers have a chance – possibly – to be the only team to beat the two teams in the Big Ten title game.
Iowa is pushing for something more than a 12-0 record. Could the Hawkeyes still get into the playoff at 12-1 with a Big Ten championship? Maybe, but it’s hardly a sure-thing unless Notre Dame loses to Stanford. But one of college football’s two remaining unbeaten teams – Clemson is the other – can take care of business itself by winning this week and then going on to take the Big Ten title. The team might be thinking far bigger, but at the very least, a win should assure a New Year’s Six game, most likely the Rose Bowl. That’s not a bad consolation prize.
Why Iowa Will Win
Iowa hasn’t been living off of turnover margin, but it hasn’t been on the negative side since losing a fumble in the opener against Illinois State. This isn’t an explosive Hawkeye team, but it does just about everything right with few penalties, great ball control, and a +11 turnover margin on the year. One of Nebraska’s biggest issues has been turnovers at a -10 on the year and losing the margin in eight of the last nine games. You can’t make mistakes and beat Iowa, and Nebraska will give it up at least twice.
Why Nebraska Will Win
Iowa has an efficient, token passing game, but it lives on the ground. Nebraska can’t seem to stop anyone from pushing the ball deep, but it’s terrific against good ground games allowing more than 150 yards just twice on the year. Can the Huskers hold up? They’re 1-6 on the year when allowing more than 100 yards – only beating Michigan State – but even if the Hawkeyes get hot, they’re not going to gouge the excellent Nebraska defensive front. Only BYU and Northwestern have averaged more than five yards per carry.
Player Who Matters
This is Tommy Armstrong’s time – at least it needs to be for Nebraska. The veteran starting quarterback had a strange game last year in the 37-34 win over Iowa, throwing four touchdown passes but with two picks, and he misfired way too often. He got the win as the team pulled out the thriller, but this week he’ll have to be razor-sharp moving the chains with his legs, while not making any mistakes with his eyes – he can’t throw picks. The team might have won the last two games, but he’s thrown five interceptions as he’s forcing the ball down the field a bit too much.
What’s Going To Happen?
Shoulda, coulda, woulda. Nebraska should’ve beaten BYU and Illinois. It could have beaten Wisconsin, Miami and Northwestern, and it would’ve beaten Purdue with just one big late stop. But the Huskers didn’t get it done. Iowa should’ve and could’ve lost to Pitt and Indiana, and it would’ve lost to Wisconsin if the Badgers didn’t keep screwing up. But the Hawkeyes did get it done – that’s what the good teams do. However, at home, with the bowl game on the line, and after everything that’s happened this year, Nebraska will get its second big, giant win. It needed a minor-miracle to beat Michigan State, and it’s going to need a late field goal to stun the Hawkeyes.
PREDICTION: Nebraska 27- Iowa 24
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SBNation/Football Study Hall
http://www.footballstudyhall.com/2015/11/25/9798500/college-football-picks-week-13-s-and-p
Iowa 29 - Nebraska 28 (Iowa 52% win percentage)
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ESPN FPI
http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/fpi?id=158&year=2015
Iowa - 50.2% chance of winning
—————
AP - Ralph D Russo
http://collegefootball.ap.org/article/ap-picks-feast-major-implications-thanksgiving
Iowa 31- Nebraska 27
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CBS Sports
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/features/writers/expert/picks/straight-up/13
Dennis Dodd: Nebraska
Jon Solomon: Nebraska
Jerry Palm: Iowa
Tom Fornelli: Nebraska
Jerry Hinnen: Iowa
Chip Patterson: Nebraska
Robby Kaland: Iowa
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ESPN Big Ten Blog
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/127428/big-ten-week-13-game-picks-hawkeyes-buckeyes-on-upset-alert
Brian Bennet: Iowa 31 - Nebraska 30
Josh Moyer: Iowa 31 - Nebraska 24
Dan Murphy: Iowa 24 - Nebraska 21
Mitch Sherman: Iowa 30 - Nebraska 24
Jesse Temple: Nebraska 24 - Iowa 17
Austin Ward: Nebraska 27 - Iowa 24
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Big Red Wrap-Up
http://netnebraska.org/interactive-multimedia/sports/big-red-wrap-iowa-prediction-1
Larry Punteney: Iowa 17- Nebraska 10
Blake Lawrence: Nebraska 27- Iowa 21
Damon Benning: Nebraska 31- Iowa 28
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Daily Nebraskan
http://www.dailynebraskan.com/sports/dn-sports-desk-score-predictions-for-nebraska-vs-iowa-game/article_5c466966-9192-11e5-bc27-774f462cb83b.html
Josh Kelly: Iowa 34 - Nebraska 31
Brett Nierengarten: Iowa 34 - Nebraska 20
Nick Wilkinson: Nebraska 31 - Iowa 27
Michael Dixon: Nebraska 28 - Iowa 24
Vanessa Daves: Iowa 34 - Nebraska 31
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Athlon Sports
http://athlonsports.com/college-football/predictions-every-college-football-game-week-13
Steven Lassan: Iowa
Mitch Light: Iowa
David Fox: Iowa
Braden Gall: Iowa
Mark Ross: Iowa
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Athlon Sports Preview by Brandon Cavanaugh
http://athlonsports.com/college-football/iowa-hawkeyes-vs-nebraska-cornhuskers-preview-and-prediction-2015
No matter who wins, one team loses out on some major mojo. If the Huskers get the “W”, Mike Riley ties the number of top-ten wins Bo Pelini racked up during his seven years and the Big Red gets 15 more invaluable practices thanks to their bowl game. If Iowa wins, one of the most unlikely of picks could be knocking on the College Football Playoff’s door. My advice: Eat yourself stupid on Thanksgiving so you can unbuckle your belt and watch a probable back-and-forth old-fashioned Big Ten slugfest.
Nebraska 27 - Iowa 23
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BTN.com
http://btn.com/2015/11/25/polls-its-time-to-pick-your-week-13-big-ten-football-winners/
Tom Dienhart: Nebraska 30 - Iowa 29
Sean Merriman: Iowa 31 - Nebraska 24
Brent Yarina: Nebraska 31 - Iowa 30
Jason Galloway: Iowa 34 - Nebraska 24
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