Iowa's offense is putrid, and I may be overrating it. The Hawkeyes did manage to score 14 against Michigan and gave up 27, which is a season high. In fact, the Wolverines are the only team to score more than 10 against Iowa. Ohio State will be the second such team for sure, but I think Iowa can hold them below 40. That will be enough to hit the under.

I realize that offensive football is a foreign concept to the Hawkeyes, but their defense is nasty. Iowa ranks third in the country in scoring defense (9.8), and only Michigan has scored more than 14 points against the Hawkeyes. Ohio State and its outrageously talented offense will obviously be the biggest test for the Iowa defense, but the Hawkeyes have been excellent at preventing big plays this season. I'll take Iowa.

The Hawkeyes have the 3rd ranked scoring defense in the FBS allowing just 9.8 PPG. They have to go up against the Buckeyes number 1 scoring offense scoring 48.8 PPG. The Buckeyes won't have to score that many points because the Hawkeyes won't be able to score more than 10 points. The Hawkeyes defense should be able to slow down the Buckeyes offense enough for the total to stay under the total.

So, here is an underdog that has allowed five offensive touchdowns all season and is receiving four touchdowns plus on the line. Sign me up. Sure, Ohio State’s offense wields more fireworks than a Fourth of July show, but if the Hawkeyes can scrounge up a couple of scores, they should cover. Iowa held the Buckeyes’ peer, Michigan, reasonably in check during a 27-14 defeat, and it was outgained by only 46 yards. Outside of that game, the Hawkeyes have not yielded more than 10 points in an outing.

Iowa can't score to save its life but it can play defense, that's for sure. I also think the Nuts might be peeking ahead to easily their toughest road game of the season next week: at Penn State. Now that this is 30, let's take a shot. I think Iowa can manage to lose 38-10 or something like that.