Early Line in Michigan Football vs. Iowa Signals to an Old-Fashioned Big Ten Game

The Wolverines won't be able to make mistakes this one.

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Michigan is coming off a 52-17 win over UTEP and the Wolverines moved to 3-0 on the season. The maize and blue found themselves moving up in the latest AP Top 25 poll heading into Week 4, at No. 18 in the country.

And the Wolverines' season is really about to get started as Big Ten play will be underway this weekend. Michigan is set to host No. 17 Iowa, who also happens to be 3-0. The Hawkeyes are coming off a 55-0 win over Northern Iowa and Iowa showed it's capable of scoring some points.

Spread calls for a close, defensive game

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As of this writing, the opening line for the game has Michigan favored by 4.5 points, per DraftKings. It closely resembles the spread from Week 2 when the Wolverines hosted Oklahoma, but it was reversed. The Sooners were favored by 5.5 points, and Michigan would end up winning the game 17-10.

But what's even more telling is that the over/under is set at 38.5 points, which means it could be a very low-scoring game.

Both teams are going into Saturday with a top-10 defense. Iowa has the No. 1 ranked total defense, allowing just 176.7 yards per game, while Michigan has the No. 10 defense, allowing 220 yards per game. The Hawkeyes also boast the No. 1 ranked scoring defense, allowing 4.3 points per game.

Iowa's offensive outpout is misleading

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Shockingly, Iowa has the No. 30 total offense, gaining 477 yards per game, while the Wolverines have the No. 118 total offense, averaging 323.3 yards per game. The Hawkeyes' run game has flourished, averaging over 268 yards per game on the ground.

But for Iowa, its yards have come in two games and that was against both Northern Illinois and Northern Iowa. The Hawkeyes gained 507 and 640 yards, respectively, and Iowa's 'hardest' game came against Iowa State, in which it won 16-13.

Michigan will be Iowa's first real challenge this season and the Hawkeyes haven't played a defense like the Wolverines. Michigan is loaded on the defensive side of the ball and the Wolverines are going to really challenge starting QB Hank Brown and the Hawkeyes' run game.

The Wolverines have already seen a good defense, playing Oklahoma in Week 2. Things likely won't come easy for the Wolverines' offense this week against Iowa, and this is gearing up to be an old-fashioned Big Ten showdown.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. 

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