College GameDay shares Iowa-Minnesota picks, thoughts
ESPN’s College GameDay crew headed to Columbus, Ohio, for Saturday morning’s Big Ten East heavyweight fight between No. 3 Ohio State and No. 6 Penn State.
Longtime host Rece Davis was joined by analysts Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit to break down that matchup and the full Week 8 slate of college football.
Given that they were at Ohio State, it only made sense to welcome in C.J. Stroud, the former Buckeye and now Houston Texans rookie quarterback, to serve as this week’s guest picker.
Along the way, the crew shared their thoughts and picks on Iowa-Minnesota as the Floyd of Rosedale took center stage on College GameDay.
Host Rece Davis set the stage for the picks with this little jab.
“You guys know how I love the history of this sport. There was a time in football where the forward pass was illegal. In a related story, Minnesota and Iowa will play today,” Davis said.
OK, Rece, we get it. Here’s the crews picks.
Desmond Howard
Desmond’s pick: Minnesota
What Desmond said: “Yeah, we’ve talked about Iowa and how they’ve pretty much been winning just special teams and defense. I think it catches up with them today. For what reason? I have no idea, but sometimes it just happens this way. I’m going with the Golden Gophers. Row the boat.”
Pat McAfee
Pat’s pick: Iowa
What Pat said: “And that would be the first time that P.J. Fleck would’ve won the bronze pig? Floyd of Rosedale. I think Iowa wins this game and continues their march to the Big Ten Championship with zero offense in 2023 football.”
C.J. Stroud
C.J. Stroud’s pick: Iowa
What C.J. said: “Yeah, I’m gonna go Iowa, man. I played against both of these teams. I actually started off my career at Minnesota, which a tough Minnesota team. Always coached well, P.J. Fleck does a great job, but I like Iowa, man. Tough defense, man. If you can’t score, they can’t win, so I’m going to go Iowa.”
Lee Corso
Lee Corso’s pick: Iowa
What Lee said: “Iowa wins this one, the defense wins it, 3-0.”
Kirk Herbstreit
Kirk Herbstreit’s pick: Iowa
What Kirk said: “I cannot believe what Stanford Steve just told me, which is amazing. And maybe you knew this, because you know everything. Iowa won a football game, and they did not run an offensive play in Wisconsin territory. So, anybody who can pull off that feat, I’m picking them to win today against Minnesota. I appreciate that tidbit. That’s hard to do.”
Takeaway
The College GameDay crew largely likes Iowa to win this game. Only Desmond Howard was scared off enough by the Hawkeyes’ offense.
It would represent the ninth straight victory in the series for the Hawkeyes. We might need to check on Stanford Steve and the intel he’s providing Kirk Herbstreit, though. Iowa ran 16 plays in Wisconsin territory last week.
At any rate, it should be fun to see Iowa and Minnesota renew their storied rivalry today where the Hawkeyes look to improve to 7-1 (4-1 Big Ten).
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