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This year’s Rose Bowl not only features a classic Big Ten vs. Pac 12 matchup, it features two dominating defense in what could 
turn out to be an old fashioned ground war slobber knocker. Iowa was the team that NOBODY wanted to see in the FBS playoff 
yet all the Hawkeyes did was go unbeaten before getting derailed by Michigan State 16-13 in the Big Ten championship game. 
Stanford was the team that was supposed to take down Oregon on the Pac 12 North which the 11-2  Cardinal eventually did but 
not quite as planned. Stanford was drilled at Northwestern in it’s opener before regaining it’s swagger and some national buzz 
before getting beat at home by the then surging Ducks. The Tree eventually did win the Pac 12 with a second dominating victory 
over USC. The number opened with Stanford as a full -7 point favorite with a high/low of 53. Money on the Hawkeyes and over has
the line Stanford -6/54 at this writing. Weather should be perfect in Pasadena with the temperature for the 5:00 PM EST kickoff
expected to be in the mid-60’s. 

Iowa may have been the least sexy “good” team in college football this year. They have no stars, do not have a big play offense, play 
scrappy defense …. and all they do is win. The Hawkeyes were happy to do it any way you wanted as they beat Wisconsin 10-6 and 
and also Indiana and Minneosta 35-27 and 40-35 respectively. C.J. Beathard won the QB job in the spring and had a decent  year 
(61%, 2570, 15/4) but serevs the role of a game manager rather than a playmaker. Jordan Canzeri (976, 12 TDs) was the feature 
back despite numerous nagging injuries. He’s probable for this game which is big for the Hawkeyes. Matt VandeBerg is the top wide
out with 61 catches for 639 yards. TE George Kittle is the go to guy in the red zone with six TDs in just 20 grabs. The Iowa defense is 
staunch against the run (11th nationally) and will have to be be at it’s best to stop Christian McCaffery.

Kevin Hogan has been somewhat of an enigma in his four years at Stanford. Great things were expected of him that never materialized
since he took over the controls midway through his freshman year. While his QBR rose significantly this year, his numbers are just a tad 
better than they were in his sophomore and junior seasons. Sophomore Christian McCaffrey made news by beating out Barry Sanders Jr. 
for the starting tailback job and then went on to rush for 1847 yards plus another 540 yards receiving. Ed’s son accounted for 16 all-purpose 
touchdowns and won almost every player of the year award except for the Heisman Trophy. Michael Rector and Austin Hooper are the best 
of the wide outs but neither has more than 32 catches or 486 yards. The Cardinal defense is good by Pac 12 standards but a notch below 
recent editions. 

One face, both teams would rather play in a phone booth. Both teams are know for physical line play with Iowa sending more offensive
men to the NFL than other program over the last twelve years. Iowa can pop a play and in fact did have 17 plays over 40 yards but …. just 
five of those came in the Hawkeyes final six games. Stanford has the game’s X-factor in McCaffrey who can hurt  you in several ways. That
said, the inconsistent Hogan will need to his part to keep the Hawkeye defense honest andopen up lanes for No.5 The game figures to be 
a defensive war with field position and the team that can make a play coming out on top. Much like betting against the Carolina Panthers this
year, people believing that this is the week that Iowa loses are largely broke and the Hawketes do figure to be back to getting a touchdown 
by kickoff. Running games and defense translates out to eating clock. Maybe the total in this one is the way to look.