Iowa vs. Illinois State odds: Early scoring for Hawkeyes, Redbirds released

Iowa's The opener received a stunning twist less than a week before kickoff. However, the Hawkeyes are still a big favorite against their first opponent of the season in State of Illinois.

According to FanDuel, Iowa, the nation's No. 25 team, is a 23.5-point (-115) favorite over the Redbirds on Saturday. The over-under for the game between them is 41.5 points.

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How to watch Illinois State vs. Iowa

Time: 12:00 PM EST
Channel: Big Ten Network
Location: Kinnick Stadium (Iowa City, Iowa)

Iowa and Illinois State will be the opening game of the weekend on the Big Ten Network. Purdue, Indiana, Northwest, OregonAnd Washington will also be available on the channel throughout the day.

More on Illinois State vs. Iowa

The only other meeting between these two teams came nine years ago in the 2015 opener. Iowa won 31-14 on 341 yards of offense in a balanced attack from QB CJ Beathard and RB LeShun Daniels Jr.

This game, however, will be different than anyone expected a week ago, as Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz has been suspended. He and one of his assistants, Jon Budmayr, will serve the one-game sentence this weekend. It will be the first time in his quarter-century-plus tenure that he will be off the bench for Iowa, as Seth Wallace is slated to serve as interim coach against Illinois State.

In addition, Iowa once again appears to be one of the top teams in the Big Ten.

The Hawkeyes return most of their 2023 roster that went 10-4 and played in the Big Ten Championship. There was still a big difference between their two sides of the ball, with their defense ranking fourth in the country with just 14.8 points allowed, while their offense ranked second to last in the country with just 15.4 points per game.

Still, with much of its defense back and a new offensive coordinator, Iowa wants to be among the teams in the race for the College Football Playoffs.

Illinois State enters its 15th season under Brock Spack this fall. He has become the school's winningest coach during that span with an overall record of 95-65 (.593), including their 6-5 record in 2023.

This game will be unlike any other for Iowa this century, if only because Ferentz will not be playing. Still, the Hawkeyes will look to get by without him in this opener against the Redbirds, as they remain favorites by more than 20 points in Vegas.