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Rece Davis, Pete Thamel share differing picks on Iowa at USC

Danby: Daniel Hager7 hours agoDanielHagerOn3
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Screengrab from College GameDay Podcast

For the first time as conference rivals, No. 17 USC and No. 21 Iowa will clash Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles. The Hawkeyes’ dreams of a potential spot in the College Football Playoff berth were wiped last week with their loss to Oregon, but Lincoln Riley’s Trojans are more than alive in the race to the CFP.

Iowa had won three consecutive games before falling to the Ducks in Kinnick Stadium. USC meanwhile is looking to improve to 2-2 against ranked opponents this season, as it downed No. 15 Michigan but fell to No. 23 Illinois and No. 13 Notre Dame earlier this year.

Ahead of the matchup, ESPN‘s Rece Davis and Pete Thamel gave their predictions on the latest edition of the ‘College GameDay Podcast‘. The duo is split on the matchup, as Thamel went with Iowa and Davis went with USC.

“So, I’m going to take Iowa in the upset Rece,” Thamel said. “I think they can go in on a sunny, California day and bully them around. I think they have shown just enough verve on offense to move the ball. So I’m going to go with the bully against USC until proven otherwise.”

A win for Iowa would break its 12-game losing streak against ranked opponents. The Hawkeyes’ last win against a team present in the Top-25 came on Oct. 9, 2021 against then-No. 4 ranked Penn State. Kirk Ferentz‘s team is 0-3 this season against ranked opponents (No. 16 Iowa State, No. 11 Indiana, and No. 9 Oregon).

“I agree with you that the offense is proven,” Davis responded. “I remember watching Iowa/Rutgers and (Mark) Gronowski had a couple wide open guys and the ball needed to travel no more than 10 yards in the air. And dirt ball. Airmail. And you’re like ‘what in the world?’ He’s always been tough and been a really good runner. He’s settled in and made some good throws in horrible conditions on Saturday against Oregon.

“I think Iowa is a really good team, but I don’t think they have the firepower to beat USC. I’ll go with USC at home with Makai Lemon. I raved about him the other day alongside (Auburn‘s) Cam Coleman as receivers that people aren’t noticing enough. He was sensational last week against Northwestern. I’ll go with the Trojans to win that game.”