The Indiana Hoosiers have demolished their opponents (Indiana State, Old Dominion, Kennesaw State and Illnois) en route to a 4-0 start on the season. But Indiana could have their hands full in their first road game of the season when the travel to Iowa City to face the Hawkeyes this Saturday.
Indiana is a top five defense and offense in the nation. The Hoosiers are third in the country at 54.8 points per game and fifth in points allowing 8.3 points per game – the only team in the NCAA that sits Top 5 in both categories.
The Indiana Hoosiers are led by head coach Curt Cignetti, who is in his second year in Bloomington. Cignetti took Indiana to the College Football Playoff in his first season going 11-2 and plans to be right back in the College Football Playoff as Indiana is 4-0 on the season and ranked No. 11 in the country currently.
Indiana is coming off of one of the most impressive wins of the early season. Indiana beat the breaks off Big Ten foe Illinois last week by a final score of 63-10. The win helped the Hoosiers jump in the latest AP Top 25 poll from No. 19 to No. 11 and No. 12 in the coaches poll.
Junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza, a transfer from Cal, has fit right in with the Hoosiers replacing Kurtis Rourke. He finished last week's game 21-for-23 for 267 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. For the season, Mendoza has thrown a nation-best 14 touchdowns without an interception. He still hasn't played a full four quarters yet, in four games.
Through the first four games of 2025, the Iowa Hawkeyes have leaned on a defense-first formula to start 3-1, with their lone loss coming in a narrow 16–13 defeat at Iowa State. Offensively Iowa has been efficient on the ground with a 55.6% rushing success rate (12th nationally).
Senior signal-caller Mark Gronowski has led the offense with a versatile dual-threat skillset, completing 60.5% of his passes for 492 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception while adding 186 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns on the ground.
Iowa's defense is as good as they are very season ranking to 40 in every major category.
Iowa vs. Indiana football series history
Iowa has a 46-28-4 lead in the all-time series with the Indiana Hoosiers.
The Hawkeyes are currently on a four-game winning streak against the Hoosiers dating back to 2014 and have won eight of the last nine under head coach Kirk Ferentz. Indiana hasn't won at Kinnick Stadium since 2007, when they pulled off a a 38-20 victory.
Iowa vs. Indiana football betting lines, over/under
Indiana is a 7.5-point favorite, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Moneyline: Iowa Hawkeyes (+240), Indiana Hoosiers (-298)
The total for the game is set at 48.5 points.
How to watch and stream Iowa football vs. Indiana
- When: 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27
- Where: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City
- TV/stream: Peacock
How to watch Iowa football on Peacock
The service has two streaming plans — Premium and Premium Plus — that offer live streaming of Big Ten games. The plans cost $10.99 a month for Premium and $16.99 for Premium Plus.
Prediction: Indiana 31, Iowa 17
We believe that Iowa can hang in this game for a while and make the game sloppy early on, also with the crowd noise effecting the game early. HSOM also believes that the Iowa's defense can slow down Indiana for at least a half but the best defense, coach, skill players inclduing quarterback all belong to the Indiana Hoosiers. Iowa will not completely stop the Hoosiers' dynamic and balanced attack it's just impossible for Iowa they don't have the pros or joe's. Expect Mendoza to have an efficient game and the rushing attack to get a little less than 300 yards total but around the 200 range.
Mark Gronowski and the Hawkeyes vanilla offense won't be able to keep up. The FCS All-American transfer has been average at quarterback just like most of the Iowa QB's in the past. In order for them to have a real chance to win he needs to play lights out and be as good as advertised all off-season.
Indiana will control the game, cover the spread and dominate in all three phases of the game to move to 5-0 and possibly earn a top 10 ranking in next weeks polls.
#NeverDaunted