Iowa Football: Hawkeyes Underdogs in Trip to USC

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Football is a game of inches. Wins and losses are divided by singular plays and those plays, decided by inches, define a season.

For the 2025 Iowa Hawkeyes, the season to-date has been defined by a 54-yard Kyl Konrady field goal, an incomplete Hank Brown screen pass, and Kamari Moulton’s heel vs toe (or TJ Hall getting a head around or, or, or). Any one of those flips the other way and Iowa is currently 7-2 and still very much in the College Football Playoff discussion.

Instead, at 6-3 and without the benefit of the love affair with the SEC that keeps Tennessee and Missouri alive, Iowa turns from playoff hopeful to the role of spoiler. Whether this season is remember as a “what could have been” type year or just another ho-hum 8-4 season will depend on how the Hawkeyes respond to the heartbreaking Oregon loss as they travel west to face off with #19 USC.

The Trojans are fresh off a 38-17 thumping of the Northwestern Wildcats and looking to keep their own playoff hopes alive. USC is 7th nationally in scoring offense, averaging 39.6 points per game, and second nationally in total offense, averaging 503.2 yards per game.

But the Trojans, in many ways, are the anti-Iowa. For all the offensive output, USC is middling on the defensive side of the ball. The Trojans are 48th nationally in total defense, giving up 346.8 yards per game, and 43rd in scoring defense, giving up 21.8 points per game.

It should come as little surprise, then, that Vegas is expecting plenty of points when the Hawkeyes head to the LA Coliseum on Saturday. FanDuel Sportsbook set the over/under at 49.5 total points for this one – a number the Hawkeyes haven’t topped since traveling to Rutgers in their Big Ten opener.

While FanDuel is expecting points, they’re expecting more of them from the Trojans than the Hawks. USC opened as a 6.5-point favorite in this one, giving us an implied final score of USC 28, Iowa 21.5.

The Hawkeyes have struggled traveling west under head coach Kirk Ferentz, though it is a small sample size in recent years. Iowa is 1-4 west of the Rockies under Ferentz with the most recent loss coming at UCLA a season ago. That lone win was against this Trojans team in the 2019 Holiday Bowl when the Hawkeyes exploded for 49 points in a 49-24 victory.

Iowa’s last trip to the Coliseum to face USC came way back in 1976. The Hawkeyes were drubbed 55-0 in that one. Iowa is 3-7 all-time vs USC and 2-6 in regular season matchups. Both of those regular season wins came on the road in LA (1950 and 1961).

Here’s an early look at the details for Saturday’s matchup with the Trojans.

Date: Saturday, November 15
Time: 2:40 pm CT
Matchup: Iowa Hawkeyes (6-3, 4-2) at USC Trojans (7-2, 5-1)
Location: LA Memorial Coliseum – Los Angeles, CA
TV: BTN
Updated Weather Forecast: sunny with temps in the upper 60s
FanDuel Opening Line: USC -6.5, O/U 49.5

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