Iowa and Iowa State both look to go 2-0 heading into next week’s showdown in Iowa City. The 14th ranked Hawkeyes visit Syracuse and will look to buck a recent trend in which they have lost five of their last seven road openers.

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says it’ll be a good challenge to go on the road and he says they’ve talked about getting off to a faster start in September. Syracuse is much better than last year’s team that went 1-10. Ferentz says they need to be ready to play a good ballgame.

Cyclone coach Dan McCarney wants a better defensive effort against Nevada-Las Vegas. U-S-C transfer Rocky Hinds at quarterback leads a UNLV offense that put up 54 points in a victory over Idaho State. McCarney says Hinds distributes the ball well as nine different receivers caught the ball last week, and he can also run.

McCarney says Hinds was sharp in his first game as a starter as he threw the ball 40 times with no interceptions. McCarney says Hinds was “really impressive” and will get better and better as the season goes on. The Cyclones opened with a triple overtime win over Toledo.