The realist in me agrees with you and thinks we lean on our OL and RBs to wear down SDSU and grind out a win. However, the optimist in me hopes to see some 2 TE sets with LaPorta and Lachey to help mask some of our WR deficiencies.
For some context for everyone expecting Iowa to dominate this game and Petras to throw for 300 yards. In 2021, in the Sagarin ratings South Dakota State was 71 . In comparison, here were some of the Iowa opponents last year.
Colorado State (106). Game tied at half, Iowa wins 24-14.
Northtwestern (101). Game is a rock fight that Iowa wins 17-12.
Indiana (94). Iowa blows out Hoosiers
Illinois (76). Iowa trails 10-0, pulls away 33-16 late on strength of Campbell pick-6. Jones has a KO return for a TD also.
Kent State (108). Iowa wins 30-7.
Maryland (58). Iowa blows out Terps.
We don't know how good Iowa and the Jackrabbits will be this year. But last year, they would have been arguably better than 5 of Iowa's opponents. Several of those games were 4-quarter games.
I don't expect Iowa to look really good on offense if Johnson and Ragaini are not playing. Without those guys, you will see a ton of all 11 SDSU defenders within 7 yards of the LOS, daring Iowa to do something about it. I don't care how much improvement the running game has made, being efficient running the ball with that setup will be hard. I really hope I'm wrong on that. If so, that bodes very well for the season.