1) PSU will hold its own at the LOS. Probably win on D. Rotation helps.
2) PSU wins team speed.
3) PSU Maryland game helpful for dealing with crowd noise.
2) PSU wins team speed.
3) PSU Maryland game helpful for dealing with crowd noise.
feeling good abt Iowa
- Thread starter tboyer
- Start date
I hope they take the crowd out early on, no doubt.
3) Not really. You had Maryland fans becoming internet sensations for the looks on their faces 3 minutes into the game.
I think 2) is the key to the game....
42-12..good guys....after the game everyone will say that you don't know much about this PSU team yet..Next week the real season starts...yada yada yada
No, if you put that type of beat down on Iowa under the lights, PSU will be considered a real contender, however, that type of beat down will not be happening ;-)
This is the first true road test for the young Lions. It will be loud and it will be sustained. Will be a fun atmosphere.
I like the matchup but I'd be shocked if this team went in there and beatdown Iowa. This isn't Maryland, whose never accomplished anything as a program and has a HC with a 5-33 overall record.
Iowa plays physical and smart and this isn't their HC's first rodeo. They frequently ruin national championship aspirations - OSU, Mich, and PSU in '08. Kinnick at night is no joke.
It was mentioned in another thread, but this is where we find out if this team is a pretender or contender. We win at Kinnick tomorrow night and playoff conversation starts.
Iowa plays physical and smart and this isn't their HC's first rodeo. They frequently ruin national championship aspirations - OSU, Mich, and PSU in '08. Kinnick at night is no joke.
It was mentioned in another thread, but this is where we find out if this team is a pretender or contender. We win at Kinnick tomorrow night and playoff conversation starts.
I think this game comes down to PS's offense - they will have to win it. I make this assumption because I think that IA scores on the PS d and generates a score on special teams.
Then the Iowa plan is:
*Completely take away the PS running game, shut it down entirely
*Pressure Clifford to pass, zone overages behind, generate enough rush with front four
*Hit Clifford
I think an efficient IA offense that causes PS trouble, an uneven offensive performance by PS, and IA winning the special teams battle leads to the IA upset. Not sold on the PS running game. I think if IA had a better QB this game could really get away from PS. Obv hope I am wrong.
Then the Iowa plan is:
*Completely take away the PS running game, shut it down entirely
*Pressure Clifford to pass, zone overages behind, generate enough rush with front four
*Hit Clifford
I think an efficient IA offense that causes PS trouble, an uneven offensive performance by PS, and IA winning the special teams battle leads to the IA upset. Not sold on the PS running game. I think if IA had a better QB this game could really get away from PS. Obv hope I am wrong.
The problem for Iowa is they haven't shown to be an efficient offense at all this season, unlike previous seasons. They can't run the football, and they aren't good at pass protection either. Relatively speaking this is a pretty poor Iowa OL. If Iowa gets into a habit of third and medium or more look for the PSU DL to have a field day with the pass rush, especially with that statue in the pocket.
Will come down to later part of 4th quarter, be higher scoring that expected. I just hope we come out on winning side.
I hope I am wrong and our guys have put the game out of reach by the 4th quarter and that the stadium is already half empty.
I hope I am wrong and our guys have put the game out of reach by the 4th quarter and that the stadium is already half empty.
I could see this being a statement game for Penn State. I could also see it be a slugfest where we win or one where we make some mistakes and Iowa capitalizes for a close win. The wins over Michigan in 2016 and PSU in 08 were basically Iowa types of games where an opponent played into Iowa's hands. The OSU game in 2017 I think was lost by tOSU the week before. They put everything into beating Penn State and didn't expect much of a challenge from Iowa. Iowa played to win that game with creative play calling and a little bit of gambling. I thought maybe they'd turned a corner as a program. Then Wisconsin brought that idea crashing to the ground the next week.
So you are getting this from 2 games on the road against teams that had "hated rival" and "must win" mentalities in ISU and Michigan? They weren't good at pass protection against 1 team - Michigan who has an extravagant zone blitzing scheme that Don Brown is nationally renowned for. You are in for a bit of a surprise come Saturday evening.
Mostly agree. PSU definitely has the team speed advantage. I'm not sure how much the MD game helps because the crowd was taken out of that game very early.
The keys to the game IMO:
1. Can we get the ball to athletes in space?
2. Will Iowa succumb to PSU's blitzing or will the take advantage and burn PSU with some big plays.
3. TURNOVERS
And an undefeated PSU team who leads the country in sacks per game won't have that same "must win" mentality? I haven't seen anything from Iowa's OL this season in watching them so far that suggests that they will have the advantage over PSU's front 7. I could be wrong, but I don't think it is likely. If I see sudden efficiency from Iowa's offense on Saturday night then I will be more than a bit surprised.
And even with that performance last week Michigan is averaging a full 2 sacks less per game so far this season than PSU.
PSU lines up quickly but then takes a lot of time to call the play. The offense stalled against Purdue but seemed to get going again when they picked up the pace. It will be interesting to see if PSU tries to play fast at Iowa or if they stay deliberate.
Um, no $hit.
The point is you can't say Penn State has faced a hostile crowd because it lasted all of 5 minutes. Doesn't matter why it only lasted 5 minutes.
Michigan is the only team Iowa has played that has comparable players to Penn State.Michigans defense is good but their offense has been really bad this year.So Iowas defensive effort was good but it's not like they held down a prolific scoring machine.That game reminded me of the old bo vs woody games and that's not good enough these days.
I know year over year comparisons are mostly irrelevant but my biggest concern is how we sometimes make average QBs (Luewerke) look like Joe Montana. Otherwise I think they score 13 and we score more than that.
What makes you think this? Did you watch the Iowa-Michigan game? Or the Iowa-Rutgers game? Iowa's offense is not good.
Crowd noise is overrated PSU is young but has the more explosive playmakers on both sides of the ball.I don't think Iowa can match up with the depth and talent on this team over four quarters.
Iowa had 4 TOs vs Michigan. That will slow any offense. They'll challenge PSU if they can avoid the turnovers.
Win or loss, these kittens are going to grow up a lot after a date at night in Kinnick. No shame in losing there.
Except Bo ran the ball in a power offense and Michigan runs the spread and got nowhere.
I’m concerned about Iowa’s screen passes. I expect them to utilize them a lot considering We haven’t shown an ability to defend them very well and they know we’ll be bringing a lot of pressure on Stanley
That could definitely happen. We could also commit a few turnovers. I think Iowa would have beat Michigan without the turnovers and I think turnovers are the key to tomorrow's game.
again..."This is the first true road test"....phhhft....42-12
Stanley is hot trash and Iowa has no rb like Wadley. Stanley has thrown for just over 400yds 0 Td's and 3 picks vs.the only two decent teams they played this year. Their Offense won't score more than 1 TD
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When you look back at the nightmare history of the Iowa-PSU series (Ferentz was 8-3 vs Paterno -- 8-3!), it was a lot of things but one was just schedule. Iowa just happened to have PSU on the schedule for the entirety of the dark years, 2000-2004, and won all 5 of those games.
In the late 2000s Iowa basically had an NFL D-line and they pretty much manhandled PSU's O-line. Adrian Clayborn (still playing for the Falcons by the way) might have been enough but they also had Karl Klug (who played 7 years with the Titans), Christian Ballard and Broderick Binns. They just schooled the PSU O-line in 2009 and 2010.
In 2012 the tables turned -- PSU had a very strong Dline with Jordan Hill, Daquan Jones and Olaniyan and they were too much for the Iowa offense.
In the Franklin era PSU's been able to match up at the LOS plus Iowa had a run of recruiting busts and just didn't have wideouts for a few years. They do have a good group this year -- no superstar but five receivers who can all get open and make plays. It's gone from their biggest weakness to a team strength. What Iowa doesn't have -- at least so far this year -- is a consistent running game. But I guess you could say the same about PSU.
In the late 2000s Iowa basically had an NFL D-line and they pretty much manhandled PSU's O-line. Adrian Clayborn (still playing for the Falcons by the way) might have been enough but they also had Karl Klug (who played 7 years with the Titans), Christian Ballard and Broderick Binns. They just schooled the PSU O-line in 2009 and 2010.
In 2012 the tables turned -- PSU had a very strong Dline with Jordan Hill, Daquan Jones and Olaniyan and they were too much for the Iowa offense.
In the Franklin era PSU's been able to match up at the LOS plus Iowa had a run of recruiting busts and just didn't have wideouts for a few years. They do have a good group this year -- no superstar but five receivers who can all get open and make plays. It's gone from their biggest weakness to a team strength. What Iowa doesn't have -- at least so far this year -- is a consistent running game. But I guess you could say the same about PSU.
Gotta add in there that the next road game will always be..."the first real road test"
Maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe both UMD and Purdue used screen passes against us without much success.
For all the Stanley is trash posts on here....the last two matchups have come down to a final series or play for us to eek out a win. And, in 2017, when we had a laundry list of offensive stars and a veteran team, we doubled them in yards, tripled them in first downs, and Trace found Juwan with a pass that was a 1/2 inch from getting batted away. Bottom line, we don't play good football on the road against good to great teams (don't give me Maryland, please). That obstacle is the last that JF and staff have to overcome...they are 0-6 vs ranked road teams...pretty much the difference b/w very good and elite. Iowa should be respected, but not feared. From the posts this week, you would think they are trash and we are all world, when we haven't proven crap so far...we've had 5 warmups...we will see how good we are by 11pm Saturday.
Oh no doubt....but these posts come across like we are some dominant force...especially on the road. We still have mostly FR and Soph leading the offense in a huge, possibly season altering game. This is a massive test.
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