I can totally get on board with this take SR108. Good post. Iowa has 1 95 yard drive that took over 8 minutes, but it wasn't against the PSU defense ;-).It’s a Penn State fan site, and a game prediction thread. PSU is currently undefeated. Who did you think PSU fans would predict as the winner?
It will be a hard fought game. I don’t see a blow out by either team. If Penn State doesn’t turn the ball over, they have a good chance to win. While inconsistent on offense they do have a couple of explosive players. Our back seven on defense are athletic and fast. If Iowa has to throw to win I like our chances of generating a couple of our own turnovers.
While they have held up for the most part our front four can have trouble with a power running team. I’m not sure how good Iowa is at grinding out long drives. So far they haven’t had to do it very often.
I have no idea who will win, but I expect a good close game.
The Iowa OL is a work in progress as they have been flipping guys in and out all season so far trying to get the right combination (one of our best guards - Kyler Schott #64 - is coming off injury and is now getting close to 100%, other freshman and sophomores are being shuffled in and out). This can account for some of the inconsistency in the run game. It will be a big test to see how far they have progressed this Saturday.
I like Iowa because of these 3 things:
1) Home field advantage - It is huge this year due to the C19 layoff. The crowds just seem even more engaged and raucous, though Kinnick has really been that way anyway, but it may even be more so this year. Which tough environment has Clifford been in so far? How will he react? We'll see ...
2) Iowa's Special Teams. This is a top 3 unit overall in the country. Kick-off, Kick-return, punt, punt-return, FG unit are all top notch. There will be some big plays in the STs game and Iowa has the advantage.
3) Iowa's Defense. The very young DL (save VanValkenburg) has been playing a high level. They rotate 8 guys to stay fresh up front. The back 7 could be the best Iowa has had in a very long time. They don't give up many chunk plays so Clifford will need to be patient. I watched the whole Wisconsin vs PSU game and there were a couple of breakdowns in the Wisconsin secondary which gave PSU their scoring strikes. Great job on exploiting that, but that won't likely happen vs Iowa. We'll see ...
This should go down to the wire unless Clifford and the PSU offense get impatient, or the PSU special teams have an off day. I'll have a prediction later in the week.