PSU is a much better team than last year, but Iowa throttled them pretty good last time around. You might remember some unlikely big plays (Nixon TD return) that increased the margin, but Iowa also fumbled the ball over to them to give them a short field, and they gave up an uncharacteristic 68 yd TD when they got caught napping while up 3 scores. Iowa missed a FG as well. In short, they played far from a perfect game.
Prior to going into ultra-conservative "protect mode" after going up 31 - 7, here were Iowa's drives:
9 plays, 55 yds, FG
6 plays, 75 yds, TD
3 plays, 1 yd, punt
8 plays, 41 yds, TD
3 plays, -13 yds, punt
7 plays, 49 yds, TD
3 plays, -16 yds, punt
12 plays, 54 yds, TD
Across those 8 drives, Petras was 15/22 for 163 yds, no interceptions. He completed passes to 8 different targets.
Their rushing game (not including sacks) went 26 for 128 (4.9 ypc) and 3 TDs. Iowa was gouging them right away, and then PSU must have adjusted because there were a lot of minimal and negative runs after the 1st 2 scoring drives. But Iowa stuck with it and eeked out some yards, and they could convert in short-yardage situations when necessary.
Clifford got benched early last year for giving the ball away like candy on Halloween. He has been much better since regaining his starting spot in the 3Q of our game last year. But he is not terribly accurate, and I think he will still try to force things if put in a tight spot. In a game and a half vs. Iowa, he has completed 54% of his passes (25/46), and has thrown 3 TDs but also 2 INT. Iowa has mostly limited the big play. Obviously you can't just throw out big plays, but if you take out the 68 yard TD to Dotson, Clifford is averaging less than 5 yds per attempt.
Stating the obvious, but if Iowa can turn Clifford over once or twice and limit the big plays, I think they handle the Lions.
