Preview, Prediction: Hawkeyes Believe Upset of No. 4 Penn State Possible

Caddy said:
We will be exposed on both sides of the ball Saturday. Our lines on both sides of the ball have struggled every game against far inferior lines. PSU has good receivers that are athletic, a great tight end, and of course Barkley and McSorley. We struggle with running qbs, and Barkley can catch the ball out of the backfield as well, which typically gives our linebackers fits. They will get pressure on Stanley, as they are athletic on defense. I don't see us running the ball on them all that well, and see us having a hard time stopping their running game. Hope I'm wrong, but unless we get them to turn the ball over and we play a perfect game, then I don't see this game being close.
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I'm with you. I expect this team to end 7 -5.

There's no pass rush, no linebackers that can cover, Jewell isn't 100%, Iowa doesn't have any experience at safety. Iowa is playing the 11th best offensive team in the country.

On the other side of the ball, our q.b. is a first - year q.b., our line is missing a left tackle, and PSU is going to pin it's ears back on defense and blitz Iowa till we turn it over.

The Wyoming game gave me hope but the ISU game just destroyed my idea of how good Iowa's defense was. We're Swiss cheese against a top big-play offense.

I'd love to be wrong, but I just don't think Iowa is that good, yet.
 
I don't see a close game with Penn State with them pulling away late. Either they come out and jump on us early and often or we hang around. The longer we "hang around" the more our crowd starts to believe and the more frustrated Penn State will get. Saw this happen against Penn State and again last year against Michigan. Good God, the Michigan fans were chanting "Go Blue" on the concourse. If the game is close the crowd "wills" this team to a W.
 
Iowa has had their "gut check" game....@ ISU. Hostile environment, come-backs, sucking it up, finding a way to win.

PSU hasn't had this yet. It'll be interesting to see how they respond. Especially on the road. I think they have the talent to do so, no doubt. Not sure if they have the moxie/mental attitude.

Iowa may not win, but they won't let PSU leave without a hell of a fight.
 
Will be a good 1st half with Iowa leading 14-10 to start the 2nd half, but PSU will grind and pull away. I hope I'm wrong, but I agree PSU will not leave unscathed. Our line has to make holes, pass block well, and our young backs will be put to the test rushing, and picking up blitzes. Should be a fun game to watch, and I pray to God Iowa keeps this close. We will see on Saturday.
 
If Iowa loses it will be because the D could not keep the points to a reasonable level. I think Iowa needs to score 38 to beat the PSU team. We'll see if they can do that.

Iowa's D is a huge concern for me.... something new as an Iowa fan.
 
This is going to be a tough game. Iowa usually has a good game plan for these occasions, but sometimes they fall a little short. It would really surprise me if Iowa doesn't fight for every yard on the field. If Iowa gets past PSU then every game is a possible win.
 
Motigerhawk said:
Yes. But this Kinnink. A night game. Prime time. KF always gets his team into Us against the world mode for these type of games.
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We all remember the November shockers against Penn State and Michigan. But what about this matchup:
9/30/2006
#1 Ohio State, 4-0
#13 Iowa, 4-0
Game Day in Iowa City
Corso picks the Hawks
Night game at Kinnick
Fans all wearing gold
Final: Ohio State 38, Iowa 17
As many have said, I wish this game was in November.
 
I hope this game doesn't come down to us kicking a field goal for the win.
I am all out of pixie dust. We have won too many games in a row in that situation.... meaning big game winning field goals.
You know the worm will turn at some point. I just hope it's not Saturday night.
 
Stanzi said:
I would love to beat Penn State, but I just don't see it happening. Until Kirk shows he can actually get Iowa to show up against a team like this I don't have much confidence. Stanford, Tennessee, Florida, Penn State last season...we've just looked pathetically unprepared against really athletic teams which is a direct reflection of the coaching staff. What we lack in athleticism compared to those teams we should at least be able to mostly neutralize with good preparation and coaching. Yes, I am somewhat bitter about how ridiculous unprepared we looked in our past 3 bowl games, but I'm still hopeful Kirk and company can prove me wrong.
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This is about as accurate of an assessment as you will find regarding Iowa's football program.
 
Stanzi said:
I would love to beat Penn State, but I just don't see it happening. Until Kirk shows he can actually get Iowa to show up against a team like this I don't have much confidence. Stanford, Tennessee, Florida, Penn State last season...we've just looked pathetically unprepared against really athletic teams which is a direct reflection of the coaching staff. What we lack in athleticism compared to those teams we should at least be able to mostly neutralize with good preparation and coaching. Yes, I am somewhat bitter about how ridiculous unprepared we looked in our past 3 bowl games, but I'm still hopeful Kirk and company can prove me wrong.
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Yep. Iowa Football is still built to defend teams from when KF took over. The game has changed a lot, and we don't have the elite defenses that used to give us a chance. Or I should say we don't have the elite DL that we used to have, as I think we've had plenty of talent at LB and CB. We've had talent on the DL, but not across the line at the same time.

Stanford had a "traditional" offense except they had probably the best offensive player in football, and they schemed to get him the ball. Something Iowa is finally doing a bit with Wadley.

I don't see how we stop PSU unless they come out flat and stumble over themselves. North Texas even got off explosive plays against our defense. If we focus on shutting down Barkley, they have WR and a TE that we'll struggle to cover.

Someone else made the point about Jewel not being 100%, and I think we see that get exposed this weekend.

Hey, you never know? That's why they play the game. But we've seen this script before. Iowa goes up against a spread offense with athletes all over the field and we get run out of the stadium.

I'll be curious to see if PSU sells out to stop Wadley, and if BF can put together a gameplan to counter it
 
The Outlaw and crew punches these ^%@#^%@# in the mouth and sends them back to PA limping. Haven't you seen the movie?
 
Keep the LBs from having to cover Barkley coming out of the backfield. Maybe play all 3 cornerbacks, assign one to Barkley, and keep one of the LBs on the sidelines. Not being cruel, just pragmatic and adaptive. Parker hasn't called me yet for advice, so if you see him before Saturday, pass this along.
 
RobHowe said:
I fear the Outlaw is wounded.
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Even so, he still drove the saber through redlegs guts.

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If we can catch them in order to hit them, then yes maybe we have a chance. I don't think we have the speed on either side of the ball (minus AW) to do so.

This isn't JoePa's Lions who'll line up and try to trade body shots. PSU is going to try and run around us.
 
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