The Matchups: Iowa vs Penn State

I feel good about the game defense will keep score low as long as we do not hurt ourselves we should win game.
 
I think Iowa will win, but I also think this game will have a closer margin than that predicted here.

Don't get me wrong - I would LOVE for Iowa to blow PSU off the field. I'm getting pretty tired of hearing PSU fans babbling about how when PSU wins it wins big, and when Iowa wins it barely gets by.

Nothing I'd like to see more than a 21+ point margin of victory for the Hawkeyes.
 
It will be a defensive battle.......
Hawks need to play good on special teams and eliminate TO's.

In the end, IA wears down PSU and win by 8.
 
i guess i don't see what makes this game close to you guys...they're offense won't be able to move the ball so their defense will be on the field ALL game. they will get tired. i think 21 is a good number
 
It will be interesting to see how we come out and defend them. If we take away Royster and force the game into Bolden's hands early this could get ugly early. He has all the tools but is almost too gutsy.
 
The key is going to be special teams. We can't give up easy points to Penn State. Last year, we were the beneficiaries of a blocked punt returned for a TD. If we give up kickoff and punt returns for TDs, we're going to lose.
 
Personal observation from watching and listening to the PSU- Temple game.

Temple was running up the middle on PSU. PSU adjustment was to go 8 in the box, bring the corners up tight and bump at the line of scrimmage. Temple could not run and could not get WR's off the line of scrimmage.

If they do that to us I see the play-action where RS rolls out or a moving pocket and then see if our WR's can get open, especially deep.

Also- Arizona threw to the D's left. Nielsen and Tarp drops were slightly out of postion leaving a nice hole for the WR to sit in. They need to get better position or PSU will throw there all day long.
 
I see this as THE game that sets the tone for the rest the season, just like last years game in Happy Valley.
We are playing better football offensively this year than last and PSU's defense is good, but not quite as strong a unit as they were a year ago.
The keys to the Hawks winning this game are going to come down to 2 things:
1) Our LB play- Last year Angerer and Edds were outstanding.... and I mean outstanding.
If our LB play Sat night is anywhere near last years LB performance, it will be a long night for PSU.
2) Kick coverage teams- We cant give any points away here certainly. If our coverage teams can pin PSU and their frosh QB inside their own 20 against our D, good things are going to happen.

Go Hawks!
 
thawks1 said:
Personal observation from watching and listening to the PSU- Temple game.

Temple was running up the middle on PSU. PSU adjustment was to go 8 in the box, bring the corners up tight and bump at the line of scrimmage. Temple could not run and could not get WR's off the line of scrimmage.

If they do that to us I see the play-action where RS rolls out or a moving pocket and then see if our WR's can get open, especially deep.

Also- Arizona threw to the D's left. Nielsen and Tarp drops were slightly out of postion leaving a nice hole for the WR to sit in. They need to get better position or PSU will throw there all day long.
Click to expand...

It will be cool if PSU is forced to stack the box to stop our running game. However, if history is much an indicator, they respect Stanzi too much to NOT keep an adequate number of guys back in coverage. I suspect that Iowa will be running against 7 in the box for much of the game. The big question will be how consistently the OL can block against such a strong interior DL. I'll also be really curious to see what PSU does in response to Iowa's TEs.
 
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