The big game is here as Iowa will travel to Penn State on Saturday Night to take on the 7th Ranked Nittany Lions in front of a sold-out crowd all dressed in white. Iowa finished the non-conference portion of the schedule 3-0 whipping Western Michigan 41 to 10 last Saturday. The First half was a little concerning, but Iowa dominated on the run rolling in the second half.
Iowa rushed for 243 yards and that was without starting RB Kaleb Johnson and backup Jazuin Patterson who barely played. Leshon Williams had a big afternoon with 145 yards on 12 carries. Now while the running game was clicking the passing game just didn't look good at all. Iowa QB Cade McNamara was just 9/19 for 103 yards 2 tds 2 ints. He just didn't look comfortable in what he was seeing. I think missing a lot of camp with an injury is really hurting this offense. Hopefully he can have a good practice this week and start trusting guys to be open. The other big blow the Iowa offense was dealt is the injury to TE Luke Lachey as he went down with a right ankle injury and is done for the year after having surgery.
Defensively Iowa gave up some big plays in the passing game one touchdown counted and the other didn't, but they have to clean that up this week. Jamari Harris returned to the starting lineup at DB and was beat on both of the touchdowns. Hopefully that was just a little rust for him. So let's look ahead to this week's match up.
So, let's dive deeper into Penn State. The Nittany Lions are 3-0 on the season they are 1-0 in the Big Ten after beating Illinois Saturday 30 to 13. Penn State beat West Virginia 38 to 15, Delaware 63 to 7 and the win against Illinois. Looking at the offensive stats for Penn State they are averaging 467 yards of total offense per game with 259 in the air and 208 on the ground. Penn State QB Drew Allar is completing 48 percent of his passes 59/88 for 737 yards 4 touchdowns 0 interceptions. His favorite target is Keandre Lambert Smith who has 13 Receptions for 220 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Nittany Lions have run the ball effectively too Kaytron Allen leads the team with 208 yards rushing on 42 carries with 2 TDS. Nicholas Singleton with 154 yards on 36 carries with 5 touchdowns.
Defensively Penn State is allowing 267 yards per game with 165 yards passing and 102 yards rushing. Illinois, who is a physical team, rushed for just 78 yards on 29 carries. This defense is the best Iowa will see this year likely. They have players all over the defense that can make plays. The Nittany Lions have forced 7 turnovers with 5 Interceptions and 2 forced fumbles. LB Curtis Jacobs leads the team with 12 tackles and Safeties Jaylen Reed with 10, Zakee Wheatley with 10.
Special Teams Penn State's kicker Alex Felkins has been solid, 4/5 on FG long of 45 and 14/14 on PATS.
One of the biggest keys will be can Iowa run the football consistently and pass protect McNamara. Last week he got hit a lot and was sacked 4 times that can't happen this week. I think this could be a week Iowa looks to pass on 1st down a bit because I have a feeling Penn State is going to try and shut down the run first. Now I know Johnson and Patterson could be out, but I think Williams can fill in at RB. He's also a different type of runner who is more downhill and that should help vs an aggressive defense like Penn State. WR Diante Vines caught his first TD Pass last week. The other big key in this game too me for the Iowa offense is they have to convert some 3rd downs and keep drives alive. The Crowd is going to be very rowdy. Can Cade complete some big passes on 3rd down to keep drives alive. Will we see Erick All step into Lachey's role and become that go to guy for McNamara.
It's really hard to say what to expect out of Iowa because once again the offense has been inconsistent in the non-conference games. We know that Iowa defense will be ready to go and make things difficult for the Penn State Offense. In an atmosphere like this it's important for Iowa to take an early lead because if they fall behind that crowd will be going even more crazy. A Game like Saturday is why Cade McNamara is here now can he deliver when the pressure is on. This game isn't all on him obviously, but Iowa needs him to make some plays with his legs and arm on Saturday Night if they want to pull off the upset. The Pass protection has me concerned but the first two games they were great then last week they gave up 4 sacks.
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