Three reactions: Penn State unloads on Iowa in long game revenge
Penn State head coach James Franklin offered a simple assessment of what he’d just seen. A participant in a 31-0 suffocating win over Iowa, the Nittany Lions completed its deconstruction in three acts.
First, Penn State overcame some early field position and offensive challenges. Taking advantage of a key Iowa punt return turnover, the first half proved a lesson in sticking with the plan.
Second, the Nittany Lions exerted their dominance in a stretch of defensive play nearly unthinkable against a Big Ten opponent. After picking up 54 yards on their first two possessions, the progress stopped. The Hawkeyes were held to two yards, total, on their ensuing seven drives. None of them exceeded three plays. None exceeded 1 minute, 33 seconds in time of possession.
In the final act, the Nittany Lions’ offense breaking through in the third quarter, they converted the game’s narrative from dominance into inflicted embarrassment. What’d been a stout Iowa defense wilted as Penn State controlled the ball for 16 minutes and 7 seconds out of the first 17:41 of the second half, scoring three touchdowns along the way. And, the Hawkeye offense that offered glimpses of competency in the first quarter gave way to dysfunction.
Iowa finished with 76 total yards of offense. Penn State finished with 97 total plays on offense.
Penn State finished with four takeaways. Iowa finished with four first downs.
Iowa finished with 14:33 of possession, including 2:46 in garbage time. Penn State finished with an inconceivable 45:27 owning the ball.
The dust settled, Penn State avenging a 23-20 loss in Iowa City in 2021, Franklin’s takeaway was straightforward.
“I’m pleased with how we’re playing overall,” Franklin said. “I did think we got better this week. And it’s something to build on for next week.”
Here, we examine three key reasons for the win with reactions to them:
Grinding it out
Against a wounded, stale, badly outmatched Iowa offense on Saturday night, Penn State could have taken a few routes to a win. Welcoming the Hawkeyes to Beaver Stadium for a White Out, the Big Ten tilt could have been a defensive duel, an offensive fireworks display, or any variety in between.
With rain blanketing the University Park, Pa., campus, and a storied, fundamentally sound Iowa defense to deal with, though, the Nittany Lions went in an altogether different direction.
Patient, mature, and fundamentally sound in all three phases of the game, Penn State delivered to Iowa what Iowa delivers to every other opponent it faces. Penn State went for and converted four fourth-down looks. The Nittany Lions averaged just 3.8 yards per carry and 7 yards per completion but did so to the tune of 397 total yards of offense.
A master class in body blows, Penn State repeatedly put Iowa in a disadvantageous position. It meant no single shot was necessary for the knockout.
“We grinded that game out which, when you’re playing a team like Iowa, you can’t get bored of grinding it out,” Franklin said. “Their style of defense, they’re gonna make you grind it out in the run game and they’re not going to give up big plays. They played soft in the secondary and kept everything in front of them.
“Would we like to be more explosive? Yes. But I don’t know if necessarily that was important in this game the way it played out.”
The initial anomaly
In the immediate aftermath of Penn State’s 38-15 win over West Virginia to open the 2023 season, Franklin acknowledged the oddity of neither team turning the ball over.
That it didn’t happen at all, let alone in the first game of the year, was unusual. And, given the Nittany Lions’ defensive expectations as a ball-hawking, talented unit, the inability to force a takeaway was something of a disappointment.
They’ve made up for it in the time since.
Getting on the board against Delaware with two key turnovers, followed by five last week at Illinois, the Nittany Lions poured on another four on special teams and defense on Saturday night.
“I do think we’re doing a really good job of respecting the ball in general. We talk about the ball being the program,” Franklin said. “When the other team has the ball, we’re not happy about it. We’re trying to get it back and do everything we can. We’ve done a good job of that with turnovers.”
Not that Penn State didn’t have some good fortune along the way. A Nick Singleton carry ruled dead could have gone the other way. And, a Kaden Saunders muffed punt return found its way back into the redshirt freshman’s hands.
Still, emerging without an interception thrown for Allar in his fourth consecutive start, or a fumble lost, the Nittany Lions have embodied as a team the mantra Franklin and his staff have worked to stress this season.
Said Franklin, “When you’re carrying the ball, whoever it is, you’re carrying the entire program and everybody’s hopes and dreams with the program in your hands.”
Through four games, Penn State’s turnover margin is +2.75 per game. The Nittany Lions will come out of the weekend tops in the category. They’re also now the only program in FBS without surrendering a turnover to this point in the season.
Patience is a virtue
This likely wasn’t what Penn State’s top offensive performers had envisioned coming into the season. Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton combined for 38 carries and 121 yards, with no touchdowns, on Saturday night. The longest carry between them went for 19 yards.
KeAndre Lambert-Smith led the Nittany Lions in receiving with eight catches for 66 yards and a touchdown. His longest reception was 14 yards. Trey Potts finished with the long reception for the team, checking in at 16 yards.
And, against yet another defense willing to sacrifice short-yard pickups, without surrendering the big plays, Penn State was forced again to be patient offensively. Led by quarterback Drew Allar, who finished completing 25 of 37 passes for 166 yards and four touchdowns, that’s exactly what the Nittany Lions did.
“I thought Drew did a really good job of managing the game,” said Franklin. “So, I think our kids settled down and we got a pretty good idea of what they did well.
“I thought Mike (Yurcich) did a really good job of calling the game and not getting bored against an Iowa defense who’s damn good. And not get bored of the plays that were consistently getting us five and six yard. Coming back to them. Don’t get bored with them; keep coming back to them until they’ve proven they can stop them.”
After two three-and-outs in their first three possessions, the Nittany Lions found that piece of the equation. Iowa, conversely, did not.
The result is a team built for explosiveness offensively that has now been forced into patience, maturity, and figuring out how to win in other ways. Should the trajectory continue in which the Nittany Lions are capable and comfortable excelling at both, the combination could be dangerous.
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