Iowa's defense is the key in this Big Ten contest as the Hawkeyes bring a talented Front 7 into Happy Valley on Saturday night to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Penn State reminds us a lot of Ole Miss in this spot. They have yet to prove how good they really are and are vulnerable for many different reasons in this game.
The offensive line has looked shaky and that's against Akron, Syracuse, and Temple. Now Iowa comes in here and they have allowed a total of 20 points their last two games against Iowa State and Arizona; stiffer competition than Joe Pa's team has faced thus far. This Iowa group that is bringing back eight starters from defense that held Penn State to just 3.2 yards per carry and 109 passing yards last year.
The Iowa defense has much better athletes up front then this Penn State offensive line has faced so far. Opponents have thrown just two touchdowns and given up six interceptions to this Iowa secondary. So if this Hawkeyes front seven can cause the pocket to collapse then Daryll Clark will be forced out of the pocket quite a bit. The Nittany Lions receiver corps is very inexperienced and if they get flat out dominated by this Iowa defensive backfield it wouldn't shock us.
If Iowa can slow down Evan Royster and force Penn State to rely on their passing game then they can walk out of here with a victory. Stopping the Penn State ground attack won't be easy though . They need to contain Royster and company like they did to the Arizona Wildcats stand out back Nick Grigsby last week. Grigsby had one big run for 58 yards; on his other 10 carries he was held to an average of 1.7 yards per carry.
The Penn State defense who is an inexperienced bunch already will most likely be without MLB Sean Lee and last years leading tackler Navorro Bowman will be playing with a groin issue. This is already a thin group since Michale Mauit who was projected to be a key component of this defense is already out for the year. That leaves some room for the Iowa run game which had their own setback to deal with when starting back Jewel Hampton was injured. They have a kid named Adam Robinson who is built just like Hampton and looks very similar to him so far filling in. He had 108 yards last week against Arizona and we think he this redshirt freshman is the real deal.
The Nittany Lions have lost six of the last seven meetings to Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa Hawkeyes and we'll put them on upset alert again this year. They may not win but Iowa has enough talent on both sides of the ball to keep this within the line oddsmakers have set.
Free Pick: Iowa +10 (-110)