3:35 pm
November 21

Iowa @ Penn State

Who will WIN this matchup?

Iowa Hawkeyes (2-2)

@ Penn State Nittany Lions (0-4)

 

Current odds:

Iowa Hawkeyes: (-120)

Penn State Nittany Lions: (+100)

 

• The line for this game is Iowa by 1 point.

• Iowa’s offense is humming lately thanks to an effective ground game, and if the Hawkeyes continue their upswing, coach Kirk Ferentz can reach a significant milestone Saturday afternoon. Iowa looks to maintain its effective run game at Penn State, and if the Hawkeyes can beat the winless Nittany Lions, Ferentz would become only the fourth coach in Big Ten history to win 100 Big Ten games.

• Iowa (2-2) opened the season with close losses to Purdue and Northwestern, but then dominated Michigan State and Minnesota by a combined 84-14. The last two wins placed Ferentz on the cusp of joining select company in the conference. One more means he’ll join Woody Hayes (152), Bo Schembechler (143), and Amos Alonzo Stagg (115) as the only coaches to win 100 conference games.

• Iowa’s 35-7 rout of Minnesota was fueled by an effective running back tandem of Tyler Goodson and Mekhi Sargent, who combined for 228 yards and three touchdowns. Goodson has back-to-back 100-yard games, and has five rushing touchdowns this season.

• Iowa has struggled to effectively run the ball in the past four meetings with Penn State (0-4), averaging 79.2 yards in those games. While the Nittany Lions’ 129.5 rush yards allowed are fifth-best in the conference, they are off to their first 0-4 start since finishing 2001 with a 5-6 record.

• Penn State enters allowing 34.8 points per game, which is the third-worst in the conference. Last week’s 30 points by Nebraska was the fewest the Nittany Lions have allowed all season, but the offense gave them a sense of hope in that 30-23 loss by gaining 501 yards and nearly overcoming a 21-point halftime deficit. The comeback attempt was led by sophomore quarterback Will Levis, who was 14-of-31 for a career-high 219 yards after replacing junior Sean Clifford in the second quarter.

• As of Tuesday, coach James Franklin did not commit to Levis starting over Clifford, who has completed 56.9 percent (74-for-130) of his passes for 896 yards, with nine touchdowns and six interceptions.

• Penn State has won the last six meetings and 11 of the 20 meetings since the Nittany Lions joined the conference in 1993.

4/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
Penn State Nittany Lions
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