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This defense might be special.
A total of 110,830 people piled into Beaver Stadium for the White Out. None of them saw Iowa score.
In a game that threatened to be just as ugly as everyone thought it could be, No. 7 Penn State football turned on the gas in the second half and put the No. 24 Iowa Hawkeyes in their place. When the dust settled, it was a 31-0 win for the home team. Saturday’s win broke Iowa’s two-game series win streak and must have tasted just a little bit like revenge for James Franklin.
Manny Diaz’s defense continues to unleash havoc on opposing offenses. After forcing five turnovers last week against Illinois, Penn State took the ball away from the Hawkeyes four times. This is starting to become a theme — and it’s a trait that should be able to keep the Nittany Lions in games with any team in the country.
No one on Penn State’s defense recorded more than three tackles. That’s how well the Nittany Lions were able to keep Iowa’s offense off the field. Penn State had the ball for 42 minutes.
Although things only got soggier as the game went on, Penn State played its worst football in the first quarter. Mike Yurcich’s offense nearly took a safety, Iowa logged 66 yards to the Nittany Lions’ 83, the Beaver Stadium clock operators were confused, and things just didn’t seem to click. It looked like a classic rainy Big Ten game.
But, Drew Allar & Co. settled in during the second half, finding the end zone on three drives in a row coming out of the locker room. Despite Tropical Storm Ophelia’s best efforts, Allar finished with 166 yards and four touchdowns at a 68% clip. By the time he was relieved by human victory cigar Beau Pribula in garbage time, Penn State had converted 22 first downs. Iowa had just two.
And those 66 first-quarter yards for the Hawkeyes? They actually had less than that by the time both teams put their reserves in.
The rushing attack wasn’t exactly explosive — Nicholas Singleton’s 19-yard carry in the third quarter was the longest run of the night — but it was consistent and able to pick up yards on short-distance downs when needed. This was aided by a bounce-back performance by the offensive line, which even helped 6-foot-5 Allar convert a few QB sneaks Jalen Hurts tush-push style.
Even while Penn State’s receivers struggled, the tight ends picked up the load and scored the first three touchdowns of the game. Even when this team doesn’t have its best, it seems to find ways to comfortably win games.
The Nittany Lions now move to 4-0 and boast a win over a ranked opponent. A national CBS audience saw Allar work surgically in questionable conditions, and Penn State now has won every post-Covid White Out.
Buy stock now.
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By: ryanparsons
Title: Whited Out: No. 7 Penn State 31, No. 24 Iowa 0
Sourced From: www.blackshoediaries.com/2023/9/23/23887355/penn-state-nittany-lions-football-iowa-hawkeyes-whiteout-drew-allar-big-ten-cfb-james-franklin-psu
Published Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2023 04:03:40 +0000
