Asking the Iowa Hawkeyes beat writer about what to expect in the Penn State football game

Penn State’s first Big Ten test is here as the Nittany Lions face Iowa at 7:30 p.m. Saturday night at Kinnick Stadium.

For more insight on the Hawkeyes, we caught up with Marc Morehouse — the Iowa beat writer for the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

Q: The Hawkeyes are 3-0 with a wild win against Iowa State and an iffy start in last weekend’s win over North Texas before pulling away. Heading into Big Ten play, how would you assess Iowa through these first three games?

A: The passing game is light-years ahead of where it was last year. It’s gone from cave drawings basically to HD TV, it feels like, in one year. New guys in the receivers room, a new quarterback, a new offensive coordinator, a new receivers coach and all of a sudden Iowa has a passing game. Does it have a running game? Does it have a representative running game? We’re still finding that out. Iowa’s most-major injury of the year so far was offensive tackle Ike Boettger. He’s a guy who came here as a tight end, put on 75 pounds and played offensive tackle as a three-year starter. He ruptured his Achilles at Iowa State, so he’s out for the year. Their offensive line’s been jumbled up. ... They kind of got some rhythm in the second half against North Texas, but that’s a Conference USA middling team. Who knows what that means for this week? On defense, the biggest concern is overall team speed. This unit has all the markings of an Iowa defense: kinda scrappy, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. But Iowa State also showed teams ways to beat Iowa’s defense through the air and tackling in space. That’s one area the last two weeks where Iowa’s been really lacking. Thank goodness Penn State is coming to town to help them get a good measure on what they need to do on the perimeter and to tackle in space (laughs).

Q: You mentioned the running game. Akrum Wadley is clearly an explosive player but was bottled up last year at Penn State. How has he improved since, and what do you expect out of him this go-round?

A: I’m not sure he’s improved as much as Iowa’s gotten smarter in using him. The very next week against Michigan, Iowa completely turned it around. Penn State was an absolute flat-tire; against Michigan, Wadley has 160 total yards, which doesn’t sound like a lot but that game ended up being 14-13. Wadley had, I want to say, 62 percent of Iowa’s total offensive output. They used him more in space. They used more small guy against big guy. They used him in more quick-hitting plays I thought, so that got him going more. He kind of rode that wave to the end of the season and finished as Iowa’s leading rusher with almost 1,100 yards. This year, it feels like the same way. They’ve lined him up in the slot. They’ve run jet sweeps with him. They’re getting him the ball through the air, and he’s making impactful plays as a running back out of the backfield. He’s got moves; he’s not an NFL assembly line guy like Saquon (Barkley) is. He is smaller, maybe 195 pounds at the most. But he slows the game down in his mind and sets guys up like I have not seen an Iowa back do. His moves, how he sees the game, how he doesn’t freak out out there. I called him “The Matrix” after the Iowa State game. I really thought he was dodging bullets in slow motion.

Q: Wadley’s backfield mate, quarterback Nate Stanley, it’s his first year starting. He’s got 10 touchdowns to just one pick, and you talked about them having a passing game now. What’s impressed you most about the 6-foot-5 signal-caller they’ve got back there?

A: Against Iowa State, Iowa was up 21-10 going into the second half, but Iowa State scored 21 unanswered and went into the fourth quarter with a 31-21 lead. They had a 38-31 lead, too, and all Stanley did during that game was direct five drives that were 76 yards or longer, including the one that tied the game, which was a 91-yard drive with three-and-a-half minutes left when it started. A lot of it was a Wadley 46-yard touchdown which was SportsCenter-rific. But Stanley’s cool. He doesn’t freak out. His touch is a bit surprising. He’s been really good in some spots, but against Iowa State, he had four — what I call — long foul balls: He missed guys on four deep routes that probably would’ve gone for touchdowns. Against North Texas, he missed another three of those. Those have not haunted Iowa yet, but in a game like Saturday it probably could. The rhythm he’s found with this brand new wide receiver group is terrific. The kid seems tough. He hangs in the pocket. Teammates love him, so we’ll see where this goes.

Q: Defensively, how has the Iowa secondary moved on from All-American Desmond King?

A: They’re still trying to figure it out. Junior Jake Gervase won the safety spot in camp through injuries; Brandon Snyder was supposed to be the guy, but he tore his ACL. Gervase had done everything well, but last week there was a 41-yard run right up the middle of Iowa’s defense and he took a poor angle, and that play mushroomed from a 15-yard gain to a 41-yard touchdown. He got replaced by Amani Hooker, a sophomore who went into last week thinking, “I’m not going to play any safety. I might get in for some nickel.” And then, boom, he’s the safety. Coach (Kirk) Ferentz talked after the game about perhaps having a safety rotation, which would include strong safety Miles Taylor. It sounds like they’re trying to still figure it out. Again, good thing Penn State’s coming in to help them find their way on defense.

This story was originally published September 22, 2017 at 4:14 AM with the headline "Asking the Iowa Hawkeyes beat writer about what to expect in the Penn State football game."