Here’s 5 things to watch in Saturday’s Penn State vs. Iowa college football game
The Penn State Nittany Lions (0-4) are trying to avoid starting their season 0-5 for the first time in program history when they take on the Iowa Hawkeyes (2-2) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday (BTN) at Beaver Stadium.
Here are five things to keep an eye on:
WHO WILL START AT QB FOR PENN STATE?
Penn State head coach James Franklin said Tuesday that a decision hadn’t yet been made on who would start at quarterback — redshirt junior Sean Clifford or redshirt sophomore Will Levis. And on Wednesday, Franklin said he and his staff had some “pretty good conversations” and were “clear” with both quarterbacks on how this week of practice leading up to the Nittany Lions’ game against Iowa would go.
All of that aside, the decision seems fairly obvious. The Penn State offense needs new life, and Levis provides that.
The 6-foot-3, 222-pound Connecticut native has only started once before in his career (against Rutgers last season). But last Saturday against Nebraska, he made smart decisions with the football and almost led a comeback after being subbed in for Clifford early in the second quarter in a 24-3 deficit. Levis helped the Nittany Lions outscore the Cornhuskers 17-3 in the second half and finished with 219 yards through the air (14-31 passing) and 61 yards on the ground.
While Clifford has made 16 starts at quarterback for Penn State and led the team to an 11-2 record last season, he’s struggled through three-plus games this year.
Clifford threw an interception in the first quarter and had a fumble returned for a touchdown in the second quarter against the Cornhuskers before being pulled. The 6-foot-2, 217-pound Ohio native has eight turnovers (six interceptions and two fumbles) to go with his 10 touchdowns (nine passing and one rushing) on the season. So far this year, he’s completed just 74 of his 130 pass attempts (56.9 completion percentage) for 896 yards and rushed for 169 yards on 58 carries.
If Levis gets the start against the Hawkeyes on Saturday, it’s hard to see Clifford getting his role back for the rest of the season.
PENN STATE’S RUNNING BACK TRIO
For the first time all season, it looked like Penn State’s trio of running backs collectively found its footing against Nebraska last Saturday.
Sophomore running back Devyn Ford — who Franklin said would be the team’s feature back after the losses of star redshirt junior running back Journey Brown and standout sophomore running back Noah Cain — finished with 66 rushing yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. Ford’s touchdown against the Cornhuskers was only his second of the year and his first since his accidental touchdown in the Nittany Lions’ season-opener versus Indiana.
The freshman running back duo of Caziah Holmes and Kevyone Lee had also had breakout games — both impacted the contest in key moments and had career highs in rushing yards. Holmes finished with 50 rushing yards on four carries, while Lee had 49 rushing yards and a touchdown on eight carries.
“I thought we ran the ball last week as good as we’ve run it this year,” Franklin said Tuesday. “And that’s a combination of the offensive line and tight ends, as well as the running backs.”
Through four games so far, Ford has totaled 207 yards and two touchdowns on the ground on 53 carries. Holmes and Lee have combined for 182 rushing yards and one touchdown.
To take pressure off of whoever Penn State’s starting quarterback is — Clifford or Levis — the Nittany Lions will need their running backs to have consistent success. All three showed flashes against Nebraska last Saturday of the types of players they can be, but it remains to be seen whether they can have success on a consistent basis.
Iowa is ranked No. 22 in the country in opponent rushing yards allowed, giving up just 112.8 yards on the ground per game. Keep an eye on how the Nittany Lions’ running backs fare against a stout Hawkeyes rush defense.
PSU’S FIRST-HALF ENERGY
Throughout each of its first four games, Penn State has had sluggish starts. The Nittany Lions have been outscored 93-26 in their four first halves this season.
The team has trailed at halftime by at least 10 points in all four of its games so far — down 21 at the end of the first half against Nebraska and Maryland, 15 against Ohio State and 10 against Indiana. Aside from the blowout against the Terrapins, the Nittany Lions clawed themselves back in each of those games to make the contest competitive. But players know that they’ll need to start finding that same spark from the opening kick.
Last Saturday against Nebraska, Penn State didn’t score its first touchdown of the game until the third quarter, when it was already in a 21-point hole. Clifford’s first-quarter interception set up a Cornhuskers field goal. Then, after the Nittany Lions’ offense couldn’t score a touchdown in the red zone in the early second quarter, the defense gave up a touchdown on a 45-yard jet sweep from Cornhuskers receiver Zavier Betts with 14:01 left in the first half.
But after trailing 27-6 at halftime, Penn State outscored Nebraska 17-3 in the second half and gave up just 95 yards of total offense.
“We see what we’re capable of as a team, and it does give us momentum,” junior defensive tackle P.J. Mustipher said Wednesday. “But we’ve gotta use it. It means nothing if we show what we’re capable of in the second half if we don’t come out in the first half against Iowa playing like we did in that second half. We’ve just gotta start faster, man.”
It’ll be interesting to see if Penn State can carry its second-half momentum from last weekend into its matchup with Iowa on Saturday.
CAN PSU CONVERT IN THE RED ZONE?
After Penn State’s loss to Nebraska last Saturday and during Franklin’s Tuesday Zoom conference, the Nittany Lions’ inefficiency in the red zone was a major topic.
Penn State has made 19 trips to the red zone through its first four games but has converted only 12 times — scoring eight touchdowns and four field goals. The Nittany Lions’ red zone conversion rate of 63.2 percent ranks 123rd out of 126 FBS teams.
In their game against the Cornhuskers, the Nittany Lions made six trips to the red zone but scored just one touchdown. Penn State’s final two drives of the game ended in the red zone — from Nebraska’s 11- and 13-yard lines — with chances to send the game to overtime.
“Red zone offense is about running the ball and being detailed in the passing game,” Franklin said after Saturday’s loss. “All the windows are shrunk down, so it magnifies. It magnifies if you’re good in the red zone in passing offense, and it magnifies if you’ve got some things to work on.”
Moving the ball down the field wasn’t Penn State’s problem in the second half against Nebraska (the Nittany Lions outgained the Cornhuskers in total yards 501-298 for the game). The issue was making the most of its opportunities.
Oftentimes this season, the Nittany Lions have strung together lengthy drives and taken chunks of time off the game clock, only to ultimately settle for field goals or not convert on fourth down.
If Penn State doesn’t start taking advantage of its chances to score — starting on Saturday against Iowa — it will be hard for the Nittany Lions to give themselves a chance in any game.
TURNOVER BATTLE
Another way in which Penn State has repeatedly shot itself in the foot this season is by turning the ball over.
Through four games so far, the Nittany Lions have given up 33 points off of turnovers. They’ve only been outscored by 37 total points in those contests, so it’s easy to see how taking better care of the football could increase their tally in the win column.
In the loss to Nebraska last Saturday, Clifford’s two first-half turnovers were costly. His interception on the first drive of the game was returned 55 yards to the Nittany Lions’ 15 yard line, and it set up a Cornhuskers field goal. And his fumble in the early second quarter was scooped up and returned for a touchdown to extend Nebraska’s lead to 21 points with 11:29 left in the opening half.
Franklin said turnovers were the “story of the game” in the contest against the Cornhuskers, but really, that’s been the story of the season for the Nittany Lions. Penn State is ranked No. 120 in the country in turnover margin (-1.5).
On the other hand, Iowa is tied for fourth in the nation in opponent turnovers, averaging 2.5 per game.
If Penn State coughs up the ball up like it has throughout the season versus Iowa on Saturday, the Nittany Lions could dig themselves into an early hole again, en route to a fifth consecutive loss.
