If there’s one thing you don’t want to see as a fan, it’s that you are projected to “comfortably” lose a big game.
It doesn’t get much bigger than a white-out game at Penn State. Beaver Stadium is arguably the toughest environment in college football. Few can produce an atmosphere as they do in Happy Valley for their yearly white-out night game.
Iowa will travel to play a Penn State team with Big Ten Championship aspirations on Saturday, Sept. 23, in Week 4 of the season. It is the conference opener for the Hawkeyes, and what a way to kick it off. The Nittany Lions finished seventh in the nation last year with an 11-2 record. They defeated Pac-12 champions Utah, 35-21, in the Rose Bowl game.
As always, Penn State features a loaded roster with plenty of talent on both sides of the ball. Redshirt freshman quarterback Drew Allar hopes to take Penn State to uncharted territories, beating Ohio State and Michigan to make it to the College Football Playoff.
While their focus will, of course, be on those two teams, they certainly won’t overlook an early season battle with the Hawkeyes. In Kevin McGuire and Brad Wakai’s game-by-game predictions for Nittany Lions Wire, both projected wins over the Hawkeyes. McGuire gave a nuanced look at the matchup, expecting a tough defensive battle.
Penn State’s second primetime game on national TV of the season should result in another good win for the Nittany Lions. Iowa’s defense won’t make it easy or pretty, but Penn State’s offense will score just enough points to win a defensive battle. – Kevin McGuire, Nittany Lions Wire.
Honestly, this is probably my view of this game as well. These are two tough, hardened teams that will be in contention for the Big Ten Championship game. Most contests between these two sides tend to be really tight affairs. Five of the last six games have been decided within six points.
Brad, on the other hand, had some strong words on the game.
Death, Taxes and Penn State White Out victories. That should be the case here against an Iowa team who has struggled offensively and will be facing one of the top defenses in the country on the road. Iowa is also replacing a lot of production on their defensive side of the ball. I expect the Nittany Lions to win this one comfortably. – Brad Wakai, Nittany Lions Wire.
Comfortable certainly is a choice here. Penn State hasn’t won comfortably against Iowa since 2016. Since then, I have graduated from both high school and college. The Hawkeyes typically play teams close, aided by Phil Parker’s great defense.
We’ll see just how comfortable the game is for the Nittany Lions on Sept. 23.
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