Any time Penn State and Iowa get together, things tend to slow down. The two teams have a history of playing some tough defensive games over the years, and Saturday night’s top-25 matchup in front of a whiteout crowd was no exception. But Penn State managed to find something that worked on offense and head coach [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] gave credit to his offensive coordinator, [autotag]Mike Yurcich[/autotag], for sticking to something that wasn’t exactly explosive but incredibly effective.
“I thought Mike did a really good job of calling and not getting bored against an Iowa defense who is damn good and not get bored of the plays that were consistently getting us five to six yards and coming back to them,” Franklin said in his postgame press conference. “Don’t get bored with them. Keep coming back to them until they prove that they can stop it.”
Why stop doing something that is clearly working, right?
Penn State had 397 yards of total offense and chewed up a little over 45 minutes of game clock on a wet and damp night in Happy Valley. It was the kind of weather where Iowa could have taken advantage of the situation a bit more had they not been going up against the Nittany Lions defense. As the defense did its job, Yurcich and the offense didn’t feel too many needs to force anything into existence. Instead, an average of 3.8 yards per rushing attempt was just fine.
After leading 10-0 at halftime, Franklin and Yurcich and the rest of the coaching staff got together to figure out what adjustments needed to be made. Fortunately for Penn State, not a lot needed to change.
“I thought we were able to stay on schedule,” Franklin explained. “You look at the two biggest stats of playing an Iowa team. First, our first down efficiency for both sides, our offensive efficiency, our defense’s efficiency, getting them off schedule. We were able to stay on schedule, for the most part. We were able to get them off schedule. That was a big stat.”
Penn State improved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play with the 31-0 victory over the Hawkeyes. All of this early success has been fueled by stellar defense but sophomore starting quarterback [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] has played confidently and with poise. Penn State has yet to lose a turnover, which is a credit to Yurcich and how he is running the offense so far this season.
Penn State looks to remain undefeated next week when they visit Northwestern in Week 5.
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