White Out Shut Out
The game opened in the way we all feared and threatened to be a battle for the duration. Maybe you expected it and I was the only one surprised, but I truly was pleasantly surprised to watch Penn State completely dominate and grind out a shutout. Against Iowa, a matchup that guarantees a knockdown, drag-out, slugfest with physical consequences. I needn’t have held my breath.
I mentioned our last encounter with the Hawkeyes in my article last week and it came out later in the week that Coach Franklin had used Iowa’s Coach Ferentz’s 2021 comments as team motivation. I mostly remember how our season went downhill following that loss but it’s not hard to remember Iowa’s fans booing our injured players, as if they were faking, and it’s certainly unforgettable to see another head coach mocking your team. And so we exacted our 2021 season revenge in front of the second largest Beaver Stadium crowd, dismantling Iowa bit by bit, small yardage gain by small yardage gain.
We dominated against a ranked Big Ten team. We are the only team in the nation that has yet to turn the ball over, a statistic that surely won’t last but is impressive all the same. We kept the Hawkeyes at arm’s length the whole game.
Drew Allar had a career high of four touchdowns and converted two fourth and ones with a sneak. Beau Pribula once again saw playing time in the fourth quarter, invaluable experience for our back up. The offensive line put in an impressive performance against a good Iowa defense, not allowing Allar to be sacked.
Our defense played white out, shut out. Chop Robinson and Amin Vanover had sacks; Adisa Isaac had a sack and a fumble recovery. Zuriah Fisher also recovered a fumble.
Special teams was maybe the only phase to struggle a bit. Kaden Saunders muffed a punt but thankfully recovered it, and Felkins hit a 45-yard field goal but missed one from 43.
The Nittany Lions racked up an unbelievable 45 minutes of possession time and 95 plays.
All in all, an amazing game to watch. What more could we have asked for than, as Nate Bauer from Blue White Illustrated said, “out Iowa-ing Iowa?”
See you next week in Evanston when we take on Northwestern. Keep it up Nittany Lions! Go State! Beat the Wildcats!
