Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Crossover episode with Locked On Nittany Lions breaking down this weekend's game from behind enemy lines

Episode Date: November 19, 2020

We are joined by Kevin McGuire of Locked On Nittany Lions to get a true understanding of what to expect from this Penn State team. Why is Sean Clifford struggling this year? How has this defense regressed, and has this team given up? Plus, what does James Franklin's squad need to do to win Saturday. All of it covered right here as we take you behind enemy lines.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order.BuiltGoVisit BuiltGO.com and use promo code “LOCKED,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back, Hawkeye Nation, to a Thursday morning episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Sports Network. As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade, and I'm excited to be bringing you another Thursday morning crossover episode. We are joined today by Kevin McGuire of Locked On Nittany Lions as we talk about Saturday's game between Iowa and Penn State, a matchup that is going to be very interesting when

you look at it statistically. And when you talk to Kevin, there's a lot of interesting variables that could go on in this game that could really impact the outcome more so than a typical game. You look at Penn State being 0-4, but they're a lot more talented than an 0-4 record may suggest. So we're going to talk to Kevin about that game, talk to him about what to expect in it, what to expect from Penn State, and how Iowa and Penn State match up. So that being said, let's hop into that conversation with Kevin right now. All right, we are joined by Kevin

McGuire of Locked On Nittany Lions. I am Andrew Wade of Locked On Hawkeyes. We are doing a Thursday crossover episode because we have Iowa versus Penn State this weekend. And I don't think we are at the spot we would expect to be at this point. I expected Iowa to maybe be 4-0, maybe 3-1. I'm sure, Kevin, you probably thought 3-1, 4- oh, and we're looking at a two and two Iowa team versus an oh and four Penn State team. Not the matchup we might have anticipated heading into Happy Valley this weekend. No, most certainly not. This season, at least as far as Penn State's concerned, has not gone according to plan. And I know Iowa got off to a little bit of a rough start, but hey, a couple of wins under the belts. That's great. Now here following Penn State, we're still kind of wondering when's it going to be a time to celebrate a

victory because the more and more time goes by, the more I'm thinking Penn State could realistically be 0-6 before we know it. And that would obviously spell most fortune for Penn State this coming weekend against Iowa. But you know how this series goes, Andrew, you know, Penn State, Iowa, there are going to be some good contests, good physical matchups. You know, sometimes, sometimes Iowa gets to come up on Penn State and, you know, Penn State, Iowa, they're going to be some good contests, good physical matchups. You know, sometimes, sometimes Iowa gets to come up on Penn State and, you know, Penn State's had a pretty good run, but they've had to work at it too. Yeah. I mean, every single game, I mean, Penn State has usually been ranked top 10, top 15 when Iowa takes them on and every

single game has been close. I mean, Iowa stays into all of those games. The amount of times Penn State has just crushed my soul and ripped out my heart watching this game the last decade is honestly impressive. I think more so than any other team, maybe Wisconsin's up there. But Penn State just has a fantastic job of beating Iowa in like the last couple minutes. I'm thinking about the Saquon Barkley win. I mean, I was at a wedding watching that thinking I was going to win this game. I was going to win this game. I was going to win this game. I literally buy 10 shots for me and all my buddies as we're watching this game to celebrate when they stopped Penn State for that go-ahead touchdown. And then he scored.

And I was like, this is the most depressing ending possible. It's just every single year. But maybe this is the year. Although, I'll be honest, I was hoping Penn State beat Nebraska so there wasn't this weird chip. But I want to get a sense from you. What is the mood in Nittany Lion Nation, and has this team quit on James Franklin? Yeah, there is a lot of doom and gloom right now as you're reacting to yet another loss, of course, against Nebraska, and I know that really rankles at your skin a little bit,

but I get it. But I do think that the more time goes by this season, the more we see this Penn State team, there's a lot of shortcomings. And it doesn't look as though they're making any progress in improving any of those areas. Offense has been a mess, at least at the start of games. Defense has been a very huge disappointment this year. And it's not just because Michael Parsons isn't there. That's a big part of it. But that is not the only excuse for whatever's going on with this Penn State defense.

And losing to Ohio State, fine. Losing to Indiana the way they did, I get it. That stuff happens. Getting trounced by Maryland at home really kind of boiled a little bit. And then this past weekend against Nebraska, would have been nice to see a better start to the game. But, you know, I do think that that wasn't as bad of a loss as the previous week against Maryland.

It's just the fact that it was the fourth loss out of the gate. So there's a lot of hesitation about where this program is as far as stability is concerned. I'm a little bit more optimistic. I think if you look at the grand picture of things, I'm not going to throw out that 2020 is a weird year and just simply skate by on it. But I do think there's a part of that. skate by on it, but I do think there's a part of that. I just think that if you look at James Franklin's career at Penn State, there's more upside potential than a lot of people are realizing right now. Absolutely. When you talk about Penn State starting slow, they are 123rd in the nation in first half points, 26th in the nation in second half points. That's a huge difference.

One of the other things I noticed with Penn State is the turnovers are a huge issue they're not taking the ball away and they're turning over the ball a lot which seemingly might have been the reason why Sean Clifford was like you know replaced halfway through the game last week you talk about the losses to Indiana and the losses to Ohio State people forget about that they should have beat Indiana that was a bullcrap call they were in I mean they played a solid game against Ohio State and thankfully listening to the press conferences, you know, today when we're recording on Tuesday, we're going to be dropping this on Thursday, but it seems like Iowa realizes that Penn state does have a lot of talent. You're absolutely right. The doom and gloom is it's, it's warranted, I think to an extent, but there is a lot of talent on this

Penn state squad. Yeah, there really is. And I know that Kirk Ferentz kind of addressed this as well. He was asked about, you know, what he's seen from Penn State. And if you look at the film, there are some bright spots. And I've found some optimistic points from some of these developments over the course of the season. especially against Ohio State a couple weeks ago. He's been one of the bright spots. But the problem is, you know, the turnovers. You mentioned it. Penn State is turning the ball over far too often, and they don't have a defense that's going to allow you to get away with those mistakes. So giving teams short possessions, leading to touchdowns, that's going to hurt you,

especially with the quality of opponents that Penn State has faced this year already and will face moving forward. Because you look around the rest of the Big Ten East, there are some teams that could give Penn State some problems. Michigan State I know is down, but there's no game on the schedule that is a gimme game for Penn State right now, including Rutgers. Yeah, it's unfortunate that Rutgers is no longer a gimme game. I used to really enjoy looking forward to Rutgers and saying,

we're going to win by 30 and we're going to see our second team play. You talk about the turnovers. Iowa is fantastic at forcing turnovers. That'll be a really interesting matchup coming into this game. You talk about the quarterback position and we also have a concern on our side for the quarterback position. I would say it's probably Iowa's biggest weakness. If we had a quarterback who could throw the ball consistently, we might've beat Purdue and Northwestern. Unfortunately, as Northwestern, he throws three interceptions. It might have been two. I think it was three. Purdue, he overthrows Brandon Smith and Amir Smith-Marset

on basically back-to-back drives for 70-yard touchdown passes. That's going to be a really interesting matchup. Which quarterback can really suck the least, in my opinion? That's a great way to look at it because that really is kind of the big question for this week, which quarterback is going to make more mistakes. So it's going to be very interesting to see how Penn State handles it, because I think the leash is getting very short for Sean Clifford. I do think he's going to start. I don't think James Franklin is going to back away from that and make an official quarterback change just yet. But as we saw against Nebraska, they should not hesitate to make a change. And I

don't want to get carried away with a backup quarterback coming in and providing a spark like Will Levis did against Nebraska, because I don't know if that carries over from week to week. But I do think that if Sean Clifford makes a mistake and it leads to an easy touchdown for Iowa, Penn State gets in a big hole early on. There's not enough time to waste this season. It's already a short enough season as it is. Obviously, the big goals are already gone for Penn State, but you cannot afford to make those kinds of mistakes and allow them to lead to what could be another loss this weekend. So if there's a chance that you can avoid that kind of a meltdown or a disaster, you gotta make, you gotta make that change. And that's what the head coach is there for. Absolutely. I will say for the Penn state fans listening out there, uh, almost no lead is too,

too big to come back from when you're playing Iowa, at least those first two weeks. Uh, So that is always a positive. If you're not, at least you're not, as long as you're not down by 35, that lead is manageable when you're playing Iowa, they've struggled in the second half. They've done better the last two weeks, but the first two weeks of the season was definitely a huge concern. Seeing their second half performance just seemingly dip. I don't know if it's halftime adjustments or what I'm curious to why is sean clifford struggling so much because last year he looked he looked like a really good quarterback he looked like the perfect replacement for um was not tasem hill trace mcsorley trace mcsorley yeah i would need to quickly pause the conversation with kevin because if you're anything like me you're always on the go and that's why i have a message for you i'm

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and you'll get 20% off your next order. Use promo code LOCKED for 20% off at BiltGo.com. Let's go. You know what? I think he's got a lot of potential, and we've seen some of those upsides during the course of his time as a starting quarterback going back to the start of last season, but he's also had his shortcomings, and they typically have come against the better teams that they've faced. Last year, last year's game at Minnesota, got off to a bad start with some bad turnovers, you know, Ohio state really frustrated him last year and did again this year. And I think that I don't,

I don't know if it's a mental thing where he maybe he's putting a little bit too much pressure on himself. I think more so the case this year, that might be what it is because, you know, going into the season, you figure out Penn state is going to have a really good running back situation. And then before they even play it down, basically that's completely gone. So that's a much different area. So maybe, you know, he's the quarterback. He feels like he has to make a few more plays happen and that gets him into trouble. And that's what, that's what they really have to focus on because the longer he tries to extend the play,

it's actually the more likely he is to make a mistake or lose the football or just turn the ball over. So he hasn't been able to make something out of nothing the way that I think a guy like Trace McSorley could. And that's not to say that Sean Clifford's a bad quarterback, because I do think that he can be a good quarterback. He's just having a rough year. So can he overcome it? That's going to be the big question.

And I do think it's a little bit of a confidence thing. You know, if you put together a couple good drives and to the lead to some points and maybe even jump out to a lead that would be kind of cool to see if you're a Penn State fan because they haven't had a whole lot of those this year so I think getting into that kind of position that may calm them down a little bit maybe regain some of the confidence I think that could do wonders for where Penn State goes the rest of the year absolutely I mean this is a big turning point for the season you could win this game and maybe finish four and four. You lose this game.

It's hard to really imagine going up from that standpoint. Now you're just playing to ruin other team season. You talk about, you know, Sean Clifford. And when he starts trying to create and do too much, he forces mistakes. He forces the air issues on the flip side for Iowa. That isn't necessarily Spencer Petras' issue. He just can't be accurate. I mean, he has

four interceptions. They all come across the middle and the guy cannot take a lot of speed off his fastball. He has a strong arm and it shows, but he's trying to just force the ball in there so hard. He's also been plagued by a few drops, but for the most part, it's not really necessarily him trying to do too much. He's getting pretty solid protection. I mean, Iowa has one of the best offensive lines in the country from a pass blocking perspective, but you wouldn't know it based off how he's kind of handling it in the pocket. So definitely going to be a fun matchup to watch the running game. Unfortunate for journey Brown. That is terrible. That was one of the key players I thought Penn state was going to have coming into this year. And the running game

has seemed to seemingly suffered, but it seems to have improved a little bit over the last couple of weeks. Has there been any adjustments or changes, or am I just seeing things when I look at the box score? I don't know if you're seeing things. I really do think that, you know, it's going to take some of these younger guys time to develop in and really figure out exactly what their role is moving forward because things have changed very quickly with, as far as this running back position.

It's still a good, solid position on Penn State's depth chart. It's just not as deep as it was supposed to be this year. So they have good, talented players running the football. So I do think a guy like Devin Ford, he's probably going to be the main guy for the rest of the season. Of course, he's the guy that scored the touchdown against Indiana that shouldn't have scored the touchdown. He's taken a lot of heat for that.

But I do think that that's kind of a learning process. You know, he was thrown into a big role when he wasn't expected to right at the start of the season. So I think he's kind of handling it a little bit better moving forward. It just helps if the offensive line can provide some of those opportunities to break open a big play. That hasn't really been the case there. This offensive line was supposed to be one of the best that James Franklin has had since he has come

to Penn State. And they still have some room for improvement as well. Just like everybody else on this Penn State team right now, there isn't one key area that is really thriving right now. That's a big problem. And that's why they're 0-4. But I think if they get that offensive line, get the running game going, they should be okay for the most part. Absolutely, man. One of the areas of weakness for Iowa is the cutback game from a defensive perspective. So they're doing a great job of securing the point of attack, but then the running backs, if they have good vision, are able to cut back and have been able to force a few missed tackles and get a few yards. That's how Northwestern burnt us. That's how Purdue burnt us with a running game that, oh my gosh,

Purdue pisses me off because they don't have a running game, and they had a walk-on linebacker that played running back get 100 yards on us, which I could go on for days about how annoying that is, but that is an opportunity for Penn State. I'm not sure how the vision of your running backs looks. Obviously, when you talk about younger running backs, that usually is one of the bigger concerns is that general vision. They're just trying to run through the hole and run as fast as they can. If they have that good

vision, that'll give them some opportunities though in this game. Yeah. And they quickly learn when they come out of high school and get to the college game, things go a little faster. So there's a little bit of adjustment there. It doesn't matter how great you were in high school. Things are not going to go quite as easily for the most part. I mean, there are obviously some rare exceptions to that rule. I don't think any of them reside on either Penn State or Iowa's roster right now. So it should be pretty fun to watch. I think there's one thing you can say about Iowa and Penn State, especially when they have played over the years.

The running backs are going to be a key part of this game, right? And it seems to always be the case. You know, Iowa has had some terrific running backs. Penn State, of course, has had some really good running backs over the years uh it's going to come down to the running game one way or the other here yeah I mean it's really annoying when we play Penn State because we you know Saquon Barkley burns us just destroys us makes our linebackers look like they're playing on ice right and then he leaves I think we're good there's no way they can have someone replace him we're fine bring in Miles Sanders okay cool you got another one

Healy's like all right we're bound to get to someone that's bad right Journey Brown comes in like this is ridiculous can we just stop with these running backs who just torch Iowa over and over again man yeah well listen what goes around comes around okay Iowa had a really good run for a long time uh yeah and this is this is the thing that Iowa had a really good run against Penn State for a long time where Iowa was just like nemesis number one for Penn State. It always seemed like no matter how good things may be going for Penn State, that Iowa game was going to mess it up somehow. And now of course, Penn State has had the upper hand for the last how many years? And I know Kirk Ferentz has said that it's been what a decade since they've won at Penn State. I actually

forgot it was that long, but it has been, I went back and double checking. It has been a good amount of time since Iowa has come out of Penn State with a win. Now remember, I don't think this is going to be a six to four kind of a game, but it could be,

it could be an ugly kind of a game. That's what I'm thinking. I mean, almost all of our games are pretty ugly in one way, shape or another. One thing you mentioned, I completely forgot about was the fact that Penn State had struggles against Iowa, especially in early on in Kirk Ferentz's tenure.

Kirk Ferentz talks about it. Their win over Penn State really catapulted Iowa into a decade of a pretty solid football. And then the last decade has been quite the opposite, where Iowa has very much struggled against Penn State. And it's always the game on the schedule we're like if we can just get by Penn State we're in the running for a Big Ten West title and then we drop to Penn State last year was interesting Robert Winster just tore apart our interior offensive line I'm curious you know you lose Eder Gross Matos you lose Robert Winster how does the defensive line look this year because that was arguably the biggest thing I noticed was we couldn't do anything against your interior

defensive line. I didn't know who the hell Robert Windsor was, but he sure did. He sure let me know who he was after that game, man. Yeah. Well, the name I think you want to keep in mind in mind is going to be Shaka Tony. I think he has had some really good plays this season and he's going to be the guy that they're really leaning on to make those plays happen. Unfortunately, like it seems to be a recurring theme for Penn State, it's been a little bit of a disappointment as far as the overall season is concerned. Again, Penn State's defense either plays really well in a half or really poorly in a half. So it feels like it depends on which half you're talking about. And that's one thing that Penn State has been pretty good about.

They have made adjustments after halftime. They dig a big hole in the first half, but all of a sudden, the defense starts making most plays in the second half. Aside from the Ohio State game and the last drive against Indiana, Penn State's defense has been pretty good in the second half, especially these past two weeks against Maryland and Nebraska, and that has allowed the offense to come back. And I do think that this defensive line is going to have to step up a little bit because Penn State likes to call themselves linebacker U, but I think for the last decade, it's really been the defensive line that has been the anchor of this defense.

And I think that that is something that kind of gets overshadowed so many times because of all the focus that Penn State puts on their linebackers. Now, again, no Micah Parsons there. So Micah Parsons was a big star attraction at the linebacker position, but now that he's gone, you need somebody to step up. And I think Shaka Tony, first of all, I love the name Shaka Tony. It's a great defensive lineman name. I think he's going to be,

have to be a guy that's going to make some plays happen in the backfield. And if he does that, then Penn state could be in for a big game. Yeah. I mean, we talked about, I mean, it seems like everything we talked about, these two teams are just so opposite in everything they do, right? Iowa starts fast. Penn State starts slow. Iowa's quarterback, at least we're consistent there.

Both of them turn the ball over. Iowa's turned his ball over because he's throwing the ball too hard. Sean Clifford turns it over because he's trying to do too much with it. This game, though, for Iowa, at least, is going to come down to the running game, and can they establish that running game against Penn State? Because clearly so far I have not been impressed with our passing game. Spencer Petras is ranked 198 out of 298 quarterbacks, according to PFF. Not exactly ideal. You talk about the defense. You lost seven

starters. You talk about the defense kind of struggling. That is a huge deal. But I do, I mean, it seems like Penn State's defense has gotten better though, over the course of the season. I mean, even the Indiana game, Indiana wins that game, but what didn't Penn State out defense has gotten better, though, over the course of the season. I mean, even the Indiana game. Indiana wins that game, but didn't Penn State outgain Indiana by like 200 or 250 yards? Or was that Nebraska? Or was it both games, I think, actually? It was actually both games. Penn State had a decisive advantage in yards, total yardage.

Go back to the Indiana game. The big problem was turnovers. It comes back to it. Indiana had a four-yard touchdown drive. So that right there was one of the big reasons why that game even went into overtime in the first place. Defense was not a problem against Indiana. Again, they gave up the game tying drive at the end of the game, but you know, for basically like 50 minutes, the defense was the thing that was keeping you in that game for a while. It was the offense that was just

giving up too many opportunities to the Hoosiers uh it was sort of the same thing against Nebraska although Nebraska made some plays happen early on so I mean everybody was to blame in the first half for Penn State against Nebraska but again they they came out and they played a much better second half they had a chance to tie the game right at the end of the game there and because the offense was making some things happen after a quarterback change, the defense really clamped down. Now, obviously asking the defense to shut Nebraska out in the second half was probably a little bit too much, but that's the problem. You dig such a big hole in the first half, you know, are you going to be able to climb out of it in the second half when you do start putting things together? That's

been a big problem for Penn State. Yeah. Another, another key focal point I think is the tight ends because Penn State has always, you know, traditionally put together a pretty good tight end group. Iowa has traditionally put it together a pretty good tight end group. Penn State, I would say one of your best playmakers, if not your best playmaker is Pat Fryermuth. I might've butchered his name there. On the flip side, Iowa has Sam Laporta, an up and coming guy. What have teams done to try to stop Pat from impacting the game offensively? I think for the most part this year, going into the season, there was such a big question about, is Penn State going to have any wide receivers to worry about? And the answer has probably been no. Again, Jahad Dotson has been really good and he's made some flashes, but I think it's the

wide receiver position as a whole. There really hasn't been a whole lot of reason for a lot of teams to really worry too much about it. Thank God KJ Hamler's gone. Holy hell. Yeah, I hear that from a lot of people. But because there was so little to worry about from the wide receiver position, you can focus more on taking away your tight end who's going to be your primary receiver. So that's why he hasn't Pat Frymuth hasn't exactly had a terrific season this year I don't know if it's necessarily because he's been underperforming or just the fact that the opportunities haven't been there and I will say

you know Sean Clifford being under pressure pretty much as soon as he gets the ball in his hands hasn't helped either so uh you know if the offensive line can give Sean Clifford a chance to find a Pat Frymuth wide open he did have a big 87 something yard catch last week against Nebraska, whatever it was. He just ran out of steam, couldn't quite cross the goal line, but it did lead to the touchdown. But you know, there hasn't been enough of that this year for Penn State. And I'm not saying that you want to see a Pat Frymuth streaking down the field wide open because that's not exactly his game, but Hey,

Penn State will take whatever they can get at this point. Absolutely. One of the things, if you are a Penn State fan who's been paying attention to Iowa football over the last 10, 15 years, you know they're pretty much stuck in tradition, and they are traditionally running a 4-3 defense. I just want to make sure you all know, though, it's changed. We're advancing. We are adapting here in Iowa City. We ran a 4-2-5 pretty consistently against Minnesota, and I even saw a dime look and a dollar look.

We actually manned up. We were manned up almost the entire game, so I think that'll be a really interesting matchup. How do they handle Pat, right? If you don't have the wide receivers like a KJ Hamler, we don't have to worry about getting burnt then, because you try to match up one of our corners on KJ Hamler, that's bad news bears for Iowa. But with Pat being the sole

weapon, I think it'll be interesting to see if we maybe bring in our dime backer which is basically a safety who can play in the box a little bit and maybe cover him and see how that matchup works but for those Penn State fans out there who are familiar with Iowa and the fact that we have historically ran a 4-3 defense times are a changing Phil Parker is adapting and we actually are blitzing some people now so it'll be a really interesting matchup when you talk about that offensive line. It's very weird to see a program that is so steeped in its ways like Iowa or like Penn State for a long time,

break that mold and how do they thrive in that new look? And sometimes there's a little bit of a transition. Sometimes it doesn't gel as smoothly as you want, but maybe now things, you know, a couple of weeks in now, maybe things are coming together for this Iowa defense and I'll be very curious to see how that all plays out moving forward is that going to be the new look Iowa for years to come or is this still it's just a little temporary flash in the pan that's my big question for you yeah I mean I'm curious too man it has been I mean two years ago the only question reporters would ask are what's happening why do we have a nickel look do we have a dime backer who's gonna be i mean the dime backer that we call

it the cash position in iowa that was such a revolutionary concept for iowa and it was the talk of the entire freaking season last year is the talk of the entire freaking off season now we're seeing man concepts what a what a big deal that is. And then offensively, we ran a wildcat. I don't think I've ever seen a wildcat. Since I've been an Iowa fan, I don't think I've ever seen a running back take a snap. That's not a true trick play. We have Tyler Goodson running wildcat like three, four times a game. I don't know what to think about that. It'd be crazy if they start having him throw the ball too. We might see a wide receiver pass at some point with the way this offense is evolving too. So it has been quite an interesting couple of years in Iowa City as Iowa

tries to keep up with some of these bigger programs, especially now that they're starting to actually get some athletes at the wide receiver and running back position. Yeah, I'm kind of curious what your take is on Iowa as far as recruiting is concerned, because I think that Penn State, one of the criticisms that some people have about James Franklin is he can recruit the talent. He doesn't necessarily develop it the way I think a lot of people want. But, you know, to me, watching a program like Iowa, you know, certainly a program like Wisconsin where they don't necessarily have the geographical advantages that some other programs do. And I'm not saying that Penn State has all the geographical advantages either.

But, you know, I'm always kind of curious now, you know, because we've seen Nebraska kind of stuck in this holding pattern for how long now. Iowa geographically, I, from my standpoint, feels like the same kind of fit as Nebraska. Maybe you can shed some light on that. You know, am I wrong in that thinking, or is that something that has just been an obstacle you've had to overcome? What exactly is the recruiting strategy with Iowa? Yeah, it is interesting. So Iowa as a state itself typically doesn't have a lot of good football, I mean, top tier football talent. The last couple of years, that has actually changed.

Not saying Iowa is a hotbed. They are just a lot hotter than they have been. They're producing, you know, 10, this year, I think it's 15 or 20 D1 football players, which is absolutely unheard of for Iowa. So that is definitely an opportunity for success there. I think their approach to recruiting has been a little bit interesting as well. They've definitely refined it, trying to find those guys who are willing to work hard.

And that is not a problem when you're looking for those big, burly offensive linemen or the quarterback who plays for an eight-man football team and you're turning him into a linebacker in the future. Our issue has been recruiting those athletes. And that has been the biggest issue with the wide receiver position and the running back position. I honestly don't know how we fell into Tyler Goodson. I think he was a huge miss down in Georgia. We've opened up that recruiting pipeline down in Florida a bit as well.

And we've been getting a few athletes from there. Brandon Smith was a lucky as hell grab. Our recruiting coordinator was down there looking at someone else happened to stop by. Cause he knew a guy. I can't remember the full story. Long story. It was basically lucked into seeing Brandon Smith. So it's a little bit of luck, but a lot, I mean, Iowa does a really great job of developing players. And then Kelton Copeland is our wide receiver coach. And he has done a fantastic job of developing that wide receiver group. I don't know if you remember about three, four years ago, but we definitely had probably, I would say bottom 20 wide receiver groups in the nation, not in the

big 10, just in the nation. And so he's done a really good job of developing those players as well, but we're not recruiting five-star guys. We're still recruiting around the same level of guys are recruiting classes are getting a little bit better, but the development and the approach to finding these guys has definitely been a bit better in my opinion I think if you look around the entire Big Ten you know recruiting has taken some steps forward in terms of trying to get faster more athletic whatever term you want to use and I always say I think that Urban Meyer going to Ohio State really kind of ramps things up a little bit maybe there were some developments all the way but I think that Urban Meyer setting the bar higher for Ohio State a program that was already recruiting it very well, certainly among the

best in the Big Ten, what Urban Meyer did. And then, you know, Jim Harbaugh coming into Michigan, having some good success recruiting. I think James Franklin has done a really good job with Penn State. You're seeing a trickle down effect around the entire conference, and that's good for the conference as a whole. It's great because, you know, the Big Ten is not getting left behind the way that some people want to suggest that it is. You know, Big Ten may not have all the best athletes in the country. You know, other conferences probably have more depth, but this isn't the old school Big Ten anymore. I mean, things are opening up around the conference as far as offensive game styles are concerned you know obviously it's not necessarily true for every program and there's some programs that are probably stuck a little bit more than

others michigan uh but i do think that i do think that you know we're starting to see a big 10 that is becoming more offensively entertaining to watch yeah i mean adapt or die and i completely agree with you urban meyer set the bar higher for the Big Ten, where the Big Ten was fine. Everyone was, you know, ground and pound, running the ball, 22 formation, whatever, right? Urban Meyer comes in and says, oh, we have other things to do, right? And so that's, you're starting to see a lot of these teams adapt and approach, adapt their approach. And that's what Iowa's trying to do as well. I mean, the 4-3 worked until everyone in the Big Ten got enough athletes they could run 3-4-5 wide.

And now our linebackers, who are former, you know, quarterbacks on eight man football teams, they can't keep up with these guys. So it forces teams to adapt and it allows us to compete better in bowl games. I mean, we're seeing big 10 football playing a lot better at a higher level when you're getting into playoff time into post-season time, which is definitely good. So I guess shout out to urban Meyer,

as much of a terrible person as he is all things considered. Fantastic. He was able to help the Big Ten evolve. Yeah. Thanks for that, Urban. You mentioned bowl games and I made the mistake before recording this podcast with you of looking at some of the latest bowl projections from one of the outlets out there. I forget which one it was, but unfortunately, I didn't see Penn State's name anywhere. And that was kind of the eye-opening experience.

I know this year everybody's bowl eligible, but the fact that Penn State going into this game this weekend is 0-4 and not even bothered to be listed in any of the bowl matchups anywhere, that tells me that this is a must-win situation for Penn State. I forget where Iowa was slated, but obviously going to any bowl game is probably better than no bowl game. Yeah, 100%.

Definitely makes for an interesting game. Iowa, you know, they need to win out. They want to get and kind of achieve the expectations for this year. Having a new quarterback was always going to be a challenge. I think not as big of a challenge as we necessarily anticipated.

Lost to quite a few guys in the defensive line. So with that being said, Penn State 0-4, Iowa 2-2, maybe not where either of us thought these teams would be at early on in the season. What are your predictions for this game? Pain, as Mr. T said in Rocky III. I think this is going to be pain. Here's the thing.

I think Penn State has to win a game eventually, almost by mistake. And it could be this weekend weekend but I'm not entirely confident in suggesting that I said earlier I think that Penn State's staring at an 0-6 record right now the way that things have been playing if they don't improve anywhere and on the offense or the defense the way they start games I think that is a very realistic possibility here and so that's why I'm I'm going to lean the other way I I think that Iowa, I actually, I think I was the favorite here. So I I'm actually going to go with Iowa on the road this weekend. First of all, no fans in the stands.

So that's a huge, great equalizer. I think for a program, especially like Iowa, who has struggled in Beaver stadium, you know, games in Kinnick are obviously much tighter, but when they come down to happy Valley, it takes things tend to go a little bit more Penn State's way in recent history. That's no longer the case. So I look at the way that I always played the last couple of weeks. I feel much more confident about Iowa's chances of getting out of this one with a win. I said earlier, I think it's going to be ugly. I think it's going to be scrappy. And I don't know who that favors, but the way that Penn State has been going this year, and let's say show some serious

signs of improvement this week. I think this is an Iowa game that's going to be a victory at the end. I'm not going to predict it because I don't want to jinx myself, but so far this is the fifth crossover. Iowa's played five games. Every time on the crossover episode the other team has predicted Iowa to win, they have. So I hope that's the case. I do agree with you.

It is going to be an ugly game, likely a very low-scoring game. A lot of defense. Should be a very good opportunity to get super pissed off and drink our Coors lights during that game to maybe help us reduce our angst. Kevin, it's always a blast doing these crossover episodes with you. We'll have to be back talking about basketball in a couple of weeks as well when Big Ten kicks off for the basketball season. Any last words, any last questions you have for me from a Hawkeye perspective? No, Andrew, I think we covered a lot of ground.

I think we've said it once again. This is going to be an interesting game, I guess. I can't say it's going to be an exciting game. But there's a lot on the line, I think, as far as pride is concerned for Penn State. Obviously, I was in a much better situation. So I'm looking forward to seeing how it all plays out. I know I always appreciate your insight on the Iowa Hawkeyes. I always learn a lot from that standpoint.

So I always enjoy doing these cross service with you too. And I don't know when we'll do it again because I'm not a huge basketball guy, but Hey, if you want to come on, we'll, we'll talk some Penn state Iowa memories or whatever. That's fine with me. You know where to find me. And I know where to find you. Yeah, man. I love football a little bit more than basketball, but you can't ignore the fact that Iowa is a NCAA title contender this year. So I had to talk about basketball at some

point. It has been a great crossover episode. Kevin McGuire of Locked On Nittany Lions. I'm Andrew Wade of Locked On Hawkeyes, and we'll be back for another day. All right. And that concludes our Thursday morning crossover episode with Kevin McGuire of Locked On Nittany Lions. Even if you don't like Penn State, you should definitely go follow Kevin on Twitter. He does a fantastic job of covering college football around the nation, not just with Penn State. He's also featured on our Thursday morning episode of Locked On College Football every single Thursday morning. So check that out as well as they break down the upcoming week's games. And thank you all for tuning in. We're going to be back tomorrow morning.

We also have some great stuff coming up for the basketball season. We have a special guest coming on, a former Iowa basketball player, who's going to help us preview this upcoming season and what to expect from a top-10-ranked Iowa basketball program. And as always, if you love the show, make sure to give us that five-star review and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Subscribe wherever you downloaded this episode at as well. Hawkeye Nation, I appreciate you tuning in for this Thursday morning episode.

We will see you tomorrow morning, and as always, let's go Hawks!