Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Hawkeyes vs Penn State crossover episode: Why Zach VanValkenburg is in for a big game, and why this will be a low-scoring battle

Episode Date: October 7, 2021

We are joined by Locked On Nittany Lions host Kevin McGuire for a Thursday morning crossover episode covering the Iowa Hawkeyes vs the Penn State Nittany Lions matchup. What is going on with Penn State's running attack, and why that could dictate the flow of the game plus how much has Sean Clifford progressed from last season. Will he maintain his impressive display of ball security against a turnover-dominant secondary coached by Phil Parker? Offensively, Tyler Goodson will have to be the catalyst for the team as Penn State's secondary is strong but their defensive line is not. We break it all down on the show today.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!SweatBlockGet it today for 20% off at SweatBlock.com with promo code LockedOn, or at Amazon and CVS.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. 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 Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back, y'all, to an awesome episode we have coming at you right now. We have the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast and the Lockdown Nittany Lions podcast doing a crossover episode in anticipation for this big-time matchup, two top five teams taking place this weekend. It is going to be a lot of fun, and we've got you covered here. For Lockdown Hawkeyes and Lockdown Nittany Lions, we want to thank you for making us your first listen every single day, wherever you get your podcasts, at Monday through through Friday free also on YouTube as well. Kevin,

you are just recently added to the YouTube platform. So lots of fun there. You can catch us wherever you get podcasts and YouTube channels that as always, if you're a Hawkeye fan, you are listening to Andrew Wade, the lockdown Hawkeyes. If you are a Penn state fan, you are listening to Kevin McGuire of the lockdown Nittany Lions. And if you are a fan of neither of those teams, we appreciate you being here regardless. Kevin, my man, how are listening to Kevin McGuire of the Lockdown Nittany Lions. And if you are a fan of neither of those teams, we appreciate you being here. Regardless, Kevin, my man, how are you doing today, buddy? Man, I'm so excited. I know going into the season, I know when we were looking at future crossover episodes, I knew that I was going to get a chance to work with you.

And I always enjoy getting a chance to do something with you. And just the fact that we have such a major game on our hands, I'll be honest, I didn't see this one coming when the season started. But the way that this season has been going, Penn State and Iowa have avoided the mines so far. So it's setting up for probably, is this the most anticipated Penn State-Iowa game we've seen that has mutual sides? Because obviously we've seen Penn State have really good years, maybe Iowa not so good. Iowa, on the other hand, being a really good team, Penn State kind of subpar. But as far as I can remember, this is the biggest Penn State-Iowa game I think we've ever seen.

Yeah, I mean, this is only the third time that Penn State and Iowa are facing each other as ranked teams in the Kirk Ferentz era. So, I mean, Kirk's been there for a century. He's been there a while. Yeah, so, I mean, it's a big-time matchup, and I completely agree, man. I always enjoy talking to you. I always enjoy talking about Iowa and Penn State football, man. It is going to be quite a weekend, and I agree.

When we looked at the schedule coming up, Iowa had, you know, Indiana. They had Iowa State. Those were going to be tough matchups. And they also have Maryland, a team that people were kind of seeing as maybe a good team as they got to a 4-0 start. Penn State, on the other hand, they get Wisconsin on the road. Never an easy thing. I don't care if Graham Mertz is the worst quarterback in the NCAA. Wisconsin on the road is not an easy thing to do. And then you also get Auburn. You get an SEC team. And then you finally get to Iowa. Wow, we made it, man. We are undefeated coming into this stretch.

And we're going to talk about all that on the show today. We're going to be breaking down what we expect from each side of the table and also giving you our predictions, which I'll be very interested to hear your prediction. I've been going back and forth on this, man. What I'm trying to do is temper my expectations because I just don't want to be – I believe in Iowa. I really do think we should be able to win this game. But God forbid, I had too many memories of Iowa just

barely losing to Penn State. I have PTSD. I know they won last year, but I'm just, I'm trying to mentally prepare myself. How are you feeling going into this weekend? I think we're kind of approaching this game with the same amount of energy and enthusiasm, but also like a little bit of nervousness in the back of your head, because you know that, you know, you know, there have been a couple more lopsided games in this series, but there have been some tight ones. Yeah. And this could very well be one with the way that these two teams are playing defense right now. I'm not expecting a whole lot of points to be scored again. I know we're going to go all over this, but you know, my first impression is, you know, which offense is going to mess up more because i feel like that's going to be the big tipping point here because these defenses are both legit and you know just

having seen as much of iowa as i have seen i haven't watched every game i'll be honest but you know i've seen a couple other games and they've looked really good every time i'm tuning in they're always picking off a pass and making something happen out of it so it's got to worry man you know i know penn state has had a little bit of a run of you know fortunate of wins in kinnick stadium but this is going to be tough this is going to be a really tough one and you know i feel like like you i feel like penn state has every opportunity to come out of this game with a win but they're gonna have to earn it that that's as far as i'm gonna say whoever comes out of this one is certainly gonna have to earn it absolutely and you mentioned the um the fact that penn state has come in and won some very close but they're going to have to earn it. That's as far as I'm going to go. Whoever comes out of this one is certainly going to have to earn it. Absolutely.

And you mentioned the fact that Penn State has come in and won some very close games. There's also been some close games that Iowa has taken care of in the early 2000s as well. One of the things I've noticed, though, about when Iowa plays Penn State is the playmakers. It's one or two individuals. I think all across the board, the teams look relatively evenly matched

when they're on the field, but it's one or two guys that just absolutely annihilate the Hawkeyes. It's Saquon Barkley. It's Miles Sanders. It's Trace McSorley. Two years ago, it was Sean Clifford. I thought the way he moved with his legs was impressive alongside K.J. Hamler.

So who is that guy for Penn State this year? Who is the guy to be worried about offensively that could, you know, put Iowa in a unique and precarious position? Well, Sean Clifford's still there, so you got to deal with him. And he's been playing pretty well so far. Jaha Dodson is the number one wide receiver. But I'll tell you, the guy that's really been kind of coming into his own has been Parker Washington, who was Penn State's second leading receiver last year. I think he's taking some steps forward this year. He's a nice little streaky guy. So he has been showing off some speed too.

So I mean, I know you've got bad memories of KJ Hamler. He's not KJ Hamler fast, but when he gets a chance to race past some defenders, he has been taking advantage of it. So I feel as though that's certainly a guy keeping an eye on. If you're looking for a tight end though, I think Penn State's been doing pretty well at getting their tight ends involved more recently Theo Johnson I think he's the tight end of really keeping a real close eye on because I feel like he's got the strength he's got the hands and he can make some plays happen too so just a couple names to keep in mind on there

yeah I mean Theo Johnson is a guy Iowa fans are very familiar with a guy we thought we could probably get in recruiting and yet he chooses Penn State so that'll be interesting I was curious about that because coming into this game it doesn't look like the tight ends have been involved as much but it sounds like they're getting closer there Parker Washington 25 receptions 331 yards he is going to be matching up with Iowa's Dane Belton who is our cash player kind of a corner safety hybrid also playing some run support as well that'll be really interesting to see how Dane Belton handles that we've seen him do pretty well in coverage to this point, but seeing a speedy guy like Parker Washington out of the slot is not really something that he's seen to this point. So that'll definitely be interesting for me as we go into this game. Oh, absolutely. I mean, there's so many good

matchups, especially with what Penn State's wide receivers have been starting to do, going up against a secondary. I know, I've already mentioned this, this Iowa secondary, every time I'm tuning into a game, they're picking off a pass leading the nation, right. And what 12 exceptions now, I know half of them came against Maryland,

but still, I mean, they count for something. And I think coming into this game with the way that Sean Clifford has been playing, he's cut down on his self-inflicted wounds and errors. Like he was plagued by last season. That's one of the reasons he ended up getting benched.

He's not making the same mistakes. So, you know, third year starter that has something to do with it. Just kind of growing a little bit and maturing from those experiences last year, I think, has something to do with it. And just finding a way to get in rhythm with his receivers and his tight ends, I think, has a lot to do with it, too. And Penn State has needed that because they haven't been able to run the football. So I think if you're Iowa, certainly you feel pretty good about the chances of making something happen

with that pass defense, because who knows what's going to happen with the running game. Yeah. So what, what actually, what has been going on with that rushing attack? Because when you look at it, Noah Kane,

I thought was supposed to be the guy. I think it was even a year or two ago. It's still not really taking that step forward. You did have some progress. It looks like this past week against Indiana with some of your running backs. But when you listen to James Franklin's press conference, it sounds like they're still rotating three guys in and Sean Clifford is your second leading rusher, only two yards behind. I believe it's Noah Cain is your number one. That's not exactly what you want what you want to have now sean clifford what he can do with his legs scares the living heck out of me but you don't want him to be the number two guy no ideally that would not be the best case scenario for penn state um you know they'll take it because it is a nice little asset you know again he's not

traced mcsorley but he can still do some damage too i think what what the running game is, I don't think Noah Cain is 100%. And that's been kind of the story of his career. Remember, he got injured on the first play of the 2020 season against Indiana. So he basically was out all of last season. He's been banged up a little bit. He got banged up, I guess, in the Auburn game a few weeks back and hasn't really come back to full strength. He didn't play at all, I believe, against Villanova a couple weeks ago.

So that is a big concern because I fully expected a whole lot more out of him. Maybe we'll still get it, but there's still some lingering health issues I think may still be plaguing him in there. Keevon Lee, though, I think is a guy just to keep an eye on too. He's had some good performances last season. I think he's emerging as a guy that Penn State can feel comfortable being the main running back. And then they've also got John Lovett, the transfer from Baylor, who did not play the first couple of games. And over the last couple of weeks, we've started to see him get a little bit more involved each week. So maybe it's still something they're trying to figure out. But, you know, bottom line is they're not getting any protection for running the football from their offensive line.

They're doing a really good job in pass protection overall, but the run blocking is just not there. And it doesn't matter how much talent you have at the running back position. If you don't have guys blocking for you, I don't know what you're supposed to do. So I think it's all a big work in progress. And the problem for Penn State is I don't know how long you can have a work in progress with your running game against Iowa, against Michigan, against Ohio State, Michigan State down the line too.

They've got to figure it out. So the sooner they can do that, the better they'll be. Absolutely, man. That is going to be a big storyline. We saw Maryland and Iowa. Iowa came out passing the ball quite aggressively to then set up the run. I think we could see a different game plan going up against the Penn State team as well.

And then obviously on the defense side of the ball, if Iowa can key off of just Penn State passing, because they don't have to worry about the run, I do worry about what Sean Clifford is going to be able to do from a Penn State fan's perspective. Because if Iowa's secondary is just waiting for the pass, that is not exactly what you want from the team who's leading the nation in interceptions. And this game is going to be an interesting one, man. We're going to be sweating this down to the wire, probably. And that's what I want to tell you interesting one, man. We're going to be sweating this down to the wire probably. And that's what I want to tell you about Sweat Block. Sweat Block has been literally revolutionary for my life.

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Get it today for 20% off at sweatblock.com with promo code LOCKEDON. That's L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N, or at Amazon and CVS. All right, so this is the crossover edition of Locked On Nittany Lions. I'm Kevin McGuire, of course, here with my pal Andrew Wade from Locked On Hawkeyes. We're breaking down the game of the year in the Big Ten. I know it's still early in the season, but I mean, that is the kind of magnitude we have.

So we thank you guys for making Locked On Nittany Lions and Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen of the day here on the Locked On Podcast Network. Whether you're listening to us in audio form or checking us out on YouTube, we definitely appreciate you guys coming in, seeing what we have to say about the game. And, Andrew, we've got a lot to say about the game. We're just getting started, right? I feel like we are.

I mean, there is so much to cover with this game, and we haven't even talked anything about your questions at all. I've been basically dominating it. So what do you have? What are your concerns coming into this game? What do you want to know about the Iowa Hawkeyes as they face your number four, number four, yeah, number four Penn State. I almost dropped to a blank there. What is the confidence level in this Iowa offense? Because as much as we talk about the defenses, I haven't seen a whole lot of Iowa this year. So

that's why I'm leaning on you here. What is the status of this Iowa offense? Is it as cohesive a unit as you would like to be going into the beginning of October in this kind of a showdown against a team that's going to play defense the way that Penn State is? I got to know. Yeah, I mean, I think with any team, you want to see progression. And what we've seen from Iowa's offense has they have been progressively getting better week in and week out. And that being said, there's a lot of work to do. And these progression type games are coming as teams who maybe don't have the best defenses. So coming up against Penn State, that'll be really interesting. Indiana, a very good defensive squad. We didn't

really need to have an offense because Riley Moss had two pick sixes, so we didn't really need it there. Iowa State, we were put in very good field position because of our turnovers, and even in that, we still couldn't capitalize a ton. Kent State, not a good passing defense. Colorado State, we struggled against initially, but then really opened up the offense. And against Maryland, I mean, yes, the turnovers were huge. We did a really good job with our play calling.

I thought Brian Ferencz called a fantastic game all around. but nevertheless, Maryland is not a very good team. This is a team that allowed over 300 yards passing from Kent State the week before, so it's not like we're going up against the nation's best passing defense. So I would say tepidly optimistic is where I'm at with this offense. Where we typically have struggled in the past was last year with Spencer Petras, who I was scared crapless every time he threw the ball. This year it's not Spencer. It's honestly our offensive line. The offensive line has been so weird this year.

We had an injury to Kyler Shaw, who's arguably our second – not arguably, he just is our second-best offensive lineman. We have one redshirt freshman and one true freshman starting games for us for the first time, and we're kind of rotating some other guards and tackles in. So to me, it's the offensive line that kind of concerns me a little bit. And if Penn State can get pressure on Spencer Petras, that's really where they're going to be successful. Now, granted, you can say that about any team, any game, but Spencer is a tree back there. I have been a very big advocate of Spencer this year, but that guy cannot get out of the pocket. He is literally the most immobile person I've seen.

He is Peyton Manning with the Denver Broncos in his last season. I mean, the guy just can't move. There was a play, I got to tell you, so he's finally starting to figure out, like, if the pocket's collapsing and there's no one open, take off. Like, get out of there as much as you can. He tried that two games ago, ran right into Tyler Linderbaum. Tyler Linderbaum takes him and just starts throwing him forward. Like, how many times do you see that happen to your quarterback

where they're just – they don't know where to go, and all of a sudden the center is like, you know what? I got this guy. I'm going to take you and carry you along with me. I mean, that is concerning as well. So that's kind of where I'm at with the offense. I think we're starting to see some of our playmakers get involved. We have two true freshmen who have led the team

in some sort of receiving category the last two weeks, which is phenomenal. Tyler Goodson. I don't know if you saw the Maryland game, but Holy crap. That guy when he's not getting tackled for loss is making people miss so embarrassingly bad. So, I mean, you might get pressure, but he's still going to make you miss at times. So that's always something to concern about. But yeah, I think tepidly optimistic. This is Iowa's biggest test, though, and I think this is going to tell a lot about how Iowa proceeds in the next six games.

I would argue Penn State has the best defense in the Big Ten outside of maybe Wisconsin. Obviously, Iowa, I think, is the number one in my opinion, but I would say Penn State's top three, and that's a challenge that Iowa needs to take up and handle because they're not going to get the good field position like they have in the past couple games. Yeah, I feel like the things that you're saying, the things I've been saying about this game, Penn State and Iowa are coming at this game kind of on a parallel track, right? I mean, there's a lot of strengths that are similar between the two. There's a lot of weaknesses between the two that are shared. One weakness for Penn State that some have been pointing out a little bit of concern in recent weeks is their ability to stop the run. And I know we were on locked on Big Ten earlier this week.

We talked about it a little bit. Well, Penn State is really struggling against teams that can run the ball really well. Wisconsin and Auburn, just throwing those out there, is the two biggest running attacks that Penn State has faced. And as far as I'm concerned, I don't know why Auburn didn't run the football more. I don't know why Wisconsin didn't run the football more, especially in hindsight with where Wisconsin is right now. But I feel as though going into this game, Penn State knows that Iowa can run the football, right? And maybe it's not going quite as well as Iowa was hoping it would be at this point, but nonetheless, Iowa's got to be running the football in this game, right? A hundred percent. I mean when we saw maryland they opened it up by the passing game we do not see iowa teams

we talked about this too the iowa teams don't open up with the pass they were like you know what we need to pass the ball because they are keying off our run and then it opened up the running attack and even then people are still getting pressure in the backfield against tyler goodson we just saw tyler goodson look like leshawn m McCoy for a little bit and have just a phenomenal game in that regard. See, I would agree. I mean, I think Iowa's plan in here has to be run the ball for a couple reasons. That's a weakness for Penn State. We saw the success that Wisconsin had running the ball,

despite the fact they have a quarterback who literally can't throw the ball, it seems like, anymore. Auburn, Bo Nix is not a guy who impresses me a lot. So whatever there. We saw success from both those teams running the ball. The biggest thing, though, is Iowa knows coming into Penn State, and Kurt's talked about this before, you have to control the time of possession against a team like Penn State.

You need to wear down that defense. You're going to win the game in the fourth quarter. You're not winning the game in the first quarter. You want to wear that team down, and that starts with the running game. So that's what really I'm very interested to see how that all plays out against Penn State. I think you have to run the ball to be successful in this game. How much does it annoy Iowa fans that this is not a night game?

Dude, it pisses me the heck off. I mean, everyone's like, this would literally be the best night game of all time. And I think – I'm not kidding. I think if you have a night game at Kinnick, you have to tack on an extra three points of an advantage on the spread for Iowa. Like it is just unfair to go into an unruly Kinnick stadium where people have been drinking for 10 hours and they are super pumped. It is, Kinnick is one of the best, amazing environments in the country next

to Penn state. I think we have, we share that in common. These, these two environments are two of the toughest places to play. At night, though, oh my gosh, it is so freaking obnoxious that we have a mid-afternoon game. So stupid. I've said for years that I dread when Penn State has to make a road trip to Iowa because I know the majority of the time it feels like that game is going to be played at night. And we have seen so many night games at Kinnick Stadium where where things have happened not necessarily just against penn state but things happen at night

games in kinnick stadium so uh that's why a few years ago when penn state made their last trip out there i'm pretty sure it was a night game uh that was that was a gut wrencher really it really was uh you know nail biter right to the very end uh and i fully expect that we're probably going to see a similar type of a game even though it's not an officially prime time game it's still late at mid you know mid afternoon you still get a little bit of a prime time atmosphere by the time that fourth quarter rolls around so man andrew it's it's going to be quite a scene i wish i could be there i know i'm not going to be able to put on the mileage to drive there but if i were i would make sure that my car had everything i needed by going to rockauto.com. Rockauto.com, they're a family business.

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bet online.ag is the place to get all of your action especially for this iowa football game the spread has been dropping a little bit it's been between about minus one and a half to minus two and a half Iowa. Kevin, how are you going to be betting this game? Just quick rundown so we can know how to bet on betonline.ag. I might take Penn State with the points. I'm still kind of going back and forth on who I'm taking straight up, but I will say this. I think the play here is the under, because I have said before, these defenses are not

going to allow the points. So I would seriously make that my pick for this weekend, go with under. Absolutely. I'm taking the under because if I bet on Iowa and for some reason they lose, I'm going to be doubly depressed and I just can't have that. So I'm going to take the under as well. And you can do that at betonline.ag. You can also bet on literally anything. You can bet on football, basketball, boxing. You can also play your favorite Vegas casino games at betonline.ag. You can also use our promo code LOCKEDON, L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N, if you're a first-time person signing up, and you'll get a 50% welcome bonus at betonline.ag on your first deposit.

Betonline.ag is the fastest and the easiest way to bet on all your favorite sports. Betonline.ag, where the game starts. All right, Kevin, we have talked a lot about this game. What other questions do you have for me? I only have one other thing I want to ask you about, and that is going to be your tackles. So I'll let you kick it off, and I'll get into your tackles after this. Well, you kind of touched on it a little bit,

but I want to look at this from a little bit of a coaching matchup, all right? Brian France, he's been having some success there, kind of rejuvenating the Iowa offense. Again, you know, kind of ups and downs at times. But I feel like he's been a pretty good fit as the offense coordinator. I'm curious to see what he's going to do against Brent Pride, the defense coordinator here for Penn State. Because Brent Pride's been having a pretty solid season. Again, the defense has been leading the way for Penn State.

So I'm really intrigued by this particular coaching matchup. I know a lot of people might want to go to Penn State's offense quarter and Mike Yursich against this Iowa defense. I think it's well worth pointing out. But I really am very curious to see what Brian Ferentz is going to have for this Penn State defense. Brian Ferentz is Jekyll and Hyde of offensive play colors. I mean, there are games where what he's drawing up,

just everything is freaking magic and he is pooping out gold, man. I mean, there are games where what he's drawing up, just everything is freaking magic, and he is pooping out gold, man. I mean, the Maryland game was just phenomenal. It seemed like he had the perfect play at the perfect time every single time. You saw him set plays up quarters in advance against Maryland, or I guess since everything went so quickly, drives in advance against Maryland. He'd have one drive in the beginning part of the second quarter that he ran a play.

You saw him do kind of the opposite of that based on how he saw Maryland react to it, and that is when Brian Ferencz is working and operating his best. But then you also see games like last year against Northwestern where Iowa builds a 20-point lead and comes out throwing the ball 40 freaking times with your second game of a starting quarterback in Spencer Petras, and that is where I just want to, oh, my God, like shake him, like what are you freaking doing?

But Brian Ferencz, to this point, I feel like he's actually called a pretty good game plan throughout the season. I know some people get really pissed off about certain play calls. When you listen to Brian Ferenc talk about his play calling, and when you listen to any offensive coordinator talk about their play calling, you're setting things up. You might not like a play in the first quarter, but you're doing it so you can see how the defense reacts, so you can call something different or call the same thing later on. One of the things we haven't seen a lot of is the wildcat. We also haven't seen a lot of end arounds and jet sweeps.

We've seen some bubble screens. We've seen Iowa open it up a bit more going deep, but we really haven't seen the end around make a big play, except for maybe one or two games or one or two plays a game. I would love to see that happen a little bit more, take some of the pressure off going up the middle for Tyler Goodson, get some of the wide receivers in motion. We just haven't seen it happen nearly as much,

so I expect that to be something I'm going to see in this game. And I think Tyrone Tracy is going to get involved a bit more as well. Tyrone Tracy is kind of supposed to be the guy, but we haven't seen him really make any big-time plays. This is the moment for Tyrone Tracy to be a big time player. It's going to be very interesting to see how this all plays down because as I said earlier, I mean, Penn State and Iowa, they're not necessarily straight mirror images of each other, but there are so many similarities. That's why, you know, there's, it's kind of

ironic that the number three and number four in the rankings. I mean, I've been looking at some of the, you know, the way too early playoff discussions already. And I've seen some where we say, all right, well, Penn State, let's put them at number five. But it really doesn't matter because they're going to play Iowa. So they've got a chance to, you know, Iowa, Penn State, just pick one out of a hat and you're probably good. But that's why this game is just so intriguing to me. I will say one thing that I think is very worth pointing out here is, once again, the magnitude of this game. In the grand scheme of things, it probably doesn't

matter who wins this game because there's still so much football to be played. There's still a path to a division championship for both teams, no matter what happens in this game uh but I'm very curious to see you know what the the reaction is going to be when this game does go final and we've got a winner and a loser what does that mean for that team going forward does that team continue on and build off of this or is this the high point of the season for Iowa or Penn State yeah I mean you bring up a really good point because Iowa fans are getting very frustrated right now because there are five games in the season. They've beaten two ranked teams. They beat a 4-0 Maryland team, and a lot of national media is saying, well, they haven't played anyone. Those teams sucked. Iowa State, Brock Purdy's had a really bad game. Talia Tagovaiola,

he just played really poorly. At what point is Iowa doing something right? I get it. I understand where they might be coming from that. Indiana has not – it's tough too because Indiana was never going to fulfill the expectations of their season coming into the season. It stinks for Penn State as well because you take down Indiana, Iowa takes down Indiana, Cincinnati takes down Indiana. Three top ten teams beat Indiana, and Indiana looks like a bad game. Oh, yeah, what a terrible schedule for them. And also, Michael Pennington, you're clearly not healthy.

But that is not a bad football team, but it looks like that when they have three losses already. Iowa State falling to Baylor just pisses me off. I don't know how you lose that game. Brock Tober is the most annoying thing. You can't play September, but God, but you put that kid in October, and he's freaking Magic Johnson of the quarterback position, or I guess Peyton Manning of the quarterback position to use a better analogy there.

So yeah, it's, it's interesting, man. I think, um, if Penn state wins this game and it's a close game, I think I will get a little bit of respect, but it's like, yep, this is the same old Iowa team. I think if I will beat Penn state, it's like, I was legit this year. This is a real Iowa team and Penn state still really, really good. And they could also make the playoffs still. So I think, I don't know, man, it'll be interesting. That's like, Iowa's legit this year. This is a real Iowa team. And Penn State's still really, really good. And they could also make the playoffs still. So I think, I don't know, man. It'll be interesting.

That's kind of my thoughts on it. Yeah, I feel like I, from an outsider point of view, I feel like I have seen that level of disrespect nationally for Iowa before. So my heart goes out to you. Obviously, I hope your team loses this weekend. However, I've got a good respect for Iowa and everything that this program has been doing over the number of years. It feels like every so many years, Iowa just has one of those seasons. Is this that season?

We'll find out. I forget the other thing I was going to ask you. So I feel like we can move on to our final thoughts on this game, if that's all right with you. Yeah, I just want to quickly, your thought on the tackle positions. When I look at PFF's pass pass blocking grades your two tackles are absolutely atrocious um yeah in terms of so like is that actually a concern because i was defensive lines pretty young but i think sean clifford the key to making him not be successful is getting pressure on him and keeping him contained in the pocket and forcing like he's had like three seconds to

throw but what is going on with your tackle position because it just'm not sure. You talked about some of the pass blocking and stuff from the interior is good, but what is going on there real quick? Work in progress. It's not as good and it's not as stable as I was hoping it would be going into the season. They did lose two late round draft picks off of last year's offensive line, but still I thought going into this season, there was the idea that this Penn State offensive line might be one of the more well-rounded lines that James Franklin has had to work with. And it's taken some time for Penn State to get caught up on offensive line coming out of the sanctions years ago, but it took that long really to get back on this kind of a level. They've got Rasheed Walker there, who's supposedly a high draft pick potential going into next year's NFL round.

But we'll see. But the offensive line just kind of working things out. And again, this is not a team you want to be working things out with, with the offensive line. So here's hoping they had a good week of practice because it's going to be an uphill battle for them really the rest of the season. It's not going to be easy, not going to be easy at all. So that's why you have seen Sean Clifford. Again, they've sort of been better in pass protection, but still there are moments when Sean Clifford has to extend a

play with his feet. And fortunately for Penn State, he's been able to do that and find open receivers. That's been a big key to some of the success they've had in some of their closer games against Auburn and Wisconsin. And then run blocking is just atrocious too. So I feel like they have confidence in Sean Clifford to make up for some of the deficiencies on this offensive line. But man, it would certainly help Penn State's causes, not just this week, but later on down the line if they can figure out this offensive line.

Yeah, man, it's wild to me the similarities of these teams. I think it's honestly probably easier to list out the differences. And I would say Sean Clifford can run and Spencer Petras cannot. Cause I mean, the secondaries are good. The offensive line has some questions on each side. The defenses are phenomenal across the board. We agree. There's going to be a low scoring game.

This is going to be a slug fest in Kinnick. And I truly am very excited for the end of the game after I can take like a collective sigh of relief if we win. And if we lose, just like try to gather my – dude, I just – this game is going to be a nerve wracker. I'm just going to be sweating the whole time. Thank God I got my sweat block wipes. Yes, I was going to say.

What are your last thoughts on the game, my man? Again, it's going to be a low scoring. It's going to be a slugfest. I'm not expecting a whole lot of style points from either of these offenses. Having already seen Penn State play Wisconsin in a defensive game, I think it's going to be pretty similar. I think it's going to take a while for either offense to really get anything going. I think the defense is controlled with the majority of the first half. We'll see what opens up in the second half. That has been something that Penn State has been able to do. Generally after halftime, they get things figured out a little

bit more on offense. So what's the deficit like? What's the score like at halftime? I think it's going to be huge because I don't think if you're Penn State, you want to be behind by too many points. I feel like Penn State can go into halftime down a score and still feel like they've got a decent chance to make something happen in the second half because that's what they have generally done. That said, I think this is a race of 20 points, Andrew. I really do. I don't think a lot of points are scored in this game, and I think the first team to get to 20 is probably going to be the winner. Absolutely. You mentioned the ability to make adjustments in the second half. I want to just quickly caution Iowa fans from being too overreactive to if Penn State does drive down

the field and score on the first drive. Phil Parker, our team has struggled the first or second drive typically and stopping teams on their offensive possession. And then he figures things out and all of a sudden the defense locks down and everything is good. People forget Maryland drove down the field with ease early in the game, just hitting crossing routes over the middle all day, deep over the middle, all freaking day. And all of a sudden, six interceptions and a fumble later, and Iowa's cruising home to victory. It's going to be a fun game. Kevin McGuire on Kevin or at Kevin on CFB. Andrew Wade at Wade underscore Andrew.

You can find us both Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast, wherever you get podcasts at, and the Lockdown Nittany Lions, wherever you get podcasts at. We are both on YouTube as well. This show is dropping tomorrow. We also can find us on the Lockdown Big Ten podcast. Kevin McGuire is there every single Tuesday. I am there sporadically whenever my schedule aligns with Nate's.

But Nate Dickinson hosts the Locked On Big Ten podcast wherever you can get podcasts at and on YouTube as well. He does a phenomenal job breaking down all the storylines across the Big Ten. That will do it for our awesome Thursday crossover episode. We'll have to do this again later, maybe after the game, react to it if we're not too depressed or if I'm not too depressed. If you're not too depressed, we'll figure not too depressed, if you're not too depressed. We'll figure that out.

Thank you all for tuning in, though, and have a fantastic Thursday. And I guess go Hawks for my fans and go Nittany Lions for the – I don't want to say that. That was too dirty. Go Hawks for my fans. Michigan sucks. That's a better way to end it.