Penn State Football vs Iowa: Nittany Lions’ reasons for optimism, to worry
By Nick Kreiser
Penn State Football Reason for Optimism – Iowa’s Pass Protection
Iowa is currently tied for 76th in the country in terms of sacks, allowing 11 total sacks so far this season through five games.
David Eickholt of 247sports’ hawkeyeinsider.com had this to say about the Hawkeyes on the Lions247 podcast;
"“I think that the biggest weakness and the most inconsistencies right now is from the offensive tackles”"
If you know football, you know that the offensive tackle position is very important in pass protection.
Statistically, this Penn State Football team is not a great pass rushing team, as they only have eight sacks so far as a team. However, numbers don’t always tell the entire story.
The Nittany Lions by no means have an elite pass rush, but it is certainly better than it looks on paper. So far this season, they have gotten a lot of pressure on opposing quarterbacks, which is almost just as effective in terms of forcing them to rush throws and making mistakes.
A great example of this came last week against Indiana, when Jesse Luketa got pressure on Michael Penix Jr, forcing him to put too much air underneath the throw, allowing Joey Porter Jr to come away with the interception. No sack there, but an effective pass rush.
Additionally, Brent Pry loves to blitz extra defenders, and he does a nice job of disguising who will be rushing the quarterback, and who will be dropping back into coverage, which will give the Iowa offensive line fits. Since Penn State’s secondary is so good in coverage, he can allow his cornerbacks to go 1-on-1 on the outside, while bringing heavy pressure.
Finally, quarterback Spencer Petras is certainly not a very mobile quarterback, so him using his legs to avoid the rush is not much of a worry.
It will not be easy for Iowa’s receivers to get open against Penn State’s secondary, so that gives Penn State’s pass rush plenty of time to get to the quarterback.