Penn State Football wins if this happens … Iowa wins if that does

Oct 2, 2021; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin looks up at the video board during the fourth quarter against the Indiana Hoosiers at Beaver Stadium. Penn State won 24-0. Mandatory Credit: Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 2, 2021; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin looks up at the video board during the fourth quarter against the Indiana Hoosiers at Beaver Stadium. Penn State won 24-0. Mandatory Credit: Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 2
Next

No. 4 Penn State Football meets it’s toughest task yet, heading to famed Kinnick Stadium to take on the top No. 3 Iowa Hawkeyes.

What it will take for Penn State Football to win on the road against a top-five team, as a top-five team?

There is one simple key for both Penn State Football and Iowa to win Saturday’s 4:00 pm kickoff, and we will look at those key’s in this week’s “We Win If, They Win If” column.

For more Penn State Football coverage, click here for who needs to step up, B1G power rankings,  and our match-up vs LSU for ‘Best College Football Town.’

In last week’s column, we said star Indiana Hoosier WR Ty Fryfogle needed at least 10 touches.

The Nittany Lions‘ secondary held him virtually in check, with only 5 catches for 48 yards and outside of a 27 yarder, he averaged less than 5 yards a catch.

We said Penn State Football wins if they force a Hoosier turnover; that same vaunted secondary picked up both Michael Penix (who was out of bounds one year ago) and Jack Tuttle.

Easy victory for us, moving Victory Bell Rings to 5-0 on this season’s prognostications.

Here are the keys for Iowa and Penn State Football to win on Saturday:

Iowa Wins If…

Iowa is not a creative offensive team.

This is nothing new.

Kirk Ferentz’s teams are known for strong defense, disciplined special teams and not falling behind the chains. Iowa needs 3rd and 2 and 3 to consistently move the ball down the field.  So, Iowa wins if they have a 60%+ third down conversion rate.