Friday, November 07, 2008

FOOTBALL: 2008 Week Eleven - Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Penn State Nittany Lions Preview

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/7/7c/Iowa_Hawkeyes_Logo.svg.png VS.
GAME INFO: Sat., Nov 8th, 2008 - 2:37 PM CST - Kinnick Stadium - Iowa City, IA
IOWA: 5-4 (2-3) NR / PENN STATE 9-0 (5-0) #2/#3

TV COVERAGE: ABC (HD) will televise the game to a regional audience. Fans not in the ABC regional footprint can watch the game on ESPN (HD). The game will also be available online at ESPN360.com. Brad Nessler, Bob Griese, Paul Maguire and Stacey Dales will call the action.
DEPTH CHART AND GAME NOTES: VIEW HERE
IOWA'S GAMEDAY CENTRAL : VIEW HERE
ABC COVERAGE MAP : VIEW HERE
KIRK'S PRESSER: VIEW HERE

LINE: Iowa is a 7.5 point underdog at home.





Photo Courtesy of Hawkeyesports.com

One thing that is blatantly obvious at this point in the season is that Shonn Greene is good. Real good. Greene is a man among boys on the field, and he should be able to run effectively in this game as long as Stanzi can relieve pressure and stop PSU from loading the box. Getting Seth Olson back for the game can't hurt his productivity either. The University of Iowa has started to embrace the "Shonn Greene for Heisman" talk, as well, with their Black Out / Greene Out for the game.



Penn State QB Daryll Clark's head might not be 100% on Saturday either. In recent reports, Clark has admitted to blacking out during the Ohio State game after he took a couple hard hits. If Iowa can get to him early, it might be enough to get him out of his comfort zone. Evan Royster continues to be overlooked by a lot of national pudnits, but Iowa is most certainly aware of his game. The Nittany Lions will be bringing the Spread HD (Highly Diverse) offense to Kinnick tomorrow, yet Iowa might be content to sit back in their base defense to defend it. However, PSU is going to run the Iowa secondary ragged, so don't be surprise to see Norm Parker add some extra DBs during different points of the game.

Penn State's defense is very underrated and if they follow the blueprints set by Illinois, they should be able to contain Shonn Greene. This will force the game into the hands of Ricky Stanzi, a plan that worked for the Illini last week. This game will undoubtedly be decided by the effectiveness of Stanzi, who seems to play better at home than on the road (or does he?). Stanzi needs to eliminate the mistakes he has been having in recent weeks.

Iowa most definitely can hang with Penn State on their defense alone. Iowa is not severely overmatched by the Nittany Lions.

KEYS TO THE GAME:
- Turnovers
- Redzone Offense vs. Redzone Defense

Offensive Player of the Game: Shonn Greene (for the 10th straight week)
Defensive Player of the Game: Pat Angerer

The bottom line is that Iowa is a very good 5-4 team. Penn State's 9-0 record is nothing to scoff at (and neither is their #2 national ranking). Make no doubt about it, Iowa will have its hands full in this one. However, the snow and cold should help level the playing field a little bit and the Hawkeye faithful will do their part in helping Iowa out. This game is absolutely winnable for the Hawkeyes. That said...



PREDICTION:
Iowa - 17
Penn State - 21

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