Penn State vs. Iowa: What James Franklin Thinks, What His Players Saw on TV, and Their Memories of Kinnick

Penn State tight end Brenton Strange was tuned into FS1 on Friday night, inside the team hotel a few miles away from Beaver Stadium.

Strange watched as Iowa ripped apart Maryland, in a 51-14 destruction on national television where the Hawkeyes scored 31 points in the second quarter as the shell-shocked Terps’ offense turned over the football every 7.7 plays.

(Penn State, conversely, loses the ball only once every 112.3 plays – all interceptions. The Nittany Lions lead the nation in lost fumbles, with zero.)

The game was beyond strange. It bordered on the bizarre, in a I-can’t-avert-my-eyes car accident kind of way.

“I watched a little bit of it. I saw that they had had like seven turnovers,” said Strange after Penn State shut out Indiana 24-0 on Saturday night in Beaver Stadium. “It’s definitely, definitely a good ball team we’re facing next week.”

Definitely.

Nittany Lion cornerback Joey Porter Jr. also tuned in on Friday night.

“I watched a couple glimpses of it,” Porter said. “They’re a pretty good team. I’m looking forward to that game. That’s going to be a big game and at their spot. Both teams are ranked and undefeated, so it’s going to be a show.”

A show, indeed. Here’s how the two teams stack up heading into Saturday afternoon’s nationally-televised showdown inside Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City:

Record: Penn State 5-0, Iowa 5-0.

Ranking, Associated Press poll: Iowa No. 3, Penn State No. 4.

Current winning streak, 2020-21: Iowa, 11 games (No. 3 in the nation); Penn State, 9 games (tied for fourth).

Scoring defense (average points yielded per game): Iowa, 11.6 ppg (No. 2 in the nation); Penn State, 12.0 ppg (No. 3).

Series record, Big Ten play, since 1993: Penn State 11, Iowa 10.

Margin of victory, 2017-2019 (all Penn State wins), 13 points: 21-19, 30-24, 17-12. Iowa won 41-21 in 2020.

TO BE FRANKLIN WITH YOU

Penn State head coach James Franklin didn’t catch the Hawkeyes on TV, unlike his players; a transportation snafu had him stuck in Philadelphia longer than anticipated on Friday night.

“I did get a chance to really follow it on social media, Franklin said. “I was in Philly…so I didn’t get back until late and I didn’t get a chance to actually watch the game. But I followed it on social media. I have had a chance to see them a couple other times on TV.”

Franklin made those comments while meeting with the media on the field shortly after his team defeated Indiana. He uncharacteristically spent a good bit of that time discussing Penn State’s next opponent by name and in fairly significant detail (304 of his 2,029 post-Indiana words – 15% — addressed Iowa and the next game).

“I think you guys know I want to enjoy this win for a few hours,” Franklin said, “but I think we all realize Iowa is a really good football team. They always are, but they’re playing on a different level right now, and then going on the road is going to be challenging.”

By now, Franklin has seen the 2021 version of Iowa countless times on his laptop and in meetings. He’s impressed, but it isn’t anything he hasn’t seen before from Iowa in the past.

Franklin is 4-1 against the Hawkeyes. He knows all about Kirk Ferentz, the Pennsylvania native who went to Upper St. Clair High School who is now in Year No. 23 at Iowa. Iowa’s defensive coordinator, Phil Parker, has been with Ferentz since they both arrived at Iowa in 1999. QB coach Ken O’Keefe was at Iowa from 1999-2011, then returned five years ago after a stint with the Miami Dolphins.

Ferentz is even closer to the Hawkeyes’ offensive coordinator. He’s known the OC since birth – it’s his son, Brian, who played for his dad, then coached with the New England Patriots before returning home 10 years ago.

“Iowa is playing really good, and they’re able to run the ball,” Franklin said Saturday night. “They’re playing great defense. That defensive coordinator has been doing a really good job. And what’s amazing is, you turn on the tape from yesterday, turn on tape from six years ago, turn the tape on from 12 years ago — they do what they do, and they do it well.

“The fact is that they’re always in zone coverage and they always have eyes on the quarterback. They have these massive defensive linemen that are able to get pressure and bat balls down. They’re a good team, so I’m going to try to enjoy this one for a few hours.”

STREAKING TO KINNICK

Penn State is on a nine-game winning streak, dating back to the 2020 season when it finished the season with consecutive victories over Michigan, Rutgers, Michigan State and Illinois. The nine-game run is tied for the longest in Franklin’s 93-game (65-28) tenure at Penn State. The Nittany Lions won nine in a row in 2016 after starting 2-2, and they had a seven-game win streak in 2017 and an eight-game win streak in 2019.

The 4-0 finishing stretch in 2020 came after Penn State was pounded 41-21 at home by Iowa to go 0-5. Will Levis started at quarterback for PSU in that game, as QB Sean Clifford was benched after throwing for just 37 yards and getting strip-sacked for a TD the prior week at Nebraska. Clifford entered the Iowa game in the third quarter and found Strange (28 yards) and Jahan Dotson (68) for touchdowns on back-to-back throws. It wasn’t enough beat the Hawkeyes, who had jumped out to a 24-3 lead in Beaver Stadium.

Saturday in Kinnick should be different.

“There was a lot of things we’ve got to correct from this game (Indiana), and we’ve got a tremendous challenge on the road,” Franklin said. “There’s not a whole lot I look forward to going to Iowa City. I am looking forward to the hospital, and waving to those children, but that’s the only thing I’m looking forward to. It will be tremendous challenge.”

That challenge extends to playing in Kinnick, where the fans are literally a few feet from the Penn State bench. Iowa fans are so close to the field that they have stolen helmets from visiting team benches without going on the field. The 92-year-old brick stadium is nestled at the edge of campus, adjacent to a working-class neighborhood in Iowa City.

It’s a tough place to play, as both Strange and Porter found out when they made the trip there in 2019 as true freshmen.

“That’s one of the best stadiums in the Big Ten,” said Strange. “It falls behind us, obviously. I didn’t play, so I got to soak up the experience a little bit on the sidelines and talk a little bit of smack to the fans. They’re in your ear all night, too. We’ll be ready for that. I’ll make sure our guys are ready for that.”

Strange said that having been to Kinnick in the past is a big plus. He’s grateful to former Penn State tight end coach Tyler Bowen that he had that opportunity.

“It’s really important that I was there,” Strange said. “That’s what they were trying to do my freshman year. We had two great tight ends — we had Pat (Freiermuth) and we had Nick Bowers, who is with the Raiders. My coach T-Bow told me that he wanted me to just go and get all the experience at the other stadiums, just to feel the college atmosphere in the Big Ten.”

Porter remembers Kinnick well: “It was electric. I mean it was crazy, just like our fans. They talk a little bit more. But you know, it’s football at the end of the day – that’s us vs. them.”