Predicting the 2009 Iowa Hawkeye Football Season: Penn State

If I were playing a season on NCAA Football for the XBox as the Iowa Hawkeyes, I would be tempted to tell the computer to auto-play this game so I could skip ahead a week and pretend it never happened. 

Since this isn't XBox, I am trying to remain optimistic on the outcome in real life.  But let's face the harsh truth here: This is going to be the hardest game of the year for the Hawkeyes.

Penn State wants our blood. 

They want our heads on a platter. 

The Iowa Hawkeyes likely cost the Nittany Lions a trip to the National Championship game last year due to The Kick Heard Round The World and Penn State wants to exact their revenge very brutally this year.

To help stack the deck in their favor, they declared a White Out for this game. 

Normally, a crowd full of people looking like a TIDE commercial wouldn't concern me.  But Beaver Stadium is an extremely intimidating place to play, and every fan in the place will look and sound like Mel Gibson in Braveheart.

I want to think the Hawkeyes can win this game. 

Penn State only has a 4-6 record against Iowa at Beaver Stadium and Ferentz seems to have JoePa's number.  But I think the odds might not be stacked in our favor for this one.

So, what is this Hawkeye nerd's fearless prediction for the outcome of the game.


Iowa 14-Penn State 17

This is painful. 

I hate to pick Iowa losing, but I have to be realistic.  I just have a bad feeling about this game.  And I have ever since we charged the field last fall.

Ricky Stanzi keeps us in it with 230 yards passing and a pair of TDs (Moeaki, Stross), but the Penn State defense reminds Jewel Hampton he isn't Shonn Greene, and Hampton ends the game with only 68 total yards. 

Our defense does an outstanding job in this one, giving up only one rushing touchdown to Royster and only 90 yards total rushing.  Pat Angerer gets his first INT of the year in this game, too.  

The special teams come up big for the Nittany Lions in this game, with a punt return for a touchdown, and a long field goal conversion late in the game to ironically seal the deal. 

In the end, there just won't be enough time for Iowa to march back down and score. 

The Hawkeyes will give it everything they have, and will impress a lot of people in the process, but will ultimately come up short.

Up next in the series of fearless predictions for the 2009 Iowa Football Season: Arkansas State.