Iowa football: Five observations from loss to Penn State

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IOWA CITY, IOWA- OCTOBER 12: Running back Noah Cain #21of the Penn State Nittany Lions breaks a tackle in the second half by defensive lineman Cedrick Lattimore #95 of the Iowa Hawkeyes, on October 12, 2019 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images) /

Iowa’s defense is legit

Coming into last night’s game, Penn State’s offense was ranked 5th in the country in scoring. The Hawks held them to 17 points and one of those touchdowns came off poor field position created by another Iowa turnover.

This defense isn’t always pretty, but it’s become darn effective. Last night against Penn State, they held Sean Clifford to just 117 yards passing and they run game averaged just 3.3 yards per carry.

After allowing 17 points, the Hawk’s defense ranks 5th in the nation in points allowed at 10.2.

Could you imagine if this team didn’t have an elite defense? There is a chance the Hawks could have lost the last two games by 20-30 points. That’s how good this defense has been.

Consider this, last night Michael Sleep-Dalton booted the ball just 11 yards after the first possession setting Penn State up with the ball on Iowa’s 41-yard line.

The Hawkeye defense proceeded to sack the quarterback twice and force an incompletion to move Penn State back 8 yards and turn bad field position into a 3 and out.

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