Game Prediction: No. 3 Iowa Hawkeyes vs. No. 4 Penn State Nittany Lions

This is arguably the biggest game in Iowa's regular season history and it's certainly in that same conversation for Penn State. Which team will keep its CFP dreams alive this weekend?

Author:
Brendan Gulick
Oct 8, 2021 11:17 AM EDT

This may be one of the most impactful games played in college football this season. Iowa is rolling and appears to be destined for Indianapolis, as the rest of the west hasn't looked particularly good this year. Penn State had an absolutely miserable 2020 season and has rebounded in a nice win, including big wins at home over Auburn and Indiana.

Is this a College Football Playoff elimination game? I'm not ready to go quite that far. But the team that wins this game will be in fabulous shape and the losing team has an uphill climb.

PENN STATE at IOWA – Saturday, 4 p.m.
Spread: Iowa (-1.5)
O/U Total: 41

Brendan Gulick: Iowa 24, Penn State 21

I have a hunch this is going to be a defensive-minded game. Penn State has a top five defense in the country this year, but you could argue they haven't been quite as good as Iowa's defense (although it's close). The Hawkeyes forced a ridiculous seven interceptions against one of the Big Ten's better quarterbacks last week in Maryland's Taulia Tagovailoa.

That's part of why I'm leaning toward Iowa in this one. The Hawkeyes have seen a couple freshman receivers take on a bigger role lately, Spencer Petras has played well, I like Hawkeye running back Tyler Goodson and I think they have the best center in college football in Tyler Linderbaum. I think they'll do enough offensively to get past a veteran quarterback in Sean Clifford.

Andrew Lind: Iowa 20, Penn State 17

This game feels a lot like the last two meetings between the Hawkeyes and Nittany Lions in Iowa City, which were low-scoring and came down to a key drive in the fourth quarter. Whether or not this game follows the same template will depend on the Hawkeyes’ ability to force the Nittany Lions into turnovers.

Interestingly, this marks the first regular season game between Big Ten teams ranked in the top five that didn’t involve Ohio State since 1997 (Michigan and Penn State). And the winner will come out of this as the biggest threat to the Buckeyes’ chances of winning the conference for the fifth straight year.

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Brett Hiltbrand: Iowa 27, Penn State 24

Why this game isn't at night is beyond me but we're settling for a 4 PM kick at Kinnick. James Franklin has yet to win a road game against a Top 10 team and I'm leaning on that to stay true in this game, but it's a true coin flip and that is always fun. No jokes this week from me - I don't trust either of these teams just yet, but I think we'll have a much clearer picture of how they stand up against the Ohio States of the world.

Caleb Spinner: Iowa 27, Penn State 24

This game has every indication of being a fantastic battle with major conference (and potentially playoff) implications. The Hawkeyes and Nittany Lions could easily be the same team this year; both have played two ranked opponents and are undefeated in the Big Ten. Penn State is tied for top of the East Division with Ohio State and Michigan, so a win this week would help keep them in the running (assuming the Buckeyes and Wolverines win as well).

If Iowa wins, however, they would continue to be the lone undefeated team in the Big Ten West, which would keep them as the favorites to play for a conference title later this year. This will be very close, but I believe Iowa has looked like the better team so far, so that’s who I’ll go with to take the win.

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