Iowa football preparing for head coach-less Penn State with heightened intensity

IOWA CITY — The news of Penn State Coach James Franklin’s firing was a harsh reminder of college football’s modern era — nothing is guaranteed and decisions can happen in a split second.

In a matter of seconds, Iowa went from knowing exactly what it’ll face against Penn State on Saturday, to knowing some things — but not all.

“Obviously it was big news,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “It is what it is, but they've got three coordinators that are widely respected in collegiate football, and those guys are all there. I'm sure Coach (Terry) Smith's going to do a great job tying it together, and they've still got the same players, so it's going to be a big, big challenge for us.”

For the first time since 2012, Iowa faces a Penn State team without Franklin. Instead, interim head coach Terry Smith is tasked with preparing the Nittany Lions to face Iowa.

While it may seem like an entirely different Penn State team than in years past, these are the same players who earned the No. 2 ranking in the country just three weeks ago. Penn State, however, won’t have quarterback Drew Allar, who’s collegiate career ended with an ankle injury against Northwestern on Saturday.

The Nittany Lions instead will use redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer at QB.

Penn State’s running back room, its wide receivers and defense — those are all the same players who the college football world ruled some of the best in the country not too long ago. That includes Devonte Ross, a wide receiver who scored two touchdowns against the Hawkeyes when he played for Troy last year.

“That's an illustration (of) the way they've got guys at every position that can beat you in one play,” Ferentz said. “So we just need to be at our absolute best.”

The Hawkeyes (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) haven’t faced Penn State since the 31-0 loss in Happy Valley two seasons prior. They just dominated rival Wisconsin, 37-0, though. It’s a confidence boost, especially for the defense. Iowa didn’t allow the Badgers to have any red zone opportunities, forced three turnovers and held Wisconsin to less than 130 yards of total offense.

The music to Ferentz’s ears is that the Hawkeyes, offense and defense, saw things that still went wrong — and things that needed adjusting ahead of Penn State.

“I mean we watched the film, and I feel like there's more bad than there was good,” offensive lineman Logan Jones. “We're all perfectionists, and we want to be really good at these things. And obviously, things went well, but there's still so much on the film that we need to get better at, and I think that's the most exciting part.”

Whether it’s as simple as turning field goals into touchdowns, opening up the quarterback run game with Mark Gronowski’s knee injury on the mend or stuffing the run game and forcing more turnovers, there’s something Iowa found.

“There's always little things, just not being in the right gap, or missing a call or a check, like things like that,” linebacker Jayden Montgomery said. “It ultimately may not show up because someone makes a great play, but we know it can't happen and that’s something we got to improve on.”

Iowa’s reality is its game against Penn State doesn’t have nearly as many question marks as initially thought. Most of the players on the roster haven’t changed, nor do the coordinators up in the press box.

It may be a team littered with uncertainty, but Iowa’s fixated on the matchup itself, knowing Smith can help light a fire for the Nittany Lions and breathe new energy quickly.

“Quite frankly, from my vantage point not a lot has changed in 50-some years of Penn State football,” Ferentz said. “They have really good players. They're very well-coached, and they've had a lot of really good teams.”

The grit, effort and ferocity were there for the Hawkeyes last Saturday. Now it’s about making sure the details that were missed and understanding the magnitude of this Saturday are just as clear.

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