It looks like yet another great day in Iowa City for a football game.
Late Friday into Saturday, there’s a chance of rain in the Iowa City area. Late Saturday night into Sunday morning, there’s another chance of rain in the Iowa City area.
Fortunately we’re not playing a football game at 1:00 a.m. So other than early morning and late night rain, weather for Saturday looks excellent. Temperatures will be in the mid 70s during the day for your tailgating activities, then game time looks excellent – high
of 72 at kickoff and cloudy. It will remain overcast during the game with temperatures in the mid 60s. Excellent again. No “abundant sunshine” like we had last week in Madison – seriously how bad is Wisconsin? Sheesh – but this will do just fine. Winds will be light out of the northwest.
As for this game? I watch enough sports that I am fully aware of the “new coach/manager bounce.” Team gets to the end of the line with a coach, clearly everyone is tired of one another, and it’s time to move on from the incumbent. Incumbent resigns/gets fired, new guy comes in, players respond, and results turn around, even if only for a week or two.
I’m just not sure how much we’ll get of that from Penn State. Is Penn State the more talented team? Undoubtedly. Iowa’s good…but Penn State’s on another level talent-wise. They have NFL players all over the roster. Even with Drew Allar out for the year, this is still a great team from a talent point of view.
But what’s left to play for? A Big Ten Championship game appearance is out of the picture with three league losses already. The playoffs aren’t happening. Have you seen their remaining schedule? They play at Iowa this weekend, at night, with a brand new quarterback. They have a bye week then it gets so much easier with a trip to No. 1 Ohio State, then a date at home with No. 3 (!!) Indiana. Very neat. They could be 0-6 in the league by the second week of November.
If Iowa can ride whatever emotional wave Penn State has out of the gate, assuming they even have one in their post-James Franklin world, I think they get this done. Iowa’s run game has been excellent all year, riding their offensive line, running backs, and Mark Gronowski’s legs, and they’ll ride those guys again to a win heading into the Minnesota game.
Date: Saturday, October 18th
Time: 6:08 pm CT
Matchup: Penn State Nittany Lions (3-3, 0-3) at Iowa Hawkeyes (4-2, 2-1)
Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa
TV: Peacock
Updated Weather Forecast: Partly cloudy during the day with temperatures in the mid-70s. Temperatures will remain in the 70s at kickoff, then cool to the mid-60s by the conclusion of the game.
Updated FanDuel Line: Iowa – 2.5, O/U 40.5
