Blue White Illustrated

Iowa Pregame

Penn State Sports Magazine

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P R E G A M E R E P O R T I O W A @ P E N N S T A T E 7 : 3 0 P . M . , N O V . 5 B T N IOWA FACTS COACH Kirk Ferentz (Connecti- cut, '78) COACH'S RECORD 132-90 in 18 seasons; career record: 144-111 in 21 seasons 2016 RECORD 5-3 (3-2 Big Ten) RECORD VS. PSU Penn State leads the all-time series, 13-12. MOST RECENT MEETING Matt McGloin threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns and Bill Belton rushed for 103 yards and three scores as the visiting Nittany Lions built a 31-point third-quar- ter lead en route to a 38-14 victory on Oct. 20, 2012. GOOD NEWS Iowa has been very good at taking care of the football. The Hawk- eyes have only five giveaways (four interceptions, one fumble) and 12 takeaways (five intercep- tions, seven fumble recoveries). Their plus-7 turnover ratio is third- best in the Big Ten, trailing only Ohio State and Minnesota, both of which are plus-10 heading into this weekend's action. BAD NEWS Senior Matt VandeBerg was the Hawkeyes' leading receiver with 19 catches for 284 yards and three touchdowns through four games, but he suffered a foot in- jury in practice Sept. 26 and is out indefinitely. DID YOU KNOW? The Hawkeyes have won nine consecutive road games, a streak that dates back to their final road trip of the 2014 season. The nine wins constitute a school record and are tied for the second- longest current streak in the country. (Alabama is first with 10 road wins in a row.) M A T T   H E R B | M A T T @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Here's a sobering reminder of how successful Iowa has been at derailing Penn State football seasons: The past four times the Nittany Lions have been ranked heading into their matchup with the Hawkeyes, they've lost. That list includes one of the more painful defeats in recent Penn State history, a last-second 24-23 loss in Iowa City in 2008 that cost the undefeated, third-ranked Lions a shot at the national cham- pionship. It also includes losses in 2002, '09 and '10, with the first two taking place in the seemingly friendly confines of Beaver Stadium. Now comes the 2016 matchup, and the Nit- tany Lions are again rated among the nation's better teams, having risen to No. 20 in this week's poll on the heels of a 62-24 romp over Purdue. They're in a three-way tie for second place in the Big Ten East Division, and while their path to the championship game requires Michigan to lose twice, an exceedingly unlikely scenario, the fact that Penn State fans are watch- ing scoreboards at this point in the season is an indication that the program's reconstruction project is proceeding nicely. The Nittany Lions' revival has coincided with a downturn at Iowa, where the Hawkeyes have 1 SPOILER ALERT Iowa has the potential, and the desire, to blunt PSU's momentum The Big Ten's longest-tenured active coach, Ferentz has gone 8-4 against Penn State, including road wins in 2000, '02, '04 and '09. BWI file photo N O V E M B E R 2 , 2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M

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