There is picking up the pieces and then there is what Penn State is trying to do this week.
Three consecutive losses not only dropped the Nittany Lions from No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 to zero votes in the poll, but the results dropped Penn State’s confidence in 12th-year coach James Franklin to zero. He was fired on Sunday, a day after the Nittany Lions’ stunning 22-21 home defeat to Northwestern.
Interim head coach Terry Smith and the players will try to make something good happen Saturday night when they travel to Iowa for a Big Ten matchup.
“We got our coach fired,” senior offensive lineman Nick Dawkins said. “We didn’t play well enough. We didn’t do our job good enough and now he doesn’t have a job anymore. For us, at least as players, it’s an overwhelming sense of guilt.”
Making the task tougher is that senior quarterback Drew Allar is out for the year due to a severe left leg injury he sustained on his team’s next-to-last snap against Northwestern. Redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer, who ran for no gain on the team’s last play, replaces Allar.
The Nittany Lions (3-3, 0-3 Big Ten) and their new quarterback now must face the Hawkeyes (4-2, 2-1), who just played their best game of the year, a 37-0 win at Wisconsin. Iowa permits just 13 points per game.
Almost as notable? Iowa is at least resembling an average FBS team on offense, a big step over recent years. The Hawkeyes are averaging 30.7 points per game and have scored 37 and 38 points in their two conference wins.
Despite Penn State’s recent issues, veteran Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz isn’t underestimating what the Nittany Lions could bring to the table.
“It’s going to be a big-time challenge,” he said. “It’s a really talented football team we’re playing against. They’ve got good players at every position. They had a change on Sunday, which was big news, but I’m sure Coach (Smith) will do a good job tying it together.”
The Nittany Lions own an 18-14 lead in the all-time series after winning the latest meeting 31-0 at home in 2023.
