James Franklin praises Penn State defense for first-half performance vs. Iowa

A shutout is still on the table for the Penn State defense against Iowa, as the Nittany Lions lead 10-0 heading into the second half. Coach James Franklin took a moment for a halftime interview with Jenny Dell, where he shared what he believes has been the biggest key in that defensive success thus far.

Iowa never made it past the 50-yard line just once on its six drives in the first half, and Franklin believes that has to do with the success Penn State has had in getting stops on first down. That’s made things incredibly difficult on the Hawkeyes offense, which has just two first downs and is 1-for-6 on its third down conversions.

“After the opening drive, I thought we settled down really well defensively,” Franklin said. “The biggest thing is they get their most success when they’re efficient on first down. We’ve been able to keep them off schedule a little bit and they’re not really built for third-and-long situations and second-and-long. The first down efficiency’s been really important to us.”

Iowa managed just 63 yards of total offense across the first two quarters. Quarterback Cade McNamara was 5-of-13 passing for 42 yards. The Nittany Lions finished the half with one sacks, four QB hurries and three pass breakups.

The lone time that the Hawkeyes made it past midfield, they went on to fumble at the Nittany Lions 30-yard line as Curtis Jacobs recovered. Penn State went on to score its first points of the evening on the ensuing drive to go up 3-0 on a 46-yard field goal from Alex Felkins.

The Nittany Lions’ lone other score in the first half came on a nine-yard touchdown pass from Drew Allar to Khalil Dinkins. Allar finished the first two quarters of play with 193 yards passing.

Penn State ranked 12th in the country with 11.7 points per game entering the game against Iowa, so it isn’t surprising to see it continue that trend. They’ve been particularly stout against the pass to rank 22nd in the nation with 165.3 air yards allowed per game.

We’ll see whether the Nittany Lions can hang on in the second half to complete the shutout. If they are able to, it would mark the first time this season they have held a team without a score.

Penn State gets the ball first to start the second half, so it will have an opportunity to increase its lead right away.