Iowa vs. Penn State point spread: Picking Hawkeyes vs. Nittany Lions

Saturday night, Iowa and Penn State will square off in front of one of the best atmospheres in college football. It’s the White Out game at Beaver Stadium, and fans will get to see a battle between two of the Big Ten’s top teams.

Both teams bring different levels of intrigue to the showdown, mostly on offense. For Penn State, it’s officially the Drew Allar era after Sean Clifford headed to the NFL, and he’s looked the part so far. Iowa, of course, is also going through the “Drive for 325” to try and get Brian Ferentz to 25 points per game to hit a clause in his contract. The Hawkeyes scored 41 points last week as part of a big victory over Western Michigan.

For Barstool Sports’ Kayce Smith, that scoring outburst from Iowa is important to note when looking at whether the Hawkeyes can cover the 14.5-point spread, according to FanDuel. She didn’t seem confident history would repeat itself, though, and is rolling with Penn State to win by more than two scores.

“I like Penn State in this game,” Smith told Andy Staples on Andy Staples On3. “To be completely honest, going into this season, I said I don’t know what Drew Allar’s going to look like. I know that Penn State fans were ready to move on from Sean Clifford, and I think sometimes, that was a little bit unfair because Sean Clifford was still a pretty damn good quarterback a lot of the time. But they’re very high on Drew Allar. He hasn’t looked perfect by any stretch of the imagination, especially last week. There was a little bit of sleepwalking. But I think he is the answer for this offense.

“Iowa, to me, being able to score the way they did last week tells me there’s no way they’re going to be able to do it back-to-back weeks. That’s just the Iowa identity, right? The fact that we have deepfakes of Brian Ferentz talking about the offense and how many points he has to score to keep his job. Some people believed it, like my co-host. But regardless, I’m going to take Penn State. … And I think this Penn State team is really going to contend against Michigan and Ohio State in the [Big Ten] East this year. And so, I’m going to take them and the points. It’s a lot of points, but Iowa can’t score against Penn State, in my opinion.”

How Penn State can cover the spread against Iowa

Going up against Phil Parker’s defense won’t be easy for Penn State. But Staples pointed out how the Nittany Lions could cover, and it comes down to field position.

A short field will be Penn State’s best friend in the game. The defense will also be important to create pressure on Cade McNamara and get some turnovers. Plus, the atmosphere of the White Out could work to the Nittany Lions’ advantage and maybe cause some nerves for Iowa.

“The way Penn State covers this is they dominate the Iowa offense and maybe force some turnovers, and the offense for Penn State gets some short fields and gets some easy points,” Staples said. “Which is entirely possible. And the White Out atmosphere is fantastic. I do remember the one White Out where Iowa came in and Adrian Clayborn blocked the punt. That was like, you’d never seen that many people get quiet so fast.

“But the White Out is one of the cooler atmospheres in college football and I imagine one of the more intimidating ones for an opponent. … I will take Penn State here. I believe in the power of the White Out.”