Penn State exacts revenge on Iowa in White Out: Instant Analysis
Penn State Football defeated Iowa 31-0 in a dominant performance by the Nittany Lions during the 2023 White Out Game. Blue White Illustrated’s trio of reporters were on hand to watch the win and provide their thoughts postgame. Check out the full video here or on the Blue White Illustrated YouTube Channel.
Penn State gets steady, gritty win
Penn State head coach James Franklin discussed his team’s steady play, in which they controlled the ball for 45 minutes of game time. While the offense didn’t generate explosive plays, they did eat up 97 total offensive plays and four drives of ten or more.
“We did not win the explosive play battle but I do think we grinded that game out. Which when you’re playing a team like Iowa, you can’t get bored of grinding it out. Going for a fourth and one three times, picking it up. We got our third-down percentage better in the second half than the first half. But their style of defense, they’re gonna make you grind it out in the run game,” Franklin said after the game.
Bad Blood
The events of 2021 in which Iowa booed injured Penn State players and coaches on the staff mocked the Nittany Lions for those injuries were not forgotten. Nate Bauer and Greg Pickel discussed how those memories motivated the Nittany Lions even if there wasn’t bulletin board material through the media this week.
“It was frosty. This was a long time coming. Certainly, the way that Penn State’s 2021 season unfolded after that game and for it to go the way that it did. Yeah, there was some bad blood here that James Franklin refused to talk about it this week. But you knew, right?” Bauer said.
Franklin’s team didn’t just dominate; they embarrassed the Hawkeyes in the most perfect, vengeful way.
“What could have been more to James Franklin’s delight than to out Iowa-ing Iowa? You just did exactly to your opponent, who you already ahve a grudge against, exactly what they do to everyone else. It was a masterful troll job, and they pulled it off perfectly.”
Top 10
- 1
Ryan Day
Buyout revealed from new contract
- 2
UNC president
Belichick hire fall out
- 3
'I'm 1-0 vs. PETA'
La. Gov. defends LSU live tiger
- 4
2025 CFB odds
Key game point spreads
- 5
Marshall Faulk
Deion Sanders adds HOFer to staff
Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
Explosive plays are important but Penn State can adapt
Blue White Illustrated Publisher Sean Fitz pointed out Penn State’s ability to adapt and survive when Plan A doesn’t happen on offense.
“They still need to be explosive, but they looked deep a couple of times. They have the ability to, when that doesn’t happen, not go into a shell, and it doesn’t kill them. I think that’s very important.”
But the most shocking part is that the Nittany Lions were just better than Iowa in a shocking way during the win.
“They were just that much better, that much more dominant, and you don’t see that all that often with a power five, Big Ten school. You see that with an FCS team, and you don’t think anything of it. But to do it against a Big Ten opponent, that’s pretty special.”
