Lions ‘have a responsibility to go out and play well’ vs. Hawkeyes

STATE COLLEGE — There has been a laundry list of circumstances that have played a factor in Penn State starting its season 0-4 for just the second time in program history and the first time since 2001.

But seventh-year head coach James Franklin knows it doesn’t really matter. Hestill feels an obligation to put a winning product onthe field week in and week out.

“I know people turn on their TVs on Saturday afternoon, and they want to be able to have an escape away from their lives and enjoy Nittany Lion football,” Franklin said. “And we have a responsibility to go out there and play well.”

Now, the Nittany Lions will look for win No. 1 of 2020 when they take on Iowa on Saturday (3:30 p.m., Big Ten Network) in Beaver Stadium after coming off of a 30-23 road loss to Nebraska last weekend.

Penn State has beaten Iowa in six consecutive matchups, with the last four wins coming under Franklin. Last year, the Nittany Lions slipped past the Hawkeyes 17-12 in Iowa City for the program’s first victory over a ranked opponent in a true road game since 2013.

After starting its season with back-to-back losses, Iowa dismantled Michigan State 49-7 on Nov. 7 and blew out Minnesota 35-7 on the road last week.

The Nittany Lions are in a much different spot this season than they were when they faced the Hawkeyes last year, with many uncertainties, including whowill start at quarterback Saturday. (Franklin hasn’t decided between redshirt junior Sean Clifford and redshirt sophomore Will Levis).

So getting past Iowa will certainly be a challenge.

“We’ve got to do everything we possibly can to find a way to get a win on Saturday, which will be really important for our program, be really important for our players and coaches and our fans and community,” Franklin said. “It’s going to be a tremendous challenge, but [we’re] looking forward to the opportunity.”

RED-ZONE STRUGGLES: Penn State has made 19 trips to the red zone in its first four games so far this season. But the Nittany Lions have only converted 12 times in those trips, scoring eight touchdowns and making four field goals.

Their red-zone conversion rate of 63.2% ranks 123rd out of 126 FBS teams.

Last Saturday against Nebraska, Penn State made six trips to the red zone but scored just one touchdown. Two of the Nittany Lions’ missed opportunities in that contest came in the final minutes of the fourth quarter with chances to send the game to overtime.

“When you get into the red zone, everything is magnified,” Franklin said. “The details are all magnified because all the windows shrink. There’s just less space for the defense to cover. They don’t have to defend any vertical routes; it’s all horizontal and high-lows.”

Franklin said earlier in the season he believed that his team’s red-zone troubles were a result of an ineffective running game. (Penn State has only scored two rushing touchdowns in the red zone this year).

But against the Cornhuskers, it was struggles through the air that forced the Nittany Lions to leave points on the board.

“You’ve got to be able to do both — you’ve got to be able to run the ball, and you’ve got to be able to threaten people and stretch people and challenge people in red-zone combinations,” Franklin said. “And then be able to either drive the ball or drop the ball into tight windows.”

FALSE POSITIVE COVID-19 TESTS: Franklin said one of the biggest challenges away from the field his group has faced has been false-positive COVID-19 test results. So far, the Nittany Lions have had 39 false positives this season.

According to Franklin, Penn State has even had a few players and staff members get false-positive test results multiple days in a row.

And it’s the same process each time. A player or staff member that initially tests positive early in the day will have to go into isolation while their test is sent to a retesting center that’s located about an hour and 45 minutes away from campus. Usually, if the test is a false positive, it comes back negative about halfway through the Nittany Lions’ practice.

Thinking they have COVID19, or not knowing with certainty whether they do, has been tough on team members’ mental health. The loss of key personnel midweek has also been a difficult deal.

“It can be an emotional roller coaster,” Franklin said. “Throughout the week, you’ve got staff members that are going through it. And then other guys, GAs or analysts, have to jump into that role for practice that day.”

It’s just another off-the-field hurdle in a year full of them that Franklin and his team must overcome— all while still trying to find a way to win their first game of the season.

“This is what 2020has brought us, and we’ve got to find a way to navigate it the best we can,” Franklin said. “But it’s not a level playing field across college football. It’s not the same.

“Some places are better, some places are worse. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to navigate it the best you can and you’ve got to find away to be successful. And that’s what we’re battling every single day to do.”