Film Review: Penn State at Iowa, 2021

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I breakdown interesting plays - schematically, technically, and from an execution standpoint - from the 2021 Penn State at Iowa football game.

Some general thoughts first:

Penn State Positives:

  • I believe in their offense with Clifford on the field. It was a pass first gameplan that understood the teams strengths and weaknesses and felt like it was good enough to generate 30+ points. While I think Iowa was starting to settle in and close to getting off the field in more key situations, PSU does just enough in a variety of ways (screen, intermediate, deep, scramble) to make it very difficult to generate stops
  • Despite the OL, I thought the RBs ran pretty well. The run game as a whole I'll touch on in a second, but RB is not the position of issue.
  • I still really like this DL, even after injuries. Very challenging scheme for DL to go against, made some big plays to knock Iowa off schedule.
  • Again, defensive coverage diversity is a real strength. Makes it very difficult to dial up plays as an offense
Penn State Negatives:

  • Once Clifford was hurt, they did not have a gameplan. 1) It became clear there was a chunk of the playbook the backup wasn't able to execute vs the Iowa defense. 2) The playbook already seemed limited based on lack of reps (not completely abnormal, but it felt pronounced). 3) The run game as a whole was never going to work.
  • The right side of the OL has a lot of issues, both in the run game and protection. Previously I thought the left side was good. They still may be, since going up against Iowa is a challenge, but they didn't grade out well vs Iowa either. 
  • I do think Iowa was able to expose a few cracks in the armor of this defense, namely formationally able to dictate some things PSU did, but also attacking flow.
Iowa Strengths:

  • We know the Iowa Center is great. He only reiterated that today. But the OTs looked much improved compared to the Iowa State game I watched earlier. A bit easier of a scheme from a run standpoint for the OTs, but even in pass pro they were improved.
  • While gameplan as a whole wasn't great, there were some well designed plays called at good times.
  • QB and receivers made some tough plays that helped keep the chains moving.
  • I really felt like the defense was starting to settle in even before the Clifford injury. That seems odd given they were giving up a field goal on that drive, but PSU had some tough conversions on that series. 
  • The Iowa defensive backfield didn't get out-athleted. Questions about their athleticism on the backend should be a little less pronounced now, as it felt like they went toe-to-toe on the outside vs an athletic group of receivers. 
  • The turnovers are for real. I'm reiterating this, because a lot of people still feel it's luck. But the way they execute their assignments and techniques puts them in positions to make plays, and they do.
Iowa Negatives:

  • They need to find a way to turn some of the solid gains into explosives. They are small improvements away, but it seemed there were a handful of instances that they were one or two guys away from really breaking one. They don't have great athletes across the board, but that wasn't the only thing holding them back. It's not a terribly efficient offense either, so generating explosives will be key for them to actually score points when the opposing offense isn't maligned.
  •  I think there are some issues at OG. While OTs were improved, they still weren't great necessarily. I think Iowa will continue to show flashes of a good run blocking group, but the consistency needs to improve. Same with pass pro (including from the RB position).
  • It felt like because of some issues getting off the field, some guys on defense were starting to press. I said above it felt like Iowa was close, but this can go the other way too. You can feel close and start pressing and lose your discipline, and there was more instances of that in this game than I've seen from Iowa before. Something to watch for.

 



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