So there doesn't appear to be a single statistical category where the Hawkeyes hold a statistical advantage. This is odd since usually there is some oddball stat like Net Punting or Kickoff returns where Penn State has a disadvantage. So this is a first, but we shouldn't confuse this to mean Iowa is a bad team. It's more of a reflection of how dominant Penn State has been. But there are several things Iowa does well.
It's no surprise they feature a potent running game with Shonn Greene averaging 189 yards/game. But you can see they struggle in passing the ball, and their third down conversion rates suggests this team will struggle if Greene can be contained on first and second down forcing them to convert third and long situations. The biggest discrepancies on the chart come in our pass defense vs. their pass offense and our third down conversion defense vs. their third down conversion rate. Looking at our sack numbers against their sacks allowed it looks like Aaron Maybin and the defensive line should be able to get good pressure on Stanzi.
Their rushing defense is stellar and the pass defense is more than respectable. So those of you expecting us to go back to their prolithic scoring ways may be disappointed. The Iowa defense will prove a formidable test which is unfortunate. If we score 26 points we'll double their scoring allowed average, but I'm not sure that will be very impressive to the voters.
Special teams should be interesting to watch. Three out of four categories I list are a push, and the lone category where PSU holds an advantage is not really a weakness for Iowa. It's just that we're #1 in the country at returning kickoffs.