2021 opponent preview: Penn State Nittany Lions

It’s not often that Iowa will go five games without playing a team they faced the season prior - a side-effect of having a protected out-of-conference rivalry. With the Penn State Nittany Lions coming to town, they’re looking to reassert the dominance they recaptured in the 2010s, going 6-1 from 2010-2019.

Their head coach remains James Franklin, though his offense has dipped since the 2017 high point of 41.1 points/game. Losing Joe Moorhead, Saquon Barkley, and Trace McSorely will do that. Much of 2020 (and even portions of 2019) were a function of quarterback instability as both Sean Clifford and Will Levis showed promise but struggled as well. Levis has since transferred to Kentucky so…