Penn State Football: 3 takeaways from win over Iowa

2. Iowa’s offense is wildly inconsistent

It’s been a tough start to the 2017 season for the Iowa offense. After losing their stalwart starting quarterback C.J. Beathard to the NFL draft the Hawkeyes have failed to find consistent momentum. That trend continued for much of their week 4 game against Penn State.

The team’s star runningback, Akrum Wadley, was questionable going into the game as a result of a name injury sustained in week 3 against North Texas. He did play and finished the game with 19 rushes for 80 yards and a touchdown, but for most of the first half he was silent. He rushed for zero yards on 10 carries in the first half.

In addition to Wadley’s injury, the team’s backup tailback, James Butler, was unable to play due to a name injury that will hold him out for the next thee weeks.

The bulk of the team’s first half offense fell on the back of sophomore quarterback Nathan Stanley who finished the game with 13 completions for 191 yards and two touchdowns. Though he only attempted 13 passes his poise in the pocket helped to lead the Hawkeyes to their fourth quarter lead. Had Iowa held on, he would have been the player of the game.

It looks like Stanley may have a bright future under center for the Iowa Hawkeyes, but for now, it’s abundantly clear that Iowa’s success will be directly linked the success of Wadley and the running back unit.