Penn State fans have been waiting for this one for a long time now.
Iowa is coming to town and revenge will be on the mind of 107,000+ Saturday night, under the lights on national television. “The Greatest Show on Earth” will be rocking from start to finish if things go well and the Nittany Lions are ready to make a statement.
With Mississippi losing Thursday night Penn State looks to avoid the upset bug and pick up another spot in the rankings. To do that they will need to knock off a team that has given the Nits the fits over the past decade, including an upset loss last season that essentially ended the BCS championship talk in State College.
Iowa brings a very tough defense as they lead the Big Ten in team interceptions. Ten months ago the Hawkeyes rattled Daryl Clark and forced him to make some bad passes, including the killer interception over the head of Derrick Williams, driving well within field goal range. Clark has taken the bulk of the blame for that loss and is ready to make up for it this weekend.
This is the big game in the Big Ten. Can Penn State pick up the win and prove themselves worthy of being in the championship discussion? Obviously week four is far too early to book your tickets for Pasadena, but it would sure set up the rest of the season well for Penn State if they beat Iowa Saturday night.
Over at Nittany White Out we went more in depth with the upcoming Iowa match-up in our weekly round table discussion amongst fellow Penn State bloggers. It would seem that the Penn State fans are ready for this one, as they should be.
You may also want to start thinking about setting your DVR devices and VCR’s. At the time I write this, the earliest possible time the Phillies can clinch the NL East division title would come during the Penn State game. Plan accordingly.
TEMPLE
Meanwhile back closer to home, the Temple Owls are looking for revenge of their own. This weekend the Owls welcome defending MAC East champion Buffalo to town for the MAC opener between the two schools. If you remember, Buffalo stole a victory from Temple last season with a last second Hail Mary touchdown pass.
Last second losses was the theme of the 2008 season for Temple, as three of them kept them from clinching bowl eligibility for the first time since 1991. After losing to Villanova and Penn State to start the year, the time is now for Temple to get their act together and prove that they can win.
VILLANOVA, PENN
Do not forget about the Wildcats. Entering the weekend as the #2 team in the country in the FCS ranks, Villanova will host conference foe Northeastern in what will be Villanova’a first CAA game of the season.
If you are a college football junkie and want to kill some time before the big Penn State game that night, the Villanova game will be televised by the Comcast Network at 3:30pm.
Also, the Penn Quakers will head up north to play Lafayette from the Patriot League. The Quakers are coming off a loss in their first game of the season. Penn lost to Villanova 14-3.
