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How will Iowa defend Penn State in the 2023 White Out? Illinois recap

Headshot 5x7 reduced qualityby: Thomas Frank Carr09/20/23ThomasFrankCarr
Drew Allar Penn State Football On3
Penn State Football hosts the 2023 White Out game on Saturday at Beaver Stadium. Get an early preview of the game today on the BWI Live Show. (Photos: Matthew O'Haren USA Today)

Before turning the page to Iowa and the 2023 White Out Game, we’re breaking down the Penn State Football team’s 30-13 win over Illinois. The Nittany Lions went on the road for the first time this year and ground out a win over the tough-minded Illinois football team. On today’s edition of the KSN on BWI Show, we’ll review how the offense and defense performed and then preview the upcoming game against Iowa. 

Join the show live at 10 a.m. on YouTube or catch the replay here. The KSN on BWI Show is an exclusive video broadcast of the Blue White Illustrated YouTube channel and is put on in conjunction with the Keystone Kickoff Show. Subscribe to the Blue White Illustrated channel to get all of our Penn State Football coverage, including post-practice updates from head coach James Franklin. 

Lack of explosive run plays from Penn State’s runners?

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The show starts with a breakdown of what Illinois did to stymie the Penn State rushing attack, which has been slow to get going this year. Head coach James Franklin summed it up during his Tuesday press conference,

 “I think those guys have been great. I also think in the Big Ten you look at statistically, we play good defense around here. There’s going to be games where we’ve got to grind it out. You guys know Iowa. This is probably going to be another one of those games where we’re going to have to grind it out. It’s going to be a four-quarter game,” Franklin said

We’ll discuss what Illinois did to fool Drew Allar and the Penn State offense on Saturday and how Allar was able to make good decisions in bad situations. We’ll also discuss the issues behind Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen’s lack of big runs. 

Defense puts Illinois on lockdown

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Next, we’ll examine how the defense smothered the Illinois plan of attack. The Illini managed only 62 yards rushing and turned the ball over five times. How did the defense get this done? We’ll discuss Luke Altmyer and what Abdul Carter saw on film heading into the game that allowed him to intercept the first pass of the game. We’ll also discuss how Daequan Hardy, Johnny Dixon and the rest of the secondary played the Illinois receivers and how they made it look easy. 

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Finally, we’ll preview the upcoming game against Iowa. What are the differences between Illinois and Iowa? We’ll explain Iowa’s zone defense approach and how they want to play with intelligence and vision while controlling the line of scrimmage. 

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