Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the Daily Collegian, Penn State’s daily newspaper. It has been edited for The Daily Iowan.
Iowa night games against top-ranked teams have similar qualities to Penn State white-outs. There is a certain understanding that something unpredictable is going to happen.
With the No. 4 Nittany Lions currently the highest ranked team in the Big Ten, unpredictability is not in their favor.
Kickoff for their first Big Ten game is set for 6:43 p.m. in Kinnick Stadium, which holds more than 70,000 fans.
Iowa has won its last five Big Ten openers and four-straight night games at home. In their last seven matchups against top-5 teams, the Hawkeyes have gone 4-3 under coach Kirk Ferentz.
Kinnick’s reputation around college football as a giant killer isn’t unfounded.
“Night games there are kind of crazy,” wide receiver Brandon Polk said. “But we’ve played at places kind of just like that, and we’ve been able to just focus on us and just go out there and do what we need to do.”
The stadium allows fans to be very close to the sidelines, amplifying the cheering and taunting.
“Tough place to play, obviously,” linebacker Brandon Smith said. “They have had a lot of success at home the last few years.”
The pink visitor locker room is another way that Kinnick Stadium tries to disarm its trespassers. A former Iowa coach, Hayden Fry, made the paint decision in the late 1970s, predicting that teams would be thrown off by the pacifying interior.
Coach James Franklin had a thankful, semi-sarcastic approach to Iowa’s legendary mind game.
“I’m actually going to talk to our guys about it being a really, really nice gesture by the University of Iowa to welcome Penn State,” Franklin said. “Since our original school colors are pink and black, and how wonderful it is and what a wonderful gesture it is that they painted their locker room pink for us.”
The coach also noted that he recently painted his daughters’ bedrooms, one of which was pink.
Some teams have tried to combat the premise of the pink locker rooms.
Last year, Michigan hung team posters and jerseys to cover the walls in maize-and-blue, de-feminizing the wall paint. The decision did little to help Michigan, which lost on a last-second field goal and eventually fell out of the playoff conversation later in the season after a loss to Ohio State.
A few of the players noted that the locker room won’t have an effect on them.
The Nittany Lions will also have a challenge awaiting them on the field. The Hawkeyes pride themselves on their strong running game, which the Nittany Lions struggled with against Pitt.
However, the Nittany Lions shut down the Hawkeyes’ running game last season, limiting the visitors to 30 rushing yards on 26 attempts.
Safety Marcus Allen, who has been the statistical leader for the defense this season, noted that the Nittany Lions had a well-constructed game plan that contributed to halting Iowa’s running game. He said the team will try to mimic that game plan and success on Saturday.
Akrum Wadley leads the Hawkeyes’ running game. The senior averages 170 all-purpose yards through the first three games; however, after leaving last week’s game with injury, it is unclear how healthy he will be at kickoff.
On the defensive side, the Hawkeyes will try to mimic Georgia State’s effectiveness in stopping the Nittany Lions’ running game. However, the scheme that is required for stopping Saquon Barkley opens up the passing game, which the Nittany Lions exposed against the Panthers Sept. 16.