Coaching change didn't fix Penn State's problems in loss to Iowa

Penn State may have needed to move on from former head coach James Franklin, but as the team showed on Saturday night in a 25-24 loss to Iowa, that alone is not going to fix where the program is right now. 

Saturday's game was Penn State's fourth consecutive loss, and continued to highlight a problem that has snuck under the radar this season.

The defense can not stop anybody in big moments, and that is a bad look for defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, given the hype around his arrival. Not to mention his salary. 

Penn State's defense has ruined the season more than anything

If you are looking for scapegoats as to why Penn State, the preseason No. 2 team in the country, is sitting at 3-4, there is no shortage of options.

Franklin is obviously the biggest scapegoat and has already been replaced. 

Starting quarterback Drew Allar was having a massively disappointing season before his season-ending injury, while his overtime interception against Oregon will be replayed by Penn State fans for years. That play started the downward trend for the season. 

As disappointing as his season has been, he is still a potential NFL passer, and his absence the rest of the way is going to significantly limit what the offense can do. 

While all of those areas are problems, the defense under Knowles needs to be more of a focal point for blame. And it is not even necessarily about the points they have allowed or not allowed. It's about how they have consistently failed in big moments. 

They gave up 30 points at home to Oregon, including two overtime touchdowns, followed that up by allowing 42 points to a previously winless UCLA team, and then failed to get fourth-quarter stops against unranked Northwestern. 

On Saturday in Iowa, with Penn State clinging to a five-point lead with four minutes to play in the fourth quarter, it failed to make another stop. 

This time, perhaps in its most embarrassing way of the season.

Facing an Iowa offense that was backed up on its own 25-yard line and had shown zero ability to throw the football all night, Penn State allowed the Hawkeyes to drive 75 yards on just two plays for a game-winning touchdown. Sixty-eight of those yards came on one run by quarterback Mark Gronowski.