The last two weeks, I can imagine, have been pretty fun for Penn State fans. An upset victory over the then No. 2 team in the country - Ohio State - and an impressive 62-24 victory on the road against Purdue have Nittany Nation roaring.

Another bit of good news hit the streets on Tuesday evening when the first College Football Playoff Rankings were announced. To everyone's surprise, Penn State came in at No. 12. It seems the CFP committee has rewarded the Nittany Lions for their challenging schedule and their improvement since a 49-10 loss to Michigan in Ann Arbor on Sept. 24.I think one definite thing you can take away from this season's Penn State squad is that it truly is a good football team. I think the fan base and the media have been waiting for the other shoe to drop, for something to go wrong with this team since they defeated Minnesota in overtime five weeks ago. That feeling definitely was multiplied after the Ohio State win where everyone, and I mean everyone, mentioned how the Purdue game could be a trap game and that the Nittany Lions needed to be worrisome of an upset. But they dug in against the Boilermakers in the second half and pulled the game out in convincing fashion.Good football teams do what Penn State's been doing over the course of the last five weeks. Despite doubts still floating around the program, even after such a big win over Ohio State, the Nittany Lions have just kept winning, and that's a testament to the players and the coaches for the job they've done keeping focused.Staying focused on Penn State's opponent Iowa became a little more difficult this week when the Nittany Lions came in at No. 12 in the first week of the CFP rankings. The excitement that something like that generates for a passionate fan base that hasn't seen their program in the championship discussion for a very long time can be electrifying, but it can also be a distraction.Penn State head coach James Franklin knows this and has kept a pretty tight lid on how the program feels about the No. 12 ranking."I think externally it helps. Internally, I don't think it does. Our focus is on Iowa. Iowa, Iowa, Iowa, Iowa, Iowa, Iowa. That's all we talk about," said Franklin. "We don't talk about those other things. We talk about making sure we have a great environment on Saturday so we have a home-field advantage, making sure our guys are prepared."I thought on Monday once again our player-driven meetings on their own, coming in, watching film, having questions ready for Tuesday, taking ownership of the team, taking our destiny and our fate. That's where our focus is."Later this evening (7:30 p.m. ET, BTN), we will all find out if Franklin was able to keep his team focused on the Hawkeyes. Iowa (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten West) is coming into Happy Valley well-rested after a bye week, which means the Hawkeyes have had two weeks to prepare for the Nittany Lions (6-2, 4-1 Big Ten East).I believe the key match-up in this one is the Penn State offense versus the Iowa defense. The Hawkeyes "D" is one of the better units in the Big Ten this season, giving up just 18.9 points per game. Iowa does surrender some yardage, however, as it has given up over 150 yards on the ground and over 220 yards through the air per contest.The most dangerous attribute of the Hawkeyes defense is their ability to create turnovers. Iowa is plus-seven in the turnover department, which is a main ingredient to winning tough games on the road. The Hawkeyes' plus-seven turnover differential is good enough for 12th best in the country."We emphasize limiting turnovers, I think I've told you guys before, we work ball security more than any program that I've been a part of. I think probably most of our coaching staff would say we work on ball security more than anyplace they've ever been," said Franklin. "We do it every single day in a drill and that's the entire focus. A lot of people make it a priority all practice and we do that as well, but every single day we do a ball security drill."On the offense side of the ball, the Hawkeyes don't have the most explosive offense in the Big Ten, but what they can do is run the football, which is another key element to winning road games. Leading Iowa in rushing is Akrum Wadley, who has rushed for 636 yards, eight touchdowns and an impressive 7.1 yards per carry. LeShun Daniels isn't far behind with 624 yards rushing and six touchdowns.If there's one aspect of the Penn State defense that has struggled this season it has been its run defense. The Nittany Lions have given up 183 yards per game on the ground, but that was before starting linebackers Jason Cabinda and Brandon Bell returned two weeks ago against the Buckeyes. Since the return of Cabinda and Bell, Penn State has been much better against the run and that was evident last week against the Boilermakers when it gave up just 46 yards rushing.Penn State's offense was impressive a week ago against Purdue. For the second time this season it was able to eclipse the 500-yard mark, accumulating 511 yards of total offense. It was the first time since 2013 that the Nittany Lions had multiple games of over 500 yards of total offense.Saquon Barkley continued his strong offensive effort as of late, rushing for a career-high 207 yards and two touchdowns. He also had 70 yards receiving on the day, totaling 270 yards of total offense. Barkley earned the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Award for his performance and will need to bring that momentum into tonight's match-up with Iowa.The recent success of Barkley really comes down to one thing and that's the running ability of quarterback Trace McSorley. Since McSorley was used more heavily in the run game against Maryland four weeks ago, he's rushed for almost 50 yards per game. McSorley's legs have kept defenses off-balance and defensive ends can no longer just crack down on Barkley in the zone-read scheme. They must respect McSorley's ability to make plays with his feet. Since the Maryland game, Barkley has rushed for 508 yards and three touchdowns, which comes to almost 170 yards per game on the ground.Las Vegas has Penn State as a 7-point favorite.This will not be an easy one for the Nittany Lions, but I think their offense is just too explosive right now. If the Hawkeyes put eight or nine guys in the box to stop Barkley, which they will do, McSorley has the ability to hurt them with the deep ball. The Hawkeyes do have a very good secondary, including last year's Jim Thorpe Award winner Desmond King, but King can't cover everybody.My pick is Penn State 34, Iowa 24.