Penn State heads to Iowa with interim coach after Franklin firing

Penn State will try to steady a rapidly unraveling season when it visits Iowa on Saturday night, six days after firing head coach James Franklin and losing starting quarterback Drew Allar to a season-ending injury. The Hawkeyes, coming off a dominant victory over Wisconsin, will host the Nittany Lions at Kinnick Stadium in a game scheduled to kickoff at 6 p.m. Central and stream exclusively on Peacock.

The moves follow a string of setbacks for Penn State, which has dropped three straight games after opening the season with high expectations. The skid includes losses to Oregon, UCLA and a shock defeat at home to Northwestern that prompted the university to begin a coaching search. Team officials announced Allar's injury this week; the injury removes Penn State's established starter and forces the program to rely on backup options while an interim coach assumes control.

Terry Smith, a former Penn State wide receiver who has been on the coaching staff since 2014, will serve as interim head coach for the trip to Iowa. Smith has worked primarily with cornerbacks and had been associate head coach and defensive recruiting coordinator since 2021. He inherits a team struggling on defense...