Game 10 Recap: Iowa 24, Penn State 23

There are a lot of things to say about this game, and we'll never get all our thoughts in one recap. Or we could, but we doubt anyone would read it. And of course, there are countless ways this game could've been won, but in the end, this one came down to an issue that has plagued PSU in years past: not scoring touchdowns from the red zone.

If you said to us before the season that the team would be 9-1 after 10 games and in great position to go the Rose Bowl, we probably would've been happy as hell. But no one wants to hear that now. Onto the recap...

1st Quarter

This game had an eerie feeling from the start, and as Penn State received the kickoff and got ready for the opening drive, Bob Griese alerted us that the Lions would be facing 25-30 mph wind gusts. So of course, three pass plays were called. On the third, Clark fumbled and somehow recovered at his own 1.

We're not sure if Clark really had the ball, or how he wasn't ruled down in the end zone, but Boone was able to put from the back of his own end zone. With the wind in his face, Boone only got it out the PSU 25. Two Shonn Greene runs later, and Iowa was on the board.

0-7

Not a good start.

As Galen and JayPa decided it was probably a bad idea to throw into 30 mph winds, six of the first seven plays on the ensuing Penn State drive were runs. The Lions moved the ball steadily, and eventually got down to the Iowa 8, after a nice 12-yard scamper by Stephfon Green.

Derrick Williams took a handoff for 5 yards on first down, but Royster lost 4 on the next play. Clark tried to hook up with Zug over the middle for the touchdown on third and goal, but defensive pass interference is called. Here came a sequence of plays that would kill the team later in the game.

Royster rushed for no gain on first down, Clark was hurried and threw an incompletion on second, and Royster was manhandled for a loss of five. Kelly came on for the field goal.

3-7.

After a rough start, having the ball on a first and goal at the 2 and not getting six is generally not a good thing. And by our calculations, Clark was 2-8 at this point in the passing game.

The D stepped up on Iowa's next drive and held Shonn Greene to 7 yards on the first two plays. Josh Hull got some pressure on Ricky Stanzi and forced an incompletion, and it was three-and-out for the Hawkeyes.

Penn State got the ball at their own 38 after a pretty horrible punt. They rushed five times, including two for Williams, to start the drive. It was obvious early on that Williams was going to be a large part of the offensive game plan, something that probably should've been implemented about 3 years ago. Better late than never, though.

"Hey, maybe we should give this guy the ball!"

The quarter ended with a first down at the Iowa 39.

2nd Quarter

Clark scrambled for 13 yards to open the quarter, then followed it up with a hand-off for two yards and an incompletion. On third and 8, he found Deon Butler for a first down, and a holding penalty on Iowa on the next play gave PSU a first and goal from the 7. This time the Lions would not be denied, as Williams carried one for 5 yards and Royster punched it in on the next play.

10-7

There had been an awful lot of the ground game up until this point, and with the crazy wind, that wasn't changing anytime soon. Iowa gave the ball to Greene four straight times to begin their drive. He picked up 10 yards on the first two carries, and 8 on the second two. On third and 2, Jared Odrick slapped the ball out of Stanzi's hand. Iowa recovered but would have to punt.

Penn State got the ball back and went started running again. After a bunch of rushes and back to back completions to Williams and Butler, the Lions had a first down at the Iowa 14. After a 1-yard run by Williams, Dennis Landolt took a backbreaking holding penalty. Clark tried in vain to make up the ground, but a third down pass to Green only got back to the original line of scrimmage. Kelly added the field goal.

13-7

Iowa came out and threatened a bit, but after some poor clock management, Stanzi was sacked at the PSU 40 to end the half.

-Halftime-

Halftime notes:

• 3 trips to the red zone: 1 touchdown.
• A whole lot of wind = A whole lot of running.
• The Iowa D-line was making life miserable for Clark, who in turn was making life miserable for us.
  

3rd Quarter

We weren't feel particularly confident going into the third, but we did have that, "alright PSU has dominated second halves of games so they should be able to cap this off," feeling.
We understand that's a really long feeling, but that describes what we felt.

So, hoping to get things going, Iowa trotted out the offense and had them walk back off a few plays later after Stanzi threw a pick to Tyrell Sales.

With this excellent field position, the best PSU could come up with was another field goal, and that ended up being the story of the night. So close to the end zone, but never able to punch it in.

At least Kevin Kelly remains consistent.

16-7

Upon getting the ball back, Iowa dished out a healthy dose of Shonn Greene. He is a beast, arguably the best back we've seen this year.

"PJ Hill ran for 58 yards against you, is that not good enough?" - PJ Hill

We thought this drive ended on three separate occasions, and in the later stages of the game, that became another theme.

So far we have two themes:
1. Inability to punch it in from the red zone
2. Inability to stop Iowa on 3rd and 5+.

Iowa faced three 3rd downs on this drive, the final being at the PSU 27 yard line.

On third and thirteen, the secondary forgot how to play the game for a second. Scirrotto and Lydell Sargeant are left in the dust while Derrell Johnson-Koulianos stands wide open and hauls in the TD pass.

We don't think there's been a play this bad for the secondary all year, but they really got burned on this one. Bad coverage, nobody home to cover up over the top. Touchdown.

16-14

After that, the Lions offense came out and quickly found themselves at 3rd and six.
A pass falls incomplete, and it's time to punt.

Feeling the excitment at the possibility of beating the Number 3 team in the nation, Iowa's offense vomits all over itself and coughs up the ball. Thank god.

PSU ball at the Iowa 28.
Evan Roytser for 9.
Evan Royster for 4.
Evan Royster for 6.

That set up second and four at the Iowa 9. Derrick Williams lined up at quarterback and took an option up right side of the line. Nine yards, touchdown. Williams is a beast today.

23-14

4th Quarter

The teams would exchange short drives at the start of the fourth. Iowa ended up getting to start a drive at the PSU 44 and they made short work of that field. It took them 5 plays to get the ball to the PSU 6, again converting a long third down along the way.

Shonn Greene would punch one in from 6 yards and you could feel your pregame nachos and chicken fingers starting to come back up.

23-21

9:20 remained in the game and when you have a team up by 2 that needs to put a drive together, that 9 minutes and 20 seconds can feel like a lifetime.

One of us couldn't see the fourth because of a wedding (who gets married during football season?!) so we'll let the text messages take you home from here:

"aaaaand, three and out"
"#!@$#$^$%&#^&"
"but they rough the kicker and psu keeps the ball!" (good sell by Boone, by the way)
"yeah baby!"
"Iowa 46. Williams just threw a 23 yard pass to Schuler! What a beast!
"woooooooo"
"Third and 14 at the Iowa 27. 4:30 left"

Phone rings:
"what's happening? I got a break from the wedding."
"I don't know, it's a Chili's commercial."
"Dammit!"
*click*

final text:
"Clark throws a pick. Drat"

The ball kind of sailed on Clark and it looked like Williams didn't want to go after an uncatchable ball and risk making a jump ball out of it. Unfortunately, there was a Hawkeye waiting right behind him to make that pick. Only up by 2 and with all this time left, you could almost feel it coming.

By now, those extra jalapenos you had on your nachos were starting to taste exactly like they did three hours ago.

The first play of the drive was a Jared Odrick sack, so you went to put the antacids back in the cabinet.
The second play was an incompletion and you got out that retarded 9-0 shirt you bought at the Clothesline last week.
The third play, Scirrotto took a chance and went over the top on a Iowa wide receiver. If he makes that play without interfering, he's in bed with every PSU woman you've ever known as soon as that charter lands at State College International Airport.

Burn that shirt.

Twice more, PSU would put Iowa in a third and long situation, and twice more they would convert. We didn't think Iowa could pass to win against PSU, but we were wrong.

Iowa would march the ball down to the PSU 14 and, if you're like us, you thought one thing:
Our hero, Aaron Maybin, will block this kick. We thought it would happen. We needed it to happen. The fate of the size of our remaining tailgates depended on it!

Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be as Daniel Murray booted it through from 31 yards.

You watched in horror as the ball split the yellow poles and your heart sank right to the floor.

23-24

Game.

23-24

Text mesages began pouring in including a multitude of "what the f---?!" and "how the hell?!" type messages.

and that was what the Iowa fans were saying.

The messages we were getting were more like, "we're meeting at the bridge in 20, be there"

But the season is not over, friends. There's two games to go and a big bowl game to be had. PSU still has the Big11Ten title in their sights and it's theirs to lose. If this team comes out like the 05 squad did after losing to Michigan, then Indiana is going to wish they never made the trip in.

Then, it's just about taking care of business at home against Michigan State.

So be it the Ben Franklin, the Smithfield Street, or even the 322 bypass over Park Ave, you need to step down off that ledge.

Lift your heads up, Lion fans. This is a team to be proud of a run that you won't soon forget, and more importantly, a run that's not over.

We want USC.

3 Big Stat Lines

• Derrick Williams: 12 carries, 57 yards, 1 TD (rushing), 4 rec., 43 yards (receiving); 1-1, 23 yards (passing)
  
• Shonn Greene: 28 carries, 117, 2 TD
  
• Iowa- 7/10 on third down.
  

Our Quick Thoughts On The Game:

• Get 6 on one of those three field goal drives and win the game.
• Get a field goal on the last drive and probably win the game.
• Why did Williams pull his arms down on the pick from Clark? We will be debating this for quite some time.
  
• Clark played really shaky for the second straight game. You can only blame the wind so much.
• Derrick Williams was everywhere. Great all-around game from him.
• Solid performance by Jared Odrick.
• Gotta give credit to the Iowa D-line. They were all over Clark for much of the game.
  
• The secondary played poorly in the biggest moments.
• Someone tell Scirrotto you can't plow into a receiver while he's in the air waiting for the ball.
• Two huge holding penalties at two really bad times.
• This is why you don't riot in your town after a mid season victory.
  
• Misery.
  

Penn State Player of the Game: Derrick Williams
43 yards receiving. 53 rushing. 1 for 1 passing for 23 yards. He was huge, making plays all over and picking up the slack whenever the offense seemed to sputter. The more he is involved, the better this offense performs.

Iowa Player of the Game: Shonn Greene
He was everything we hoped he wouldn't be. He ran for 117 and two touchdowns and just pounded the ball when they needed him to. He was just as advertised.