Iowa Penn State 17 – Iowa 12 Volume 82, Issue 6 Oct. 14, 2019 The Big Ten spotlight shown down Saturday night on Kinnick Stadium, where the 17th-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes set the stage for a hoped-for big upset over unbeaten and 10th- ranked Penn State. The loud and boisterous home fans conducted a Stripe-Out for their Black and Gold Spirit Game. The Hawkeyes came out in gold uniforms, as three F-35s buzzed the stadium in a fly-over. Their 2009 Orange Bowl winning team was honored, and its quarterback Ricky Stanzi— the only Iowa QB to defeat Penn State three times (2008-10)—was honorary captain for the Hawks. On Friday he had implored the 2019 team to hunt with spears and eat Lions the next night. But a near-capacity crowd of 69,034 and an ABC-TV audience of millions saw a typical hard-nosed Iowa-Penn State defensive battle result in a 17–12 triumph for the Nittany Lions—who kept their record unblemished in their sixth game this season and moved up to No. 7 in the Associated Press poll. Penn State entered the game No. 2 in the FBS in scoring defense, allowing just 7.4 points per game, and Iowa was No. 3 at 8.8 ppg. But the Lion defense made the Hawks one-dimensional by shutting down their rushing attack, while State’s runners outgained the home team 177 to 70 on the ground and got the game-clinching touchdown by freshman Noah Cain, who carried the ball 15 times for 67 yards in the fourth quarter alone. Cain led all rushers in the game with 102 yards on 22 carries – his second 100-yard game in a row—while four Iowa ball-carriers could average only 2.3 yards on 30 carries and no scores. Each team tallied one touchdown through the air, as Penn State beat Iowa for the sixth consecutive time since 2010 and gave Coach James Franklin his first win over a ranked team on the road, after six such losses. In addition to snuffing out the Hawkeye rushing attack, the Lions’ defensive front constantly pressured senior QB Nate Stanley, the second leading passer in the Big Ten in completions per game. The visitors forced two second-half turnovers and turned them into 10 points. PJ Mustipher forced a fumble by Iowa runner Tyler Goodson in the third quarter, and Jan Johnson recovered it to set up Jake Pinegar’s 33-yard field goal. In the fourth frame Robert Windsor pressured Stanley into tossing an interception by safety Jaquan Brisker in Hawkeye territory. That set up State’s 35-yard drive, featuring eight time-consuming rushes by Cain and Clifford and ending with Cain’s five-yard blast into the end zone to give the Lions a 17–6 lead with just 5:17 left in the game. Stanley did move the Hawkeyes to their first touchdown in the last two games—but it took a spectacular play by Brandon Smith to accomplish it. State cornerback John Reid had position on the Iowa wide receiver and was reaching out for another Lion interception. But Smith leaped over Reid at the goal line to make a circus catch of a 33-yard pass and fell on his head in the end zone, while holding onto the ball. Penn State countered by running Cain five times up the middle for 17 yards, while Iowa burned its time-outs and the clock expired. State’s leading receiver KJ Hamler made a similar leaping touchdown for Penn State’s first score in the second quarter. On a 3rd-and-7 at the IU-22 Sean Clifford tossed a short pass to Hamler at the first-down stick. But the slender speedster turned down the sidelines and leaped over two defenders a la Saquon Barkley to tumble into the end zone with a 22-yard touchdown. Both offenses had struggled in the first quarter, until Iowa became the first team all year to score any points on Penn State in the first quarter. That came with just over two minutes left in the quarter on a 47-yard field goal by Keith Duncan to cap an 11-play 38-yard drive in 5:28. Lion defensive linemen Shaka Toney and Robert Windsor had forced the Hawks to settle for the field goal try, after sacking Stanley for a loss of nine yards at the PS-30. It was the only time that Penn State trailed in the game, even though the contest remained tight until the final whistle. Early in the second quarter the Lions mounted a 15-play 85-yard drive that culminated in Hamler’s touchdown five minutes and 40 seconds later. Duncan missed a 44-yard field goal attempt wide right on Iowa’s next possession. But the Hawkeye kicker put a 24-yarder through the uprights just 20 seconds before halftime to make the score the closest of the night at 7–6. It remained a one-point margin until the final 2:08 of the third quarter when Pinegar booted his 33-yard three- pointer. The score remained 10-6 for the next 12 minutes, until Cain tallied his touchdown late in the final frame. The Hawkeye’s only TD with just two and one-half minutes remaining set the final score at 17–12. The outcome was in line with the last two games between these two teams. Trace McSorley threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Juwan Johnson on the last play of the game to give the Lions a come-from-behind 21–19 win in Iowa City in 2017. And State safety Nick Scott had to make a goal-line interception to squelch the Hawkeyes’ last threat and secure a 30–24 victory in Beaver Stadium in 2018. Penn State fans thought the Lions should have had a 14-6 margin late in the third quarter, when Clifford threw a 16-yard pass to tight end Pat Freiermuth for an apparent touchdown. But after a long review, the referee reversed the touchdown call, ruling that the ball was a half-yard short of the goal line when Freiermuth’s knee touched the ground. Incredulous Penn State fans swore the pylon camera showed the ball straddling the goal line as Pat’s knee touched the turf. The Lions then drew two holding calls on offensive linemen that moved the ball back 20 yards and forced State to settle for a field goal. Coach Franklin said the Lions found a way to win in a tough place to play. They should embrace the result and focus on things they can control. He said State made some mistakes in the first quarter, and Sean Clifford got antsy in the pocket. The Lions leaned on their defense, won the battle of field position and turnovers. State got two turnovers that led to 10 points and gave up none. The Lions average starting field position was the PS-33. Iowa’s average start was its own 17-yard line thanks to excellent punting by Blake Gillikin, who averaged 42.1 yards on seven punts and dropped five of them inside Iowa’s 20-yard line—three of which landed inside the 10. PJ Mustipher had a career-high seven tackles, including one tackle for a six-yard loss and one forced fumble. Lamont Wade and John Reid also had seven stops. Robert Windsor tied his career-high of six tackles with 2.5 for 15 yards in loss and 1.5 QB sacks for 12 yards in loss. Garrett Taylor and Tariq Castro-Fields also had six stops. Franklin said he was proud of the offensive line, whose improvement has allowed the offense to get more diversified in its running attack. He said Noah Cain played extremely well. “Noah plants his foot and is a downhill guy, who always falls forward.” Penn State’s rushing leaders after six games are: Noah Cain 57 carries for 310 yards, Sean Clifford 59 carries for 252 yards, Journey Brown 35 carries for 233 yards, and Devyn Ford 30 carries for 215 yards. Slot receiver KJ Hamler had seven catches for 61 yards and one TD Saturday, followed by Pat Freiermuth with two receptions for 25 yards and Jahan Dotson with two catches for 19 yards. For the season KJ has 26 for 455 yards, Jahan 14 for 261 yards and Freiermuth 17 for 203. Sean Clifford’s passing stats are 102 completions in 159 attempts for 1,560 yards and 13 TDs with only two interceptions. With the regular season at the midway point, the Nittany Lions will prepare for the most anticipated home game of the year – the White Out against Michigan, which will come to town ranked No. 16 in the country. Coach Franklin thanked the fans for their support on the road and now he wants them to have Beaver Stadium rocking for Saturday’s White Out. The ESPN College GameDay crew will be making the trip to Happy Valley for the third-straight season Saturday. Kickoff for the game will be at 7:30 p.m. and ABC will televise the contest as it just did in Iowa. For the Glory, Notes from the Cuff ESPN College GameDay will be broadcasting its show from the site of a Penn State game for the 19th time next Saturday … State leads the all-time series with Iowa 17–12 and is 10–5 in games played in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes are 13–7 in night games at home and four of those have been played against Penn State … Six Big Ten teams are currently ranked in the AP Top 25: Ohio State (No.