Blue White Illustrated

battles lately, as the biggest margin of victory in their previous four games was five points. They've also had their share of come-from-ahead losses. But, as was the case last week at Indiana, Penn State came up with the defensive stops it needed on Iowa's last two possessions and held on for a 30-24 victory. "We were fortunate to get a win against a really tough opponent in our confer- ence," coach James Franklin said. "We didn't always play smart, especially early on in the game, but we played gutsy." The Lions played one of their sloppier games of the past few seasons. In addi- tion to turning the ball over twice in the last 13 minutes, they committed six penalties and handed the Hawkeyes four points in the first half via safeties on a pair of botched punts. But they still managed to run their win streak over the Hawkeyes to five games and improved to 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the conference, becoming bowl-eligible in the process. Here's a look at the good and the bad: THE GOOD • The defense was very effective all af- ternoon, especially considering that a series of special teams gaffes resulted in Iowa starting several drives in great field position in the first half. The Nittany Lions allowed Iowa to start on its own 44 and later its 43 a?er a pair of safeties, and the Hawkeyes started at the Penn State 46 following a long kickoff return by Ihmir Smith-Marsette. On those three drives, the Hawks managed only 68 yards and six points. For the game, Penn State allowed Nate Stanley to complete only 19 of 49 passes for 205 yards, with no touchdowns and two interceptions. On the ground, the Hawkeyes managed only 135 yards on 38 carries for an average of 3.6 yards per at- tempt. On the heels of a big a?ernoon at Indiana, sophomore defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos had another great day, fin- ishing with a team-high nine tackles, in- cluding four tackles for loss and two sacks. "Our defense was so resilient," Franklin said. "Brent Pry, our defensive staff, our defensive players – they did not give up a traditional touchdown tonight. Not one. So it was a pretty impressive, gutsy performance by our defense." • A?er leaving the game in the second quarter with an apparent knee injury, McSorley returned for the second half looking no worse for wear, sprinting 51 yards for a touchdown early in the third quarter to give Penn State its first lead of the a?ernoon. His passing numbers – 11 for 25 for 167 yards – didn't jump off the stat sheet, but he found a way to engineer a victory. A?er the game, Franklin called him "the best player in college football." "He's as tough as it gets," the coach added. "He goes out [in the second quar- ter], but we were able to get him back in the game. Ricky Rahne makes a great call against cover-zero, and Trace runs for 51 yards. Huge play in the game." • On what was otherwise a checkered a?ernoon for the special teams units, Jake Pinegar came through in a major way, shrugging off the cold, wet field conditions to hit field goal attempts of 45, 49 and 44 yards. It was the best game of the season for the Iowa native, who has now made six of his past seven at- tempts. Said Franklin, "For him to come up as big as he did today was huge for us." • John Reid's interception, which he re- turned 44 yards to set up a touchdown, was a welcome show of opportunism from a defense that has let a few poten- tially game-changing turnovers slip through its hands this season. Later, Nick Scott pounced on a bad pass by Stanley, capitalizing on an apparent miscommu- nication at the line of scrimmage by Iowa's offense to snuff out a drive that looked as though it was about to give Iowa a late lead. SCORING SUMMARY 1ST 14:08 IOWA Team 26-yard safety.................................................................... 2-0 10:09 IOWA Recinos, Miguel 27-yard field goal 8 plays, 47 yards, TOP 3:51......................................................... 5-0 5:22 IOWA Brincks, Sam 10-yard pass from Rastetter, C. (Recinos, Miguel kick ) 9 plays, 42 yards, TOP 2:56.......................................................12-0 0:27 PSU Freiermuth, Pat 18-yard pass from McSorley, Trace (Pinegar, Jake kick) 10 plays, 85 yards, TOP 4:51.......................................................12-7 2ND 13:39 IOWA Team 25-yard safety....................................................................14-7 6:45 PSU Stevens, Tommy 3-yard run (Pinegar, Jake kick) 1 play, 3 yards, TOP 0:04.......................................................... 14-14 4:32 IOWA Recinos, Miguel 49-yard field goal 5 plays, 15 yards, TOP 2:04.......................................................17-14 0:03 PSU Pinegar, Jake 45-yard field goal 4 plays, 31 yards, TOP 0:34....................................................... 17-17 3RD 12:10 PSU McSorley, Trace 51-yard run (Pinegar, Jake kick ) 4 plays, 77 yards, TOP 1:14........................................................17-24 4:10 PSU Pinegar, Jake 49-yard field goal 6 plays, 24 yards, TOP 1:45...................................................... 17-27 4TH 10:00 IOWA Stone, Geno 24-yard interception (Recinos, Miguel kick)............................................................. 24-27 8:24 PSU Pinegar, Jake 44-yard field goal 4 plays, 5 yards, TOP 1:25....................................................... 24-30 O c T O B E r 2 7 , 2 0 1 8 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 2

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