Saturday in Iowa City was one of the most, if not the most, electric atmosphere that Kinnick Stadium has ever seen. The first top 5 matchup in the Big Ten that did not feature Ohio State or Michigan since 1962, and it lived up to the billing.
Iowa started off with their defensive hallmark, forcing turnovers, as Sean Clifford’s first pass was intercepted by Jestin Jacobs at the Penn State 8-yard line. Iowa, however, was held to a field goal. The Penn State offense would respond with an impressive touchdown drive, capped off by a 2-yard Noah Cain touchdown run, to put Penn State up 7-3. Both teams traded interceptions soon there after, as Jack Koerner picked off a Sean Clifford pass, and Ja’quan Brisker picked off a Spencer Petras pass. Penn State turned the Petras interception into points as Sean Clifford took a quarterback draw for a touchdown, to put Penn State up 17-3. The Nittany Lions tacked on a field goal to go up 17-3, but quarterback Sean Clifford would be knocked out of the game on the prior 3rd down.
Iowa marched down the field and picked up a 9-yard touchdown pass from Spencer Petras to Charlie Jones, to set the score at 17-10. The Penn State offense struggled as Te’Quan Roberson entered at quarterback, as false starts due to the frenzied Kinnick crowd and miscommunications halted the Nittany Lions offense headed into halftime. Both teams would trade field goals in the 3rd quarter, before Iowa punter Tory Taylor and the Iowa defense began to flip the field in favor of their offense. Freshman Keagan Johnson’s 42-yard reception set up another Caleb Shudak field goal to cut the score at 20-16.
Iowa would finally breakthrough on the ensuing drive, as Spencer Petras found Nico Ragaini for a 44-yard touchdown to put Iowa up for good, 23-20. Iowa’s defense and special teams, continued to stymie Penn State and ended the Nittany Lions dream of a top 5 win, as the students stormed the field in celebration.
Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz: “For us to have a chance, it sure helps if we’re hitting and complementing all three. And I think that’s what ended up happening today. So that was really huge. That’s where I go back to — I was teasing Jason Baker. He really changed field position in 2000. It was the same thing with Tory today. A little different, but he was really pinning them in there and making them go the long field.”
Iowa moved up to #2 in the rankings following Alabama’s loss to Texas A&M, and will host Purdue for homecoming at 2:30 PM on Saturday.