Bootleg, Bootleg, Bootleg

If you’ve watched Iowa football long enough, you know nothing comes easy. Saturday night was no different, as the Hawkeyes somehow pulled out a 25–24 win over Penn State in a game that had just about everything — turnovers, blocked kicks, questionable decisions, and enough stress to last a month.

Penn State came into this one looking like a team with nothing left to lose. Interim head coach Terry Smith even told the sideline reporters before kickoff that they were “emptying the tank” for this one. And honestly, they did — for a while.

Iowa’s first drive didn’t exactly inspire confidence. A tipped pass off the hands of Gill (who’s had a rough go lately) turned into an interception, giving Penn State the early momentum. The Nittany Lions turned that mistake into points with a 10-play, 35-yard touchdown drive that was almost entirely runs — probably smart considering their freshman quarterback was starting and, well, let’s just say he didn’t have his best night. He finished 15 of 28 for 93 yards and two picks.

Iowa managed to get on the board with a field goal, and after a missed kick later in the first quarter, it was 7–3 Penn State. That first quarter pretty much set the tone — ugly, defensive, and grind-it-out football.

The second quarter? Somehow worse. Four Penn State drives ended in either punts or interceptions, and Iowa’s offense wasn’t much better. The highlight came from safety Xavier Nwankpa, who picked off the freshman QB and returned it to the one-yard line, setting up a short touchdown run to give Iowa the lead.

But then, in true “what are we doing” fashion, the Hawkeyes tried a 66-yard field goal right before halftime. It was blocked — of course — and Penn State returned it all the way for a touchdown. You could practically hear every fan in Kinnick groaning in unison.

Even Kirk Ferentz admitted after the game that it was a mistake, saying,

“It was a bad decision. We should have just closed out the half and come back and played from there.”

Yeah, Coach, we agree.

Halftime score: 14–10 Penn State.

The third quarter at least gave us some life. Both teams put together long scoring drives, trading touchdowns to make it 21–16 heading into the fourth.

Early in the fourth, Iowa knocked through a 31-yarder to cut it to two, but Penn State answered with a field goal of their own to stretch it back to five. That’s when Mark Gronowski said “enough of this” and ripped off a 67-yard run to set up a drive that lead Iowa to go up 25–24. It was one of those plays where the whole stadium froze for a second — like, “Did that really just happen?”

From there, it was all Iowa defense. The Hawkeyes forced a punt, ran the clock, and somehow — somehow — walked out with a 25–24 win.

Stat-wise, this one was all about the ground game. Penn State’s Kaytron Allen ran like a man on a mission with 145 yards and two scores on 28 carries. Iowa countered with Gronowski’s 130 yards and two touchdowns on just nine carries, plus Kamari Moulton adding 99 yards on 17 carries. The passing game? Basically nonexistent. Iowa threw for just 68 yards on 16 attempts. But hey, when you’re running like that, who needs it?

It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t clean. But it was Iowa football — frustrating, gritty, and just barely enough to get the win.

Now the Hawkeyes move to 5-2, still hanging around the Big Ten race moving into 6th place while Penn State looks like a team that’s completely lost.

It’s never easy, but that’s the brand. And on Saturday night in Kinnick, it worked.

Article by Ryan Burhite