Rapid reaction: No. 3 Iowa rallies past No. 4 Penn State in slugfest

The game lived up to the pregame hype.

Penn State vs. Iowa was a heavyweight fight. A war. A test of stamina to see which defense would still be standing after 15 rounds … er, 4 quarters. A war of attrition. A test of wills, and pride.

Both teams passed.

But only one of them could win. And that was No. 3 Iowa, which rallied past No. 4 Penn State 23-20 to remain unbeaten at 6-0.

Both teams lost key players, with DB Riley Moss going down for Iowa and — even more impactful to the game — QB Sean Clifford going down for Penn State.

The game turned when Ta’Quan Roberson had the sub in for Clifford midway through the second quarter. Penn State committed nearly 10 false start penalties with Roberson and his linemen struggling to deal with the noise from the home crowd.

Roberson led Penn State to a field goal for a 20-10 lead early in the second half, but then the Hawkeyes started grinding.

Iowa scored on 3 of 4 drives, getting FGs on the first two before finally breaking through to take the lead 23-20 on a 44-yard pass from Spencer Petras to Nico Ragaini.

Penn State had no answers with Roberson running the offense. Under a lot of pressure, he missed receivers, had some passes dropped and threw the Lions’ 4th INT of the day on a last-gasp fourth-down play.

Penn State looked good early

When Clifford threw an interception on Penn State’s first offensive play and another before the first quarter was done, it looked like Iowa’s formulaic process for victory had been set in motion.

But Clifford had other ideas, and provided Penn State with a 17-3 cushion before exiting with an injury.

Clifford’s buddies on defense had his back, erasing his mistakes and giving him the ball back. We trust you, they told him. Keep chucking, keep running. We got you.

Boy, did they ever. But they couldn’t cover Roberson for all of the final 2 1/2 quarters.

Clifford repaid their trust, and it looked like he and new PSU offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich would get the better of counterparts Petras and Brian Ferentz.

Clifford went to the locker room midway through the second quarter, apparently hurt on a hit by Jack Campbell as he released a throw.

Once the inexperienced Roberson had to take over, Penn State’s offense went nowhere but backward. There were 4 false start penalties in the final minutes of the first half, including 3 in a row on one drive. Jordan Stout bailed out one stalled drive with a 54-yard punt, and a long interception at least saved some field position on another. Roberson could barely run 35 seconds off the clock to end the half as Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz used his last 2 timeouts to force Roberson to prove he could take 3 snaps without incident. The strategy made sense, considering Roberson juggled the first snap he took when he replaced Clifford.

Amazingly, Iowa didn’t take advantage. It’s lone touchdown drive of the first half preceded Roberson’s first snap, an 11-play, 75-yard jaunt that pulled the Hawkeyes within 17-10.

Despite the 2 INTs, Clifford made the difference in the first half for Penn State. He completed 15 of 25 passes for 146 yards, and ran 3 times for 36 yards and a touchdown before the break. Meanwhile, the Lions’ running backs ran 7 times for 11 yards, continuing their season-long struggles.

When Clifford returned to the field after halftime with his pads off, it was clear the game’s dynamics would change. Penn State would try to ride its defense and hope Roberson could settle in. Iowa would keep pounding with handoffs to Tyler Goodson and safe throws, mostly to tight ends.

Clifford’s first misfire gave Iowa first-and-goal on the 8. His defense, one of the best in the country in the red zone, forced Iowa to settle for a field goal.

After his second misfire, the defense bailed him out 2 plays later with its own interception. Jaquan Brisker snared a deflected pass from Petras, setting up the guy he’s been touting since the preseason as “the best quarterback in America” to go to work again. Clifford completed 2 passes for 33 yards and ran the final 4 in a 4-play, 39-yard touchdown drive. Clifford also led a 9-play, 75-yard drive between his 2 INTs, going 5-of-7 on that march.

Another first-quarter Iowa drive ended when Penn State defenders jarred a would-be first-down reception from the arms of star Iowa tight end Sam LaPorta.

At the end of 15 minutes, Penn State led 14-3.

Iowa’s offense started extremely slow, with Petras going 1-of-9 for 14 yards with an interception and 2 sacks taken. The Hawkeyes were outgained 146-49 in the quarter.

But everything changed a few minutes later. And Iowa is 6-0.

Luke Glusco

Luke Glusco is a Penn State graduate and veteran journalist. He covers Penn State and occasionally writes about other Big Ten programs and topics. He also serves as the primary copy editor for Saturday Tradition.