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Lions hang on to right their ship

UNIVERSITY PARK — James Franklin awoke to a rainy Saturday morning and, being the glass half-full guy that he definitely is, he immediately tried to get his team in a positive frame of mind.

He told the Nittany Lions at breakfast it’s “a beautiful day in Happy Valley. There’s no better conditions to play college football than what we had today. Embrace it and have fun with it and enjoy it.”

Thanks to a 30-24 survival against Iowa, the Penn State camp was able to enjoy the day after ending a two-game home losing streak, moving to 6-2 heading into Michigan, and perhaps appropriately on this otherwise soggy day at Beaver Stadium, righting the ship.

“We were fortunate to get a win against a really tough opponent,” Franklin said. “We didn’t always play smart, but we played gutsy.”

Very true. Just as Iowa (6-2) refused to be knocked out, despite trailing by 10 points with the Lions driving in the fourth quarter, Penn State showed resilience by overcoming an early 12-0 deficit and then staving off the Hawkeyes’ late charge.

The end result, in many ways, may have saved the season as the Lions could not afford to lose another home game — particularly in gut-wrenching fashion — and build momentum for November.

They did so with a defense that showed signs of growing up and their field-goal kicker, freshman Jake Pinegar, came through in the clutch, nailing three 40-yarders to provide the ultimate margin of victory. Plus, as usual, Trace McSorley was the best player on the field.

Franklin got a little defensive when asked how much the Lions needed this game, reverting back to his usual “we’re just trying to go 1-0” speech and reminding the assembled media that the Lions did win last week in Indiana.

Yes, they did, but they impressed no one in the process, including Franklin, which is why emerging with a win over Iowa was important and allowed the home fans to taste victory for the first time since Sept. 15 vs. Kent State.

“Things didn’t go the way we wanted to vs. Michigan State and Ohio State,” offensive tackle Ryan Bates said. “This was the first game since then, and we needed this. This is a big win.”

Once again – or for the fourth straight game – the Lions were not able to make enough first downs late in the game to salt away the clock.

“We’ve had four games in a row that we had to finish,” quarterback Trace McSorley said. “The first two we weren’t able to, and the last two we were. Offensively, we have to work on finishing it on our terms and running that four-minute drive.”

The offense had a real chance to take control with 13 minutes remaining. Up 10 points (27-17) at the Iowa 9, Miles Sanders fumbled an exchange. Iowa moved out to midfield, and then punted to the Lion 8, at which point McSorley threw a pick-6, allowing Iowa within 27-24.

After Pinegar’s third field goal nudged the PSU lead to 30-24 with 8:24 remaining, Iowa moved to the Nittany Lions’ 3 before veteran quarterback Nate Stanley, rushed by the ticking play clock, was intercepted by Nick Scott at the Penn State 2.

Iowa moved to the Lions’ 44, where the game ended on downs because the Penn State defense rose up better than it did in the Nits’ two losses.

“We always talk about finish, finish, finish,” cornerback Amani Oruwariye said. “To get that today is great. We had guys all over the field making plays.”

Football is a funny game. It was stunning that Stanley threw his interception, on first down, with a chance to take the lead.

And yet, the Lions were generous hosts themselves, committing pre-snap penalties and making several big mistakes on special teams in the first half to dig an early hole.

Fortunately for them, they didn’t bury themselves, and now they’ll head to Michigan not in danger of losing four of their last five but with a chance to slay the current Big Ten frontrunner and stay alive for an attractive bowl game.

“It (today) will definitely carry over good, positive energy,” Bates said. “But I think we always have a good mindset, and we’ll be very prepared for Michigan.”

Rain or shine.

Rudel can be reached at 946-7527 or nrudel@altoonamirror.com.

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