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Wild, wacky ending adds to PSU’s triumph

10/27/18 Patrick Waksmunski / Iowa v Penn State / Penn State defensive tackle Kevin Givens (30) pressures Iowa quarterback Nate Stanley (4).

By Cory Giger

cgiger@altoonamirror.com

UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State played about as poorly as possible early on against Iowa, then came the “oh no” moment in the opening moments of the second quarter.

Trace McSorley, a tough son of a gun who has always taken a licking and kept on ticking, lay on the field injured. The most prolific quarterback in PSU history had never been hurt before, to any meaningful degree, but this time he took a hard hit to his right knee and didn’t spring back up.

At that point, all bets were off for the Nittany Lions — for both Saturday’s game and the rest of the season.

“Trace McSorley, he’s the best football player in college football,” Penn State coach James Franklin said after the game. “I don’t care what anybody says. And he’s as tough as it gets.”

McSorley showed his toughness by shaking off the knee pain, returning to action and helping No. 17 PSU rally for a nailbiting 30-24 win over No. 18 Iowa before 105,244 fans at Beaver Stadium.

The Lions (6-2, 3-2 Big Ten) had every right to believe they did what it took to win the game, while Iowa (6-2, 3-2) had to feel like it should have won but instead gave it away.

The Hawkeyes got the ball at their own 25 with 8:24 remaining and trailing, 30-24. They marched right down the field, with quarterback Nate Stanley hitting some big passes to keep the chains moving while also eating up clock.

On third-and-10 from the PSU 17, Stanley connected with Kyle Groeneweg for 14 yards to set up first-and-goal at the 3 with 3 ¢ minutes to play.

The Hawkeyes were oh so close to punching it in for a go-ahead TD, but just seconds later, they blew it with a huge mistake.

On first down, and with no pressure to do anything risky, Stanley called for an audible at the line of scrimmage. He changed the play and called for a pass to his left to Noah Fant, but the tight end must not have gotten the call and wasn’t even looking for the ball as he continued running toward the end zone.

Running back Toren Young was looking for the ball out of the backfield, but the pass was over his head and going toward Fant.

Penn State safety Nick Scott was looking for the ball and had an easy interception to kill the scoring chance with 3:13 remaining.

“Just hold onto the ball,” Scott was telling himself at that point. “That one was kind of a floater, (and) it’s the easy ones you’ve got to really hold onto tight just because your eyes, you see the 100 yards in front of you and it’s hard to focus 100 percent on the ball.”

Penn State’s offense took over at its own 9 with 3:18 left and a chance to run out the clock. It’s the same position the Lions have found themselves in several times this year, and once again, their 4-minute offense failed to deliver the knockout blow.

The Lions got one first down, but Iowa still had two timeouts left. McSorley kept it on three straight runs, including coming up empty on third-and-4 at the 33. The Hawkeyes were going to get one more chance, albeit it with just 1:23 left to play and starting at their own 23.

Stanley had a rough day, completing just 18-of-49 for 205 yards and two interceptions, but he did hit a couple of throws on the final drive to make things interesting.

From his own 45, Stanley appeared to connect with tight end T.J. Hockenson for 18 yards to the PSU 37 with 34 seconds left. But while the ruling on the field was that Hockenson held onto a diving catch on the sideline, the play was overturned by replay, which ruled he had bobbled the ball.

That overturned call pretty much did in the Hawkeyes, who still had some time left but too much field to cover. They got to the PSU 44 in the closing seconds, but Stanley threw three incompletions, then was hit trying to pass on the final play. Time ran out as Iowa ran for 15 yards to the Lions’ 29.

“I’m super proud of our defense and how we finished,” Scott said.

“Close games, sure, you never want to be in a real tight game. But at the same time, I love it. I love the atmosphere. I love going out there and feeling like you have something to prove.”

Penn State’s defense played a tremendous game and stepped up big when it had to.

“Our defense was just so resilient,” Franklin said. “(Coordinator) Brent Pry, our defensive staff — our defensive players did not give up a traditional touchdown tonight.”

Iowa did score on two safeties because of botched punts by PSU. The Hawkeyes also returned an interception by McSorley for a TD and got another on a fake field goal, in which a defensive lineman caught the pass on a nice over-the-shoulder catch.

Iowa jumped out to a 12-0 lead before McSorley led an 85-yard TD drive. But he got hurt on PSU’s next series, and things looked dicey at that point.

McSorley described one poignant situation on the sideline involving his father, Rick, coming down to check on him after getting injured.

“He was just saying I love you, just letting me know that I had it and I could do it,” McSorley said. “Hearing that from him, he’s always been the person that I’ve always leaned on, especially growing up, when things got tough that he was the one I could lean on.

“For him to come down and say those things to me, be that person for me to lean on again, it was huge for me just to have that moment happen between us two.”

There wasn’t much doubt in McSorley’s mind that he would be able to return.

“It was more the question can I be 100 percent effective,” he said. “I felt like I could. I felt I can go, push through it.”

Backup quarterback Tommy Stevens came on for a couple of series as McSorley was being tended to on the sideline. Cornerback John Reid had a big interception for PSU and returned it 44 yards to the Iowa 3, then Stevens scored on the next play to tie things at 14.

Iowa went back up, 17-14, on a field goal on its next series, then coach Kirk Ferentz made a bizarre decision late in the half to go for it on fourth-and-10 from the PSU 42. The Hawkeyes failed, gave Penn State good field position with less than a minute to go, and Jake Pinegar kicked a 45-yard field goal to tie it at 17.

Pinegar had an excellent day, also making kicks from 49 and 44 yards. The freshman had never made a field goal longer than 39 yards coming in.

McSorley returned in the second half, and on PSU’s first possession, he broke free for a 51-yard TD down the left sideline for a 24-17 lead. That was McSorley’s first run after the injury and caught Iowa off guard.

“Offensive line did a great job. It was a great playcall,” McSorley said. “We had schemed that one up versus one of the things they had shown on film. … All I had to do was run straight, and DeAndre (Thompkins) did an excellent job blocking downfield.”

The game got wacky after that, and both teams had chances to win or lose. But this time, after having the last two home games go against them in the closing minutes, the Lions found a way to finish things off.

“I didn’t have any doubts at all,” Scott said. “I know what kind of guys we have on our team. We were going to keep fighting regardless.”

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