VS. 
Penn State Nittany Lions 27 Iowa Hawkeyes 7
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. —
Saturday’s win wasn’t redemption, but we got to celebrate with bourbon, so hooray!
Another typical slow start by the offense. QB Anthony Morelli was booed early and often. He earned it with throws that were too soft, too short, and too quick. He also took his usual sacks.
Thankfully and a bit surprisingly, Morelli calmed down and put together two quarters of solid quarterbacking. Run Up the Score! has the drive chart of the second quarter TD:
Morelli, A. pass complete to Williams, Derrick for 13 yards
Morelli, A. pass complete to Norwood, Jordan for 7 yards
Morelli, A. pass complete to Golden, Terrell for 4 yards
Morelli, A. pass complete to Butler, Deon for 37 yards
Morelli, A. pass incomplete to Bell, Chris.
Morelli, A. rush for loss of 3 yards
Morelli, A. pass complete to Quarless, A. for 13 yards
Morelli, A. pass complete to Williams, Derrick for 24 yards TOUCHDOWN
That was probably the best drive we’ve seen from him all year, maybe ever. He just picked Iowa apart and won the game right there. After that drive, Iowa couldn’t load up on the line anymore, allowing Penn State to run at will on the ground. The Bell incompletion was a drop of Jackie Smith proportions. No, it was worse than that, aside from the fact it wasn’t late in a critical game. How Bell dropped the pass is beyond me. Maybe this is why we never see him.
It was great to finally see RB Evan Royster finally get some quality carries. He got a lot out of them, completely dominating the Hawkeyes before leaving with a thigh bruise.
RB Rodney Kinlaw also ran at will. He led the stats, but Royster was the difference maker.
The defense did the job against an awful offense. I was really disappointed that they let Iowa score late and did so in a prevent defense.
CB Justin King may be playing himself out of declaring for the draft early which is a good thing if he doesn’t cost the Nittany Lions a game by giving up a TD or something.
RB Austin Scott appears to be done. There are some reports that he is involved with something that could taint him for a long time whether he did it or not or is even charged. He shouldn’t have been seeing the field anymore anyway though with his fumbling problems. He is the biggest bust that I can recall and exhibit A of why I don’t follow recruiting. It is a shame it worked out this way, but we had the joy of watching Tony Hunt the previous two years.
I would have liked to have seen more of Daryl Clark late in the game. I’m convinced he could have thrown fewer interceptions than Morelli.
The halftime show was pretty good.
The All-U day festivities were about as well organized as normal. Was it just me or did Hazleton get the least amount of applause?
We had a good turnout for the tailgate and everyone remembered to bring a date.
Penn State Sub Shop wings are surprisingly good.
Wiley went 2 for 4 on field goals after I went 1 for 5. He is well on his way to winning it all again. We barely got them kicked before cars showed up.
Iowa has better Steelers uniforms than the Steelers.
This was the first time Penn State has beaten Iowa since 1999 and the first time I have seen a victory over the Hawkeyes at home. I am still bitter about the 1996 game.
Singing “Livin’ on Prayer” in the student section is still stupid and nonsensical. At least we were spared “Don’t Stop barfing Believing”
No, there wasn’t a pregame for this game. I’ll do better this week.
Victory formation!
View my flickr set
