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Nittany Lions Stifle Iowa 13-3 To Win Second Straight Big Ten Game
Penn State (5-1, 2-0) Holds Hawkeyes 35 Points Under Season Average
STATE
COLLEGE, Pa. (AP)--Penn State grounded Iowa's best-in-the-Big Ten
passing attack, Silas Redd ran for 142 yards and Matt McGloin
capitalized on a fourth-quarter turnover with a touchdown pass in a
13-3 win Saturday.
Clinging to a 6-3 lead with 14:21 left,
linebacker Gerald Hodges sacked quarterback James Vandenberg and forced
a fumble recovered by Nate Stupar at the Iowa 49.
The Nittany
Lions (5-1, 2-0) pounded away at the tired Hawkeyes with 10 straight
runs to the 2 before McGloin rolled right to find wide-open tight end
Kevin Haplea a 13-3 lead with 8:08 to go.
It was more than
enough cushion for Linebacker U's tough defense. Vandenberg threw two
interceptions over the last seven minutes and Iowa (3-2, 0-1) stumbled
in its conference opener after a bye last week.
As was the case
the previous two weeks, Joe Paterno coached the first half from the
sideline before retreating to the press box after halftime. The
84-year-old Hall of Famer is getting over a sore right shoulder and
pelvis suffered when receiver Devon Smith accidentally ran into him at
practice Aug. 7.
It was the Hawkeyes absorbing the big blows on Saturday.
Iowa
seemingly regained momentum in the tense affair after Micah Hyde
intercepted a poor throw by McGloin in the end zone on third-and-5 from
the 6, thwarting what had been a nice drive that started the Nittany
Lions 4.
But as it has all season, Penn State's defense came through again.
Hodges
got to Vandenberg on the blitz on third-and-7 from the Penn State 45,
forcing a fumble that had the 105,00-plus fans rocking creaky Beaver
Stadium.
Vandenberg finished 17 of 34 for 169 yards, while tailback Marcus Coker had 74 yards on 18 carries.
Coach
Joe Paterno opted to go with the ground game after the fumble recovery,
rotating carries for Redd, bruising backup tailback Curtis Dukes (60
yards on nine carries) and fullback Joe Suhey before McGloin found
Haplea for a TD.
The sophomore tight end exchanged leaping high
fives with teammates as blue-and-white fans frolicked in the stands.
Not only did the score give Penn State a 10-point lead, but Haplea also
scored his first career touchdown.
It only got worse from there for Iowa.
Safeties
Malcolm Willis and Nick Sukay each picked off Vandenberg down the
stretch. Then Penn State's defense sacked the quarterback on three
straight plays with less than three minutes left to push Iowa to a
4th-and-39 from their 1.
Iowa had come into the game averaging nearly 38 points and 281 passing yards a game.
Anthony
Fera's two first-half field goals made up for more early red zone
hiccups for Penn State, which again rotated McGloin and Rob Bolden at
quarterback with middling results.
McGloin again looked a little better and finished 12 of 19 for 133 yards, while Bolden was 3 of 7 for 31 yards.
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