60-minute men: It took a while, but No. 3 Iowa exerts its will to beat No. 4 Penn State

IOWA CITY, Iowa — There’s no way of knowing the significance of No. 3 Iowa’s 23-20 comeback victory over No. 4 Penn State in the big picture of the Big Ten. Yes, the victory extended the Hawkeyes’ winning streak to 12 games, which now is the nation’s longest. But the regular season is only half-played. The leaves haven’t started to turn, and no one wins a championship in October.

Years from now, though, when these Hawkeyes players are old and round and telling their lies, they will remember the sights and sounds and the feeling of their performance Saturday.

They will remember the deafening noise at Kinnick Stadium, the six false starts by the Nittany Lions, all on the north end of the field, where the stands rise higher and so does the decibel count. Three of those false starts came on consecutive attempts to snap the ball.

They will remember the way the fans mobbed the field at the end of the game.

“That was probably the hardest part about the game, trying to get through that mosh pit. I’m not going to lie,” center Tyler Linderbaum said. “I might have a slight concussion from the amount of times I got hit on the head.”

Linderbaum paused.

“Just kidding. Don’t tell the trainers.”

Most of all, the Hawkeyes will remember how they remained patient and trusted in one another. They remained patient as Penn State raced to a 17-3 lead as Hawkeyes quarterback Spencer Petras completed just one of his first nine passes.

“I think any great veteran quarterback is going to stay patient throughout the game,” Petras said. “I don’t know if you’re going to be able to find a clip of Tom Brady (being) frustrated. But it’s definitely difficult. You want to make something happen.”

They remained patient long after they sent Nittany Lions senior quarterback Sean Clifford to the locker room with an injury in the second quarter and began to bedevil a woefully unprepared sophomore, Ta’Quan Roberson. Even after Iowa began to control the line of scrimmage in the second half, the Hawkeyes, trailing 20-10, had to settle for field goals late in the third quarter and midway through the fourth.

They remained patient enough to wait until just the right time to reveal their hole card, a pass play design of offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz that resulted in the winning touchdown, a 44-yard pass from Petras to Nico Ragaini that put Iowa ahead for good with 6:26 to play.

The spirit of playing a 60-minute game has infused Iowa football since 1939, the year of the “Ironmen” and Heisman winner Nile Kinnick. What happened Saturday is a little different — no single player plays 60 minutes anymore — but the mindset is at the core of what coach Kirk Ferentz has instilled in his players. Almost to a man, the half-dozen Hawkeyes players who came to the postgame interview room used the phrase “It’s a 60-minute game,” or something like it.

“Talk to our guys all time,” Ferentz said. “That’s why they play 60 minutes. There’s a clock out there.”

But even Ferentz joked afterward that his internal alarm had begun to go off and didn’t stop ringing until Ragaini gathered in Petras’ pass and sprinted just inside the left pylon.’

“So that was good,” he deadpanned. “My fear at that point was going down and getting the field goal and then having to come up with one at the end.”

This victory came right out of the Ferentz textbook: stifling defense; an incredible day by punter Tory Taylor, who had a net average of 44.1 yards on nine punts; Caleb Shudak making field goals of 34, 48, and 36 yards; and, most of all, the defense picking off two passes each from Clifford and Roberson.

That’s 16 interceptions in six games, and a turnover margin of plus-15. The Hawkeyes forced Penn State into making one mistake too many.

The game didn’t start out that way. If nothing else, the Nittany Lions fan base that took its time falling in love with Clifford discovered Saturday just how valuable he is.

For a quarter and a half, he outsmarted one of the best defenses in the nation, staying patient in the pocket and taking off when necessary. Clifford led the Nittany Lions to two touchdowns and a field goal, converting five-of-five third downs along the way. On two third-and-7s, he moved the chains by running the ball, gaining 10 and 22 yards, respectively.

The sixth third down, though, would be Clifford’s last. In fact, it would be his last play of the game. Early in the second quarter, on another third-and-7, this from Iowa’s 14, Clifford looked for a receiver, and kept looking, and as he threw, Hawkeyes linebacker Jack Campbell, who had a 13-yard head of steam, planted his face mask into Clifford’s right ribcage. The pass flew incomplete, which also would describe Clifford’s day. He never saw the field again.

Jordan Stout kicked a 32-yard field goal to extend the Nittany Lions’ lead to 17-3 with 12:31 left in the first half, and it seemed as if it might be enough.

But Roberson, unnerved by the Hawkeyes’ pressure and inaccurate when he did throw, was 7-of-21 for 34 yards. His only success came in on an up-tempo drive in the third quarter, when he drove Penn State to Iowa’s 15. But all the Nittany Lions got out of that was Stout’s second field goal.

Roberson drove the Nittany Lions 42 yards to get those three points. On his other 10 possessions, Penn State gained a total of 34 net yards. The effect of the offense’s inability to stay on the field — Iowa controlled possession for 35:52 — began to show in the fourth quarter, when Iowa tailback Tyler Goodson began to find room at the edges.

“Their quarterback was in for a reason,” Ferentz said. “That’s part of the game. It’s a hard game.”

It was a hard game Saturday. Maybe that’s why Iowa celebrated so long.