What was the primary reason behind Penn State's loss to Iowa?

33 Comments

  • dross - 15 years ago

    Hawk fan here. Lukas is right. If the coaches had done their homework, they would have seen Iowa is very vulnerable to the blitz. That's how Iowa keeps losing the close ones. Weather definitely worked in Iowa's favor today. They have a great ground game and decent rush defense. Don't be too hard on the receivers. Nobody is as agile in this weather. I'm truly sorry the Big Ten won't be represented in the BCS championship, but hope for a Rose bowl victory. Of course, I feel good for the hard luck Hawks who finally had the ball bounce their way this season.

  • PSU-LBU-Joe must go - 15 years ago

    Team overlooking IA is the same as poor coaching and that is the correct answer. Clark was bad, but it was the coaches that left him in and didn't even consider a change, for a least a series, thus another coaching issue not a separate category. Joe didn't call any timeouts when IA was moving the ball and inside the 50 with the game on the line. We could have gotten the ball with 30 sec +/- left and after the celebration pentalty and that would mean 3 pts. It was ALL COACHING and Joe being so set in his ways (running the ball 3 times up the gut on the 1.5 yd line in the 1st half, etc.). It all came down to coaching folks. Joe has been great but the BSC, I mean BCS time has passed him by. I love the guy, but let's give him the gold watch and move on....

  • John J Lucas - 15 years ago

    After reading all the comments,as a coach,this is why we lost.1. too conservative on both sides of the ball. 2 if you cant score from the 2, go on all 4 downs 3. most importantly NO BLITZ PACKAGES on the last iowa drive.You have an average qb, the game and the national championship is on the line,you pressure the qb with 6 or 7 defenders, instead of that cover 2 conservative defense. Even if you make a mistake and they score ,you still get the ball back. Finally yes they all played poorly, but blitzing an unknown qb ,I believe would have won the game for psu.

  • TY - 15 years ago

    There would be none of the complaints I've read above, if Penn State would have controlled the line of scrimmage. They were outplayed in the trenches on both sides of the ball. They could not open holes in the line (red zone). They could not protect Clark, and the defense wasn't hungry enough. Iowa came to play for the upset. They were fired up and they did it.

  • Drivebyfan - 15 years ago

    I don't care what your national ranking is, who is coaching, or how few losses you've had in the season, Kinnick Stadium is a tough place for a visiting team to win in. Iowa did not play all that well in the first half, but PS didn't take that opportunity to make sure they stayed down. This week, fortune smiled on the Hawkeyes. Good luck to Paterno and his team for a great year.

  • Brad - 15 years ago

    Eric L. : sorry, Iowa may not be that bad.... but they are nowhere near the caliber of team that PSU showed the first 9 games of the season....

    dangit: I do not care about fair., life is not fair. there should be NO scapegoats here. PSU failed to rise to the occasion against an unranked team. true championship teams rise to the occasion no matter who they are playing or what the conditions.

  • Eric L. - 15 years ago

    Since I'm a Hawkeye fan, the Hawkeyes are better than their record indicates. 4 losses for a total of 12 points! I clearly stated that on FSN Pittsburgh Wednesday night. We gave you 10 points on turnovers! You gave us three! I truly do respect your JoPa, but Penn State has been over rated all season. Come on, Nitt Lions! Get over it! We all know that Jo Pa is probably one the very best coaches to ever lead a team, but somebody had to lose. As far as the BCS, can we please get playoff system going here now? This ratings crap doesn't have any meaning anyway. It all depends who is playing the better football at seasons end! Go HAWKEYES! Good Luck Pen State the rest of the way!

  • dangit - 15 years ago

    I did not think it was fair that IOWA had heaters on their sideline and Penn State did not.

  • Bleed Blue & White - 15 years ago

    After reading the comments posted so far, I don’t know what else to say. One thing for sure, there is nobody that is any more of an avid Lions fan as myself. With that said, PSU proved today that they’re not a Championship team. When the season is on the line and it is apparent what Iowa will do with the clock to get into field goal range, a team that has the desire to play Jan 8th will have to prove itself and not let the obvious happen. The players and the coaches just got too conservative and got beat. Bad call, PSU had one go their way, so that evened out. Granted, the game should have never been anywhere near that close in the final minutes of the game, but it was and it was time for a “Championship” caliber team to show the country why it should be ranked at the top of the BCS. As others have said, we have come to expect this from a PSU team that reverts back to conservative football when things get rough. Folks, as much as I love Joe Pa, this will never change while he is head coach. Such is life as a Lions fan, so let’s go to the Rose Bowl and tear up someone. At least the team is usually pretty good when it comes to playing in a Bowl.

  • brutesleuth - 15 years ago

    DEFENSE, wins games and this was proof. PSU is a championship caliber team this year no doubt. Iowa is not shoddy (4 losses-combined total of 12 pnts. against). They deserved this win and hawks are a solid team as well, albeit young and inconsistent quarterback.

  • hansmickle - 15 years ago

    What went wrong?

    Peeing into pink urinals in the locker room.

    Being too chilled on the sideline without heaters. It's great to show your toughness, but that toughness goes by the boards when one is too stiff to perform well in the clutch.

  • joek - 15 years ago

    Say it ain't so Joe! We should have seen this coming! We knew that if we didn't show up with our A game Iowa would be tough! Granted Iowa's lost 4 games; but the most they lost by was 5 points. And can't win games when you keep coming away from the red zone with only 3 points. I mean come on how many downs do you need inside the 10 yard line to get a touchdown!!!

  • Rambling Fan - 15 years ago

    The weather (wind) nullified PSU's Spread HD offense - no question about it! Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Florida, USC, Texas, etc. - all would have suffered under these weather conditions, too.

    With that said - we STILL should have won! Late in the fourth, PSU had 1st down deep in Iowa's territory. We did a halfback option, followed by some sort of a reverse, and then a penalty. Clark should not have been put in the position he was in (throwing on 3rd and long into a 30 mph wind). If we had just run 3 times, Kelly, at worst, might have attempted a 35 yarder. He probably makes it even with the wind in his face. Three running plays would have run down the clock quite a bit, too. Maybe we would have even gone for it on 4th and short and made it. If we turn it over on downs, Iowa has a long way to go with little time left.

    I'm glad that we've opened up the offense more these days, but there has to come a time when a team just rams the ball down the other team's throat - especially when a National Championship is on the line, and we're playing in Siberia. We seem to get conservative when we should be tricky, and tricky when we should be conservative. Poor offensive play calling by Hall!

    Also, I saw a bunch of guys (with the exception of maybe Odrick) who just didn't want to deal with the cold weather. There was no urgency or intensity. I couldn't believe it! I think SOME of the players were content with just getting back into the locker room to warm up!

    Lastly, after watching Texas Tech, I do feel a little better after our loss. I am now convinced that Penn State is not (and never was) at their level. I know that Tech wasn't playing in the same conditions as we were, but they still were awesome. Also, if PSU were playing against Oklahoma State in the conditions they had in Texas, Clark never would have gone 40 for 50 with 436 yards and 6 TD's. Also, our receivers are good, but none of them are even close to Crabtree. He's the real deal!

    Bottom line - we shouldn't cry about the lost opportunity, because we aren't the best team in the nation. There are 3 to 5 teams that are probably better than we are. We could beat any one of them on a given day, but we're just not consistant enough to be considered the best team in the nation. I'm glad that I found that out now rather than on January 8.

    Let's regroup, and bring on the Rose Bowl. Go PSU! I still love you! A Big 10 title and a Rose Bowl victory would be a nice way to end the season.

  • Rambling Fan - 15 years ago

    The weather (wind) nullified PSU's Spread HD offense - no question about it! Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Florida, USC, Texas, etc. - all would have suffered under these weather conditions, too.

    With that said - we STILL should have won! Late in the fourth, PSU had 1st down deep in Iowa's territory. We did a halfback option, followed by some sort of a reverse, and then a penalty. Clark should not have been put in the position he was in (throwing on 3rd and long into a 30 mph wind). If we had just run 3 times, Kelly, at worst, might have attempted a 35 yarder. He probably makes it even with the wind in his face. Three running plays would have run down the clock quite a bit, too. Maybe we would have even gone for it on 4th and short and made it. If we turn it over on downs, Iowa has a long way to go with little time left.

    I'm glad that we've opened up the offense more these days, but there has to come a time when a team just rams the ball down the other team's throat - especially when a National Championship is on the line, and we're playing in Siberia. We seem to get conservative when we should be tricky, and tricky when we should be conservative. Poor offensive play calling by Hall!

    Also, I saw a bunch of guys (with the exception of maybe Odrick) who just didn't want to deal with the cold weather. There was no urgency or intensity. I couldn't believe it! I think SOME of the players were content with just getting back into the locker room to warm up!

    Lastly, after watching Texas Tech, I do feel a little better after our loss. I am now convinced that Penn State is not (and never was) at their level. I know that Tech wasn't playing in the same conditions as we were, but they still were awesome. Also, if PSU were playing against Oklahoma State in the conditions they had in Texas, Clark never would have gone 40 for 50 with 436 yards and 6 TD's. Also, our receivers are good, but none of them are even close to Crabtree. He's the real deal!

    Bottom line - we shouldn't cry about the lost opportunity, because we aren't the best team in the nation. There are 3 to 5 teams that are probably better than we are. We could beat any one of them on a given day, but we're just not consistant enough to be considered the best team in the nation. I'm glad that I found that out now rather than on January 8.

    Let's regroup, and bring on the Rose Bowl. Go PSU! I still love you! A Big 10 title and a Rose Bowl victory would be a nice way to end the season.

  • Dan Colgan - 15 years ago

    Shades of the loss to Alabama years ago when they couldn't score first and goal from the two yard line by consistantly trying to prove a point by doing the obvious. The problem seems that whenever they have first and goal imaginative play calling is none existant and they seem more than satisfied with field goals. Whenever you get that close you do what got you there in the first place. If you can't score first and goal from the two and have to settle for a field goal it's a sign of weakness and you don't deserve to win.

  • Ron Russell - 15 years ago

    Penn State is an very good team, watch out USC in the Rose Bowl. I do wish time outs had been taken to save time when it was clear that the game was in jeopardy or that we had not elected to pass on our kast possession as opposed to running the clock down and trying a field goal or that passes into recievers hands had been able to be held onto or that pass interception not just knok down or... In short there were a lot of reasons for the defeat, now we move on and win the big ten and beat USC.

  • PSUfanGA - 15 years ago

    Seems like PSU got conservative on offense against OSU and against Iowa, and the defense also got conservative against Iowa. Seems like coaches and players got caught up in the BCS hype and forgot to just take care of business on the field in EVERY game. Seems like the coaches decided they needed to showcase Derrick Williams, and maybe that threw the rest of the offense off stride. Inability of Daryl Clark to deal with the wind, and key drops hurt. I feel bad for Scirotto, who played well all year but got burned in the loss. It was more a fault of the offense than him.

  • Brad - 15 years ago

    "It takes so little time to have some of you fair weather fans turn ugly! "

    Not meant to be? I can excuse a great game played by Iowa and PSU getting beat... but that was not the case. Iowa did not play that well and PSU was asleep at the wheel. The players lost the game and they do not deserve to scapegoat "fate"...

  • Allan lotto - 15 years ago

    I can't believe some of you fools! Did you ever here of a bend but not break defense? Iowa did what they had to do to stop our drives. They were good today and have been for the most part all season. Our OL was disappointing ,the DL didn't provide enough pressure when needed most,Hull and Sayles have little lateral quickness and were exposed today and Scirroto left his head at Happy Valley. Are we going to discount everything Norwood has done because he dropped two crucial throws? Is it fair to suddenly develop amnesia and describe Clark as the second coming of Anthony Morelli? It takes so little time to have some of you fair weather fans turn ugly! Just accept that it wasn't meant to be. Perhaps if we had the wind at our backs in the 4th quarter and not in our faces,the passing game might have been more effective. It could be worse! The Penn State Nittany Lions are 9-1 and still a very good football team with a superior program. Perhaps you would like to transfer to Purdue and watch this Lions team perform in the Rose Bowl?? I am as disappointed as the next one. I had visions of the Lions lifting Joe Pa on their shoulders Jan 8th. It isn't going ot happen so we move on and continue to enjoy this wonderful team hopefully finish at 11-1,go to Pasadena and rip an SEC or PAC 10 opponent to shreds. Would that be so bad?

  • Tom - 15 years ago

    3 FGs inside 15 yard line did it. convert one of them into 6 and this poll wouldn't be here

  • PSUWatcher - 15 years ago

    The numbers don't look good for Clark, but let's not forget the multiple drops by Quarless and Norwood. The 9 for 23 was not all Clark's fault. I would agree that the penalty agaist Scirrotto should have been a no call, but the bottom line is that Iowa stopped the Penn State in the red zone. When Iowa got in the red zone, they scored touchdowns. Penn State was held to field goals. Keep focused on winning out and getting to the Rose Bowl. Go PSU!!!

  • NMB - 15 years ago

    Oline was horrible, defense was sleeping, play calling sucked, coaching staff_what were you thinkin????. Combinination = a PSU loss to IOWA....yes IOWA??? Maybe PSU isn't national championship material.......I'm not even sure this was the same team that beat Ohio......

  • Attsold - 15 years ago

    NO HEART....no heart in these players, no heart in these coaches and no desire to be a champion in Joe's soul. I'm sick and tired of this same story happening again and again and it is all because Joe is too old. When is the last time he got a great recruiting class? A great prgram from the 70s and 80s is now chop liver thanks to Joe. These players STUNK today....win 3 games against medicore opponents and you are in the Nat'L Cahmp game and they show up with NO HEART. shame on them, shame on them, shame on them.

  • Spanier Save Us! - 15 years ago

    I was rooting for JoePa to at least get a shot at one last national championship. Should have known better. Either way, Spanier needs to ensure that after we win the Rose Bowl, Joe rides off into the sunset. He is a legend, his contributions to the University have been incalculable, and he will be sorely missed. However, it is time for a change. Change we can believe in.

    Bottom line, we should have won this game. Iowa served it up on a silver platter, and we didn't take it. Maybe Daryl Clark wasn't 100% after the concussion. All I know is that in less than ideal conditions, he has shown himself to be a very poor thrower. He was outplayed by a nobody tonight. The play calling on offense was horrendous. After Joe retires, both Jay and Hall need to go. On defense, you can chalk-up 10 Hawkeye points to Scirotto and his very bad judgement and instincts. He was beaten badly on that hook-and-go, and then decided to mug their reciever in a lame attempt to try and intercept what was probably an uncatchable ball in that critical pass interference call. Instead of going for the pick, he should have just timed his hit and leveled the guy, which he was in perfect position to do. You don't expect such poor mistakes from a senior, especially one rumored to be so talented. Also, our lack of ability to adjust defensively in the second half doesn't shed a very good light on Bradley. You hate to have your best coaches (defense) let you down at critical times.

  • psudefense1 - 15 years ago

    Some terrible playcalling but mostly it was the terrible play of daryl clark and the disgusting lack of a push by the oline especially 1st and goal from the 2. how an oline as good as ours was this year..cant open a hole to run 2 yards is beyond me. why is Josh Hull playing? Mauti brings so much more to our team. What a joke that we cant beat a team like Iowa..wow.

  • acc - 15 years ago

    What a bunch of cry babies. PS lost that game because of their mediocre play. Give Iowa credit, they played to win and DID (at least the 2nd half)...
    Go back to State College and lick your wounds...(choke choke)

  • TVCfan2 - 15 years ago

    I thought the PSU defense wasn't good today. To JoePa NO WAY IS PSU A FRAUD. I GUARANTEE you JoePa PSU can beat any SEC team. My opinion and not just mine the SEC is OVERRATED. 2ndly I thought the officials cost PSU. The pass interference call should have been a no call. Both were going for the ball especially since the ball did take a while to get to the IOWA receiver. Scirotto timed it perfectly and the spot after the 3rd down play was HORRIBLE. The runner was a half yd short of the 1st down marker. ANYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE NEED TO GET THEIR EYES CHECKED AS THOSE REFS NEED TO OR DIDN'T PAY ATTENTION TO THE GAME. Shame because PSU could have won the National title because of how Paterno teams prepare for bowl games and they would have had plenty of time. The record speaks for itself.

  • EMU - 15 years ago

    Offensive line...1st and goal from the two, 14 plays inside the 20 net 7 yards. Championship caliber teams score much more than 9 points.

  • rich - 15 years ago

    joepa joe
    so it goes
    joepa joe
    played not to loose
    joepa joe
    please just go

  • tom - 15 years ago

    players blew the game. You can also blame the coaching staff, 1st & goal fro the 2 and run the ball 3 straight plays up the middle in he 1st qrt and no option play. they were not prepared ---- players & coaching staff blew the game.

  • Tired Penn State Fan - 15 years ago

    What are the freaking chances that I will finally not see Penn State not "choke" because of a QB who throws for 9-23 and cornerbacks and safety's that cannot cover my Grandmother?!? Can we please. please implement a offensive system which throws the ball more often...And "finally" get a REAL quarterback?!?! PLEASE!!!!!!! IOWA? Are you kidding me...

  • Brad - 15 years ago

    Once again, PSU screws the pooch at the end of what appears to be a great season. I have a strange Deja Vu feeling.... The players have no one to blame but themselves.

  • JoePa - 15 years ago

    Clearly, PSU was exposed as a fraud. BCS now in question.

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