Oct. 24, 2004
Iowa won the toss and elected to receive. The Hawkeyes have started on offense 60 of their last 62 games and 62-of-68 contests under Coach Ferentz.
Iowa defeated Penn State for the fifth straight time and won at Penn State for the fourth straight time. Iowa’s streak over PSU is the longest current winning streak between two teams in the Big Ten Conference.
Iowa improves to 34-4 when leading at the half and 36-2 when leading after three quarters under Coach Ferentz.
Iowa won a football game without scoring a touchdown for the first time since a 12-10 win over Michigan on 10/19/85 in Kinnick Stadium. Iowa was ranked first in the nation and the Wolverines were second.
Iowa’s defense held Penn State scoreless twice after the Nittany Lions had first and goal. In the third period PSU missed a 25-yard field goal and in the final period Antwan Allen came up with an interception.
Iowa held its opponent with no offensive points for the second time this season. Kent State’s only points in the opening game of the season came on an interception return.
Sophomore Sam Brownlee became the first walk-on to start at running back for Iowa since Rick Bayless started at Northwestern, 11/7/87, in a 52-24 Iowa win.
Penn State recorded a safety in the first quarter due to a bad snap on Iowa’s first punt attempt of the game. The safety is the first scored against Iowa since the 19-10 loss at Ohio State last season when a bad snap from shot gun formation resulted in two points for the Buckeyes. Penn State scored another safety in the fourth period when punter David Bradley ran out of the endzone instead of punting on fourth down.
Penn State failed to score on its first offensive possession, becoming Iowa’s sixth opponent not to score any points on its opening drive. Arizona State is the only opponent to score on its opening drive, as the Sun Devils posted a touchdown.
DE Matt Roth forced a Penn State fumble in the first quarter, the third forced fumble by Roth this season and the eighth of his career. Roth recorded four tackles, two sacks and a caused fumble. The senior increasedhis career sack total to 28, which ranks third at Iowa behind Jared DeVries (42) and Mike Wells (33). Roth has had two sacks in each of Iowa’s last two games.
Iowa failed to score on its first offensive possession for the second straight game. The Hawkeyes have scored points on their first drive in four of seven. The Hawkeyes have scored on the first possession of thesecond half four times, most recently getting a touchdown following an Ohio State fumble on its first second half possession. Iowa converted field goals vs. Iowa State and at Michigan and scored a touchdown vs.Michigan State.
Punter David Bradley successfully ran for a first down from field goal formation in the first quarter prior to Kyle Schlicher’s 27-yard field goal. The fake field goal was the first for Iowa since the Ohio State game last season, when PK Nate Kaeding ran for a touchdown in Iowa’s 19-10 loss.
With his two field goals in the first half , both from 27 yards, Kyle Schlicher improved his season total to 9-11, including seven straight since missing a 44-yard attempt vs. Iowa State in the second game of the season. Schlicher, who scored nine points (2 FGs, 3-4 PATs) in the win over Ohio State, was special teams co-Player of the Week a week ago.
With the 3-2 score after the first period, Iowa has outscored its opponents 47-15 in the first period in seven games. Penn State, with the safety, is the first Iowa opponent to score in the first quarter since Arizona State scored 10 first quarter points in the third game of the season.
The 33-yard punt return by Penn State in the first quarter is the longest allowed by Iowa this season and only the third return of 10 yards or more. Iowa allowed just 59 yards in punt returns through its first six games.
Safety Sean Considine returned to the starting line-up after missing Iowa’s last two games, and he responded with a 51-yard interception return in the second quarter, setting up an Iowa field goal. The interception was the first of the season for Considine and the fourth of his career. The return is the longest interception return for Iowa this season and a career-best for Considine. Considine had been out of the line -up since injuring his foot in the first half of the loss at Michigan on Sept. 25, missing wins over Michigan State and Ohio State.
Instant replay was used in an Iowa game for the fourth and fifth time. In four of the five plays, the call on the field was upheld. The only change came vs. Ohio State when an Iowa pass was changed from complete to incomplete. Both calls vs. Penn State were upheld as called on the field.
Iowa had four interceptions in a game for the first time since collecting four thefts in a 21-3 win over Miami, OH in the opening game of the 2003 season. Those thefts came against Miami’s Ben Roethlisberger, now an NFL rookie with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Against Penn State, each member of the starting secondary had an interception. Sean Considine had his first theft of the season in the second quarter, Marcus Paschal had his second interception in the second quarter, Antwan Allen had his second interception in the fourth period and Jovon Johnson his first theft of the year later in the final period.Paschal had the first interception of his career in the win over Ohio State, while Allen had his first theft of the season at Arizona State. Considine has four career thefts, the other three coming during the 2003 season. Johnson now has 11 career interceptions, four as a freshman and six in 2003.
Iowa has not allowed any offensive points in the first ha lf of its last two games and has not allowed a touchdown in the first half since Michigan scored two second quarter TDs in a 30-17 win over Iowa on 9/25.Michigan State had two first half field goals and Ohio State had no points in the first half.
Penn State became the first team to block an Iowa punt this season, taking over at the Iowa nine after a partial block. Penn State failed to score when a 25-yard field goal was wide right.
Senior DL Tyler Luebke forced his first fumble of the season late in the game, as Iowa collected its fifth turnover. The five turnovers collected by Iowa are the most this season, as Kent State had four turnovers inthe first game of the season. The last Iowa opponent with five turnovers was Minnesota last season. Iowa recovered four Gopher fumbles and had one interception in a 40-22 win in 2003.
LB Chad Greenway and LB Abdul Hodge led Iowa’s defense, each colleceting 11 tackles. Greenway and Hodge, both juniors, have each recorded over 200 career tackles. Hodge has posted double digit tackles 12times during his career, including five this season.