(3) Penn State 23, Iowa 24

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#3PSU (9-1)31010023
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Final

3:30 PM ET, November 8, 2008
Kinnick Stadium
IOWA CITY, IA

Iowa stuns Penn State with last-second field goal

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Top 25 Overview
It was over when... Daniel Murray's 31-yard field goal split the uprights with one second remaining.
Gameball goes to... Shonn Greene, who rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns, including a fourth-quarter score that pulled the Hawkeyes to within two.
Stat of the game... 3. The Nittany Lions lost their third straight game to Iowa coming off of a bye week (2003, 2004).
Team Stat Comparison
 
1st Downs2419
Total Yards289272
Passing109171
Rushing180101
Penalties3-355-47
3rd Down Conversions6-147-10
4th Down Conversions0-00-0
Turnovers22
Possession35:5224:08
Air/Ground Leaders
Penn State Passing
 C/ATTYDSTDINT
Clark9/238601
Williams1/12300
Iowa Passing
 C/ATTYDSTDINT
Stanzi15/2517111
Penn State Rushing
 CARYDSTDLG
Royster2690113
Williams1253111
Iowa Rushing
 CARYDSTDLG
Greene28117214
Stanzi4-1600
Penn State Receiving
 RECYDSTDLG
Williams443017
Butler327013
Iowa Receiving
 RECYDSTDLG
Johnson-Koulianos789127
Myers442018
Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTERPSUIOWA
TD13:54Shonn Greene 14 Yd Run (Trent Mossbrucker Kick) 07
FG04:11Kevin Kelly 24 Yd 37
SECOND QUARTERPSUIOWA
TD12:32Evan Royster 2 Yd Run (Kevin Kelly Kick) 107
FG00:55Kevin Kelly 31 Yd 137
THIRD QUARTERPSUIOWA
FG10:26Kevin Kelly 25 Yd 167
TD04:43Derrell Johnson-Koulianos 27 Yd Pass From Richard Stanzi (Trent Mossbrucker Kick) 1614
TD00:29Derrick Williams 9 Yd Run (Kevin Kelly Kick) 2314
FOURTH QUARTERPSUIOWA
TD09:20Shonn Greene 6 Yd Run (Trent Mossbrucker Kick) 2321
FG00:01Daniel Murray 31 Yd 2324
Associated Press

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Penn State can't blame the BCS for this.

The Nittany Lions perfect season and hopes for giving coach Joe Paterno another national title were dashed by Iowa's backup kicker.

Fast Facts

• Daniel Murray kicked the game-winning field with one second remaining. Murray was just 1 for 3 on his field-goals attempts this season prior to the kick and hadn't made one since the season opener. In fact, over the past five games, Murray had more tackles (one) than field goals made (none).

• The Hawkeyes were clutch down the stretch, outscoring Penn State 10-0 in the fourth quarter.

• Shonn Greene led the way for the Hawkeyes' offense, rushing for more than 100 yards, which he has done in every game this season.

• Each of the last three times Penn State has faced Iowa following its bye week it has lost (2003, 2004, 2008).

-- ESPN research

Daniel Murray, who hadn't made a field goal since the season opener, hit a 31-yarder with a second left and the Hawkeyes rallied to stun the third-ranked Nittany Lions 24-23.

All that talk about an unbeaten Penn State possibly being left out of the BCS national title game turned out to be premature. A third championship for the 81-year-old Paterno, who's had four unbeaten teams not win titles, is a long shot now.

Shonn Greene rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns, and Ricky Stanzi bounced back from an interception and a fumble to lead the Hawkeyes (6-4, 3-3 Big Ten) on their game-winning drive, which came after Daryll Clark threw just his third interception of the season.

ESPN GAME OF THE WEEK

The ESPN Classic Game of the Week will feature Penn State vs. Iowa on Sunday at 8 a.m. ET.

Murray had lost the regular field-goal duties to freshman Trent Mossbrucker and was relegated to kickoffs. But with the winds swirling and strong, coach Kirk Ferentz opted for experience and Murray's strong leg.

He drilled it down the middle, sending Iowa's freezing fans spilling onto the field.

"I've always dreamed about it," said Murray, who grew up in Iowa City. "I kept hoping and hoping I'd get my chance."

Rittenberg: Murray Clutch

The plan going in called for Daniel Murray to handle any field goal snapped from the 25-yard line or beyond. So when Iowa converted a third-down pass and reached Penn State's 15-yard line with less than a minute remaining, Murray figured he would be nudged out of the spotlight, writes Adam Rittenberg. Blog

The Nittany Lions were third behind Alabama and Texas Tech in the last Bowl Championship Series standings. They'll drop Sunday. The Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl berth are the Nittany Lions' main goals now.

"We need to keep our heads up. We can still have a heck of a year," said Paterno, who again coached from the press box and got around with a cane because of a sore leg and hip.

Iowa was down 23-14 heading into the fourth quarter. But Greene scored his second TD, from 6 yards out, to make it 23-21 with 9:20 left.

On the next possession, Penn State looked as if it got a break, when Iowa was called for a roughing the punter penalty that had the Hawkeyes seething. The Nittany Lions kept the ball and continued its time-consuming march.

But Clark made an errant throw down the middle that was picked off by Tyler Sash, who returned to Iowa's 29 with 3:46 left. Iowa then caught another break when Penn State was flagged for pass interference on third down, getting the Hawkeyes near midfield with a first down.

Stanzi, who was 15-of-25 passing for 171 yards, hit Derrell Johnson-Koulianos at the Penn State 15 with 18 seconds left to set up Murray's kick.

"I want to apologize to the whole Penn State nation for my game play today," Clark said. "I just keep having that turnover recurring in my head over and over. I can't get it out of my mind."

This was the biggest win for Iowa in years, its first against a top-five team since 1990. The Hawkeyes suffered through two seasons of mediocrity after finishing No. 8 in the country three years in a row.

The Hawkeyes had lost four games this season by a total of 12 points -- and they got beat last week by Illinois on a 46-yard field goal with 24 seconds left.

"We knew we had enough to win," Iowa linebacker A.J. Edds. "But there weren't a whole lot of people on the outside that thought we were the kind of team we know we are. We showed that today."

Clark was 9-of-23 for 86 yards and Derrick Williams and Evan Royster each ran for touchdowns to lead Penn State (9-1, 5-1), which had to settle for Kevin Kelly's field goals on three different trips inside Iowa's 20.

On a day where the wind chill dipped into the 20s, Penn State held the ball for nearly 36 minutes and ran almost twice as much as they threw it.

It worked for the first three quarters.

Penn State's Tyrell Sales picked off Stanzi on the opening drive of the third quarter, and Kelly's 25-yard field goal put the Nittany Lions ahead 16-7.

Iowa's offense finally woke up, reeling off a 73-yard drive that Stanzi capped by finding a wide-open Johnson-Koulianos for a 27-yard touchdown pass to pull the Hawkeyes within 16-14 with 4:43 left in the third.

But Stanzi fumbled away the ball and Iowa's momentum just two minutes later, giving Penn State the ball deep in Iowa territory after botching the snap. The Nittany Lions wasted little time turning Stanzi's mistake into points, as Williams' 9-yard touchdown run put Penn State back up 23-14 heading into the fourth.

Penn State held the ball for an astounding 23:34 and outgained Iowa 203-70 in the first half. But the Hawkeyes forced a pair of red-zone field goals, keeping Penn State's lead at 13-7.

After falling behind 7-0 early in the first quarter, the Nittany Lions put together scoring drives of 71, 75 and 78 yards -- all powered by the running game. They had to settle for 24-yard field goal by Kelly on the first one, but Royster ran for a 2-yard score to give Penn State a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter.

Kelly drilled a 31-yarder into the with 55 seconds left in the first half.

Iowa forced Clark to fumble on the game's opening drive, but the officials said he got it back it at the Penn State 1. The Hawkeyes thought they had recovered the ball in the end zone, but they had to settle for a Nittany Lions punt and a short field.

Greene -- with Iowa's student section decked out in green shirts in honor of the nation's third-leading rusher -- made Penn State pay just two plays later, scoring on a 14-yard touchdown run that put Iowa ahead 7-0.

The Nittany Lions were shooting for their first 10-0 start since 1994 -- incidentally, the last time Penn State went undefeated but didn't win it all -- but with home games against Indiana and Michigan State left, a Big Ten title is still Penn State's to lose.

"Their balloon still isn't busted," Paterno said. "If we win the next two we'll have an opportunity to go to a big bowl."

College Football Scores

Other Scores:

Wednesday, November 5th
Northern Illinois 14 Final
17 Ball State 45
Thursday, November 6th
12 TCU 10 Final
8 Utah 13
23 Maryland 13 Final
Virginia Tech 23
Saturday, November 8th
1 Alabama 27 Final
16 LSU 21 OT
9 Oklahoma State 20 Final
2 Texas Tech 56
3 Penn State 23 Final
Iowa 24
Baylor 21 Final
4 Texas 45
5 Florida 42 Final
Vanderbilt 14
6 Oklahoma 66 Final
Texas A&M 28
21 California 3 Final
7 USC 17
Utah State 14 Final
10 Boise State 49
11 Ohio State 45 Final
24 Northwestern 10
13 Georgia 42 Final
Kentucky 38
Kansas State 24 Final
14 Missouri 41
San Diego State 12 Final
15 Brigham Young 41
Purdue 7 Final
18 Michigan State 21
20 Georgia Tech 7 Final
19 North Carolina 28
Clemson 27 Final
22 Florida State 41
Louisville 7 Final
25 Pittsburgh 41
Cincinnati 26 Final
25 West Virginia 23 OT