Iowa Football Game Report: Penn State 41, Hawkeyes 14

News, notes, grades and anecdotes from Iowa's 41-14 loss at No. 12 Penn State on Saturday.

Report Card

C'mon, is that really necessary after this one? Iowa got routed. It gained a paltry 234 yards and gave up a whopping 599.

You know the grade, and it rhymes with 'deaf.'

By The Numbers

1 —

Iowa got its first blocked kick since the 2015 season-opener when linebacker Josey Jewell blocked Tyler Davis' 30-yard field goal try midway through the first quarter.

3.8 —

The Hawkeyes' six previous Big Ten losses were by an average margin of 3.8 points. This was different.

4 —

Iowa won its four previous games against Penn State when the Nittany Lions were nationally ranked.

5 —

The Hawkeyes were shut out in the first quarter for the fifth time this season.

9 —

Iowa's school-record streak of nine wins in true road games ended with a thud.

10 —

Iowa's Akrum Wadley scored his 10th touchdown of the season when he took a screen pass 12 yards in the second quarter.

57

— Penn State's Saquon Barkley had a career-long 57-yard run for a touchdown in the second quarter.

599 —

The only reason Penn State didn't have 600-plus yards is it closed the game with two 1-yard losses to finish off the clock.

660

— Michigan, Iowa's next opponent, gained 660 yards Saturday in its 59-3 home conquest of Maryland.

1,000 —

Barkley topped the 1,000-yard rushing mark for this season late in the first half. He rushed for 167 yards for a season total of 1,055. Iowa rushed for 30 yards.

2017 —

Iowa's Big Ten-opener next season is at home on Sept. 23 against Penn State. Barkley and Nittany Lion quarterback Trace McSorley will be juniors.

Fridays

Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta reiterated Saturday that Iowa would only play Friday night home football games on Labor Day weekend, and 'maybe two or three times out of five years.'

He used the phrase 'Labor Day weekend extravaganza.'

'It's all tied to television exposure,' Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. 'We're not thrilled about the idea, overall. All of us are concerned about the impact it might have on high school football.

'But we are going to be team players.'

As part of the Big Ten's new television deal with ESPN and Fox beginning in 2017, the Big Ten will play six Friday night games a year in September and October from next year through the 2022 season. Two of those games each year will be on Labor Day weekend.

Michigan and Penn State have said they refuse to host Friday night games. Nebraska will host one every three years.

The league has indicated it will announce its 2017 Friday night contests within the next week. The Wyoming-Iowa game is currently scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017.

Other scheduled Labor Day weekend games for the Hawkeyes are Northern Illinois in 2018 and 2020, and Miami (Ohio) in 2019.

Grim Anniversaries

Saturday was the fifth anniversary of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky getting arrested and released on $100,000 bail after being arraigned on 40 criminal counts related to serial sexual abuse of children.

Wednesday will mark the fifth anniversary of Penn State firing head football coach Joe Paterno. He died on Jan. 22, 2012,

This was Iowa's first football game at Penn State since Sandusky was convicted on 45 of what are now 48 counts of child sexual abuse and given a 30-to-60 year term in state prison.

Five years later, it's still news. Within the last week, the U.S. Department of Education announced it's fining Penn State a record $2.4 million for not complying with the federal campus-crime-reporting law known as the Clery Act after a review prompted by Sandusky's on-campus crimes.

Following a review of Penn State's practices, the department found the university out of compliance with Clery Act standards in 11 serious cases from 1998 to 2011.

Sandusky's latest appeal ended Friday.

The front page of Saturday morning's Altoona Mirror featured a story about efforts Sandusky's attorney is making to try to get a new trial for his client.

Injury Report

Iowa didn't start offensive tackle Cole Croston, who has a lingering ankle injury. So the O-line was reshuffled yet again.

Keegan Render started at left guard for the third-straight game. Ike Boettger moved from left tackle to right tackle, where he had started six previous games.

Boone Myers, who missed the previous game, returned to left tackle for his third start there. James Daniels and Sean Welsh remained at center and right guard, respectively.

On the defensive side, Faith Ekakitie made his first career start at tackle in place of Nathan Bazata, who has an ankle injury. Bazata had started Iowa's last 22 games.

First-year freshman Cedrick Lattimore took some snaps in place of Ekakitie in the middle of the first quarter.

Blanket Coverage

The number of newspapers that cover college football and everything else keeps shrinking, but Pennsylvania hasn't gotten the word.

Newspapers from these Pennsylvania cities had representatives at the Iowa-Penn State game: Wilkes-Barre, Lebanon, Altoona, State College, Philadelphia, Reading, Allentown, Pittsburgh, York, Scranton, Harrisburg, Williamsport, Lancaster, Hazleton, Bedford, Chambersburg, Waynesboro, Towanda, Sunbury and Lehighton.

Keep subscribing, Pennsylvanians. And Iowans.

Up Next

Iowa hosts Michigan this Saturday at 7:12 p.m. (ABC). The third-ranked Wolverines walloped Maryland Saturday, 59-3, to improve to 9-0 overall, 6-0 in the Big Ten. Michigan leads the series, 41-14-4, but the Hawkeyes won their last meeting, 24-21 in Kinnick Stadium three years ago.