Hlas column: Hawkeyes beat Penn State, not themselves

IOWA CITY - This was no country for a young man Saturday night, not young Penn State quarterback Rob Bolden.

This was the familiar matter of Iowa prevailing over the Nittany Lions, but it was the unfamiliar sight of the Hawkeyes beating Joe Paterno's proud, iconic program by three touchdowns.

On a day in which Wisconsin slumped back to the middle of the Big Ten pack and Ohio State looked quite mortal in winning at Illinois, Iowa may have declared itself at least the conference co-frontrunner Saturday night with its actions on the Kinnick Stadium turf.

The 24-3 defeat the Hawkeyes administered to Penn State said the following:

1. Iowa's defense really is all that.

2. Better to have a senior quarterback who is been-there-done-that rather than a freshman quarterback who is working on a steep learning curve.

3. The Hawkeyes' loss at Arizona was a hiccup, not any sign of incurable illness.

4. Home field really is an advantage for Iowa this season. Four games at home, one meaningless touchdown allowed. Wisconsin, Michigan State and Ohio State all have to fend with Kinnick in weeks to come.

A great opponent would have given Iowa the ESPN audience some thrills and the Kinnick crowd some possible chills. But Penn State doesn't have greatness this year.

Bolden did an admirable job under the circumstances, but he and his offense couldn't finish off second-half opportunities that could have made this a white-knuckler for the Hawkeyes.

Bolden hooked up with receiver Brett Brackett for a 49-yard play to the Iowa 3 with three seconds left in the first half. But a field goal was all that resulted on the Lions' first possession of note in the game, and Iowa led 17-3 at halftime.

The Nittanies came out looking competent and more on their first drive of the second half, using a lot of short stuff from Bolden to zip from the PSU 29 to a first-and-goal at the Iowa 10. But third-and-1 produced nothing, and fourth-and-goal produced nothing. Defensive lineman Christian Ballard may have made himself some future NFL money on those plays.

Iowa's offense tore the Lions asunder for much of the first half, but it was silenced afterward. Except when it needed to make a play to buy some security, that is.

After that stop at the Iowa 1, the Hawkeyes pushed out to their 36 before punting, The teams traded possessions for a while, then PSU punted to the Iowa 8 with 11:38 left in the game. Consecutive Ricky Stanzi passes to Brett Morse and Derrell Johnson-Koulianos netted 18 and 43 yards, respectively.

That drive got gummed up at the PSU 38, but it served its purpose and buying more of that security, and Ryan Donahue's subsequent punt inside the 10 preceded another futile Penn State possession.

The recurring thread through all this is that Iowa did not beat itself after running roughshod over the Lions through much of the first half. Stanzi had a bad first-half interception on a bomb, but then tightly adhered to his 2010 philosophy that punts are better than turnovers.

And Paterno (or whoever made the decision) didn't hurt Iowa's cause when the Lions chose to punt from 4th-and-6 from their own 46 with under five minutes left. What in the world was that all about? Did JoePa (or whoever made the decision) think Penn State had two stops and two touchdowns left in its arsenal? Bizarre.

There was a TD remaining, and it was Iowa cornerbacks Shaun Prater's after he returned an interception. A fitting end given Iowa's defensive prowess.

Just like last year when these two clubs met in a Big Ten opener, Iowa stayed in the league's title chase while Penn State took a body blow.

It's Iowa's defense against Michigan's Denard Robinson in two weeks. That should give us all plenty to chew on during the Hawkeyes' bye week, eh?