Last Call -- Penn State

-- The news on Iowa's injury front hasn't really changed.

Offensive lineman Bryan Bulaga (undisclosed illness) and tight end Tony Moeaki (ankle) missed Saturday night's 21-10 victory at Penn State. Bulaga has now missed three straight games after being hospitalized on Sept. 3. Moeaki sat out the second straight week after spraining an ankle against Iowa State on Sept. 12.

Ferentz said Bulaga might be close. His illness has taken some time to regulate. Ferentz said this week that it's not career-threatening. Bulaga made the trip to Penn State, but didn't dress for the game. He started some light workouts last week.

"I've been saying this for how many weeks now, but I do think we're getting realistically close to Bryan, I hope," Ferentz said.

Moeaki did warm up Saturday night and looked as though he might play. Technically, Ferentz said, the 6-4, 250-pounder has been medically cleared. But the senior is only about 80 percent right now and Ferentz didn't believe he was quite ready Saturday night.

"He deserves to have a good finish to this year," Ferentz said. "To take a chance with him not being ready to go 100 percent, that doesn't do him justice. We're going to make sure he's ready and it's safe to get him out there. . . . For a guy like him to play at 80 percent, why do it? We want to get him healthy where he can really play."

Ferentz has clearly tired of injury questions.

"I know it's a big thing on the outside," he said. "We just take the attitude that we're going to play with who's there. We want them with us, don't get me wrong, but we've got to go with who's there. Everybody's got their job to do.

"(Tight end) Allen Reisner is competing hard out there. Morse has picked up a little bit of the void created with Tony being out. That's football. The guys are doing a good job. I can't wait until they get back, but we're just going to keep pushing with the guys we've got."

-- Wide receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos (hamstring) was the one injured player who did return Saturday night.

On an ugly, rain night that does passing games no favors, DJK led Iowa with three catches for 50 yards. He had two drops that killed drives in the first half, but did have a 24-yarder that helped set up Daniel Murray's 41-yard field goal in the first half.

DJK's commentary on Adrian Clayborn's blocked punt and 53-yard return for a TD -- which, for some reason, was counted as a punt return statistically -- was worth the postgame crush of cameras and recorders.

"For some reason, I was confused. I'm like, is this happening?" DJK said. "It just didn't seem like it was supposed to happen. Is there a penalty? The crowd went silent.

"That was an unbelievable effort by Adrian, my roommate. I'm proud to be his roommate today, definitely."

-- Sophomore DE Broderick Binns played his best game as a Hawkeye.

In the first half alone, he had 1.5 sacks and finished with eight tackles, a forced fumble and a pass break up. Also in the first half, he chewed through right tackle DeOn'tae Pannell, who was pulled in favor of Nerraw McCormack before the half was over.

"It's really fun," said Binns, commenting on the D-line's surge the last two weekends. "Just knowing the game is on our shoulders, if we don't stop the run, stop the pass, we could potentially lose. I like playing like that. It let's us know, we're all valuable on this team and as we go, the whole team goes."

Binns accounted for Iowa's first two points, sacking Penn State QB Daryll Clark in the end zone. Clark fumbled, but guard Johnnie Troutman recovered.

"I started tooting his horn way back, last year, end of October," Ferentz said. "I don't think we've really blocked him in practice since then and our tackles (Bulaga and Kyle Calloway) are OK. . . . He's not your classic defensive end. He's 6-1 with the arms of a 6-8 guy, tough matchup, actually, kind of a different guy."

-- It was a heinous night for passing, so you have to take QB Ricky Stanzi's stats with a grain of salt. For much of the game, it rained buckets of cats and dogs. It only stopped after the game.

So, Stanzi's 11 of 26 for 135 yards with two interceptions, both off tipped passes, was understandable.

"We have a lot of things we can fix. I have a lot of things I can fix," Stanzi said. "In the end, we won. You know these games aren't going to be perfect and it's hard to just go out there and just put up 500 yards of offense. It's not going to be that way. It's going to be a battle. We were ready for that and we had to respond a few times."

Ferentz has total confidence, even though Stanzi now has five interceptions to go with his five TD passes. Here's a more important stat, the most important stat, Stanzi is 12-3 as a starter for Iowa.

"You evaluate quarterbacks on production," Ferentz said. "The No. 1 job for a quarterback is to lead his team to victory. He never gets rattled. We had some bad plays today. They're an aggressive defense and they sacked him. He keeps playing.

"His best days are ahead of him and that's exciting. He keeps our team together. Players believe in him and really respect him. I have no idea what his stats look like, it wasn't a night for throwing the football. But he I thought he really led our football team and I think we all feel pretty good when he's under center."

-- QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: Linebacker Pat Angerer took his interception 38 yards to PSU's 24. Fellow linebacker A.J. Edds took his interception and did a hook slide. Now, the situation was different. Angerer set up Iowa's 18-10 lead. Edds was more a sealing-the-victory thing with about 3:30 left.

Of Angerer saw an opportunity to get off a joke.

"He's a (bleep)," Angerer said, laughing about Edds' slide.

-- NEXT: Arkansas State brings the Sun Belt Conference to Kinnick Stadium for an 11 a.m. kick.

The Red Wolves lost to Troy, 30-27, on a TD with 7:53 left Saturday. The Wolves are 1-2, with a victory over FCS Mississippi Valley State. They traveled to Nebraska on Sept. 12 and fell 38-9.