News and notes from Iowa's win

Game MVP

Iowa defensive lineman Christian Ballard had six tackles, including three solo stops. He had one sack and stopped Penn State quarterback Robert Bolden for no gain to prevent the Nittany Lions from scoring a touchdown.

Three moments

1. Backed up on its goal line with a 14-point lead, Ballard trailed Penn State quarterback Robert Bolden along the line of scrimmage. Just as Bolden attempted to dive over for the touchdown, Ballard flattened him just inches short of the end zone. After a review, Iowa earned possession at the 1.

2. On one of the final plays of the first half, Bolden exposed a breakdown in Iowa's secondary and hit wide receiver Brett Brackett on a 49-yard pass. Iowa cornerback Shaun Prater, one of the players beat on the play, tracked Brackett down and tackled him at the 2-yard line. Following a delay-of-game penalty, Iowa held Penn State to a field goal.

3. Prater picked off a Bolden pass at the 33-yard line and returned it for a touchdown with 1 minute, 27 seconds left in the game to give the Hawkeyes the deciding 24-3 margin.

Series tilts to the west

Iowa continued its mastery of Penn State, winning for the eighth time in the last nine games between the schools. Iowa now is ahead 12-11 all-time in the series. Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz is 8-2 all-time against Penn State.

It was Iowa's largest margin-of-victory in the series. Iowa's previous largest win was 19-0 in 1930.

The schools will compete for the next two years, despite not playing in the same division in the Big Ten's realignment. Iowa will open its Big Ten season Oct. 8 next year at Penn State. The Nittany Lions return to Iowa City on Oct. 20, 2012. It's unlikely they will play the following two years.

Injury time

Troy Johnson replaced Jeff Tarpinian at middle linebacker. Tarpinian, who suffered a neck injury last week, entered the game in the second quarter but was reinjured and did not return. Johnson also left the game with an undisclosed injury and did not return.

True freshman James Morris finished the game at middle linebacker. The team's original second-team middle linebacker, Bruce Davis, suffered a season-ending knee injury at Arizona two weeks ago.

Get your kicks here

Iowa shook up its special teams units entering Saturday's game. On the opening kickoff, Iowa featured defensive backs Prater, Willie Lowe, Tom Donatell, Jack Swanson, linebackers Morris, Shane DiBona, wide receiver Don Nordmann, tight end Brad Herman and running backs Jason White and Anthony Hitchens, along with kicker Mike Meyer. Lance Tillison later replaced Morris, who took over at middle linebacker in the second quarter.

The punt return unit included: Prater, Nordmann, Tillison, Herman, DiBona, Donatell and Lowe on the front line. Backing up was Swanson, Micah Hyde and Nick Nielsen. The punt returner was Colin Sandeman.

Statistically speaking

Iowa dominated the first quarter, outgaining Penn State 148-1. By halftime Penn State had rushed for only 11 yards on 10 attempts and punted five times.

But Penn State mounted back-to-back drives that took a toll on the Iowa defense. The Nittany Lions ran 25 consecutive plays - broken up only by the second-half kickoff - but scored only three points. It was reminiscent of the Nittany Lions' 20-play drive last year in State College, Pa., that also resulted in three points.

Standing Ovation

Former Iowa All-American linebacker Chad Greenway received one of the loudest ovations from the crowd last night just minutes before kickoff. Greenway was named the honorary game captain and starts at outside linebacker for the Minnesota Vikings.

Minnesota drafted Greenway in the first round of the 2006 draft. Greenway's Vikings were on a bye this weekend.

Head man in charge

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany was a busy man Saturday. He and other Big Ten officials attended the Ohio State-Illinois game in Champaign, Ill., early Saturday, then flew to Iowa City for the Penn State-Iowa nightcap.