IOWA CITY, Iowa _ Amid some strange happenings at always-noisy Kinnick Stadium, 10th-ranked Penn State managed to survive with the help of its defense and freshman Noah Cain Saturday night and defeated No. 17 Iowa, 17-12, to remain unbeaten.
The Nittany Lions (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) used two turnovers _ a fumble recovery by linebacker Jan Johnson and an interception by safety Jaquan Brisker _ to score 10 second-half points and pull away from the always difficult Hawkeyes (4-2, 1-2).
Cain rushed for 102 yards on 22 carries, scored an insurance touchdown on a 5-yard run and helped the Lions run out the clock after the Hawkeyes had cut into a 17-6 lead on Nate Stanley's 33-yard pass to Brandon Smith with 2 minutes, 31 seconds to play.
Sean Clifford had his share of struggles, but threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to KJ Hamler, and Jake Pinegar kicked a 33-yard field goal.
The game also saw one of the strangest drives ever seen at a Penn State game, when the Lions crossed the goal line three times on one drive but not be credited with a touchdown.
The drive began in the third quarter when Johnson recovered a fumble forced by tackle PJ Mustipher at the Iowa 16. On the third play of the drive, a 6-yard scoring run by Journey Brown was wiped out by a holding penalty.
On the next play after the penalty, Clifford found tight end Pat Freiermuth, who lunged over the goal line for what appeared to be a touchdown. However, after a lengthy review, officials ruled Freiermuth's knee came down just before the ball crossed the plane.
From the 1, Penn State was assessed a second holding penalty. From the 11, Clifford went around the left side and bulled his way into the end zone, only to see the play wiped out by a third holding penalty. Pinegar salvaged points from the drive with a 33-yard field goal to make it 10-6 with 2:08 left in the third quarter.
The Nittany Lions held a 7-6 halftime lead, getting their only touchdown on a 22-yard pass from Clifford to Hamler, who hurdled a would-be Iowa tackler at the pylon to score midway through the second quarter. Iowa got field goals of 47 and 24 yards from Keith Duncan.
Clifford was shaky in the first quarter, and it didn't help that his offensive line was overwhelmed by Iowa on the team's first series. The redshirt sophomore was sacked on back-to-back plays, which was more sacks than Clifford had been subjected to in his previous two games combined.
On the second series, Clifford muffed a snap in the shotgun and Hamler dropped his pass on third down. Cain provided a spark on the Lions' third possession, rushing for 19 yards on his first three carries and accounting for his team's initial first down of the night.
Clifford finally settled down on Penn State's first possession of the second quarter, a 15-play drive during which he converted all four of his team's third-down opportunities. He went 4-of-7 passing, including his 22-yard touchdown pass to Hamler.
Penn State finished its six first-half drives with the TD, four punts and a kneel-down. Not counting the scoring drive, Clifford was 1 of 8 for 6 yards.
The defense held Iowa to a pair of field goals, the second one being a win for the Lions after the Hawkeyes drove from their 11 to the Penn State 4, aided by a holding penalty against Lions corner John Reid. Stanley hit passes of 25 yards to tight end Nate Weiting and 36 yards to Ihmir Smith-Marsette, the latter completion giving Iowa a first-and-goal.
But a rush lost a yard and the Nittany Lions blitzed on two passes that Stanley misfired on, leading to a 24-yard field goal by Duncan. Duncan also kicked a 47-yard field goal late in the first quarter, the first points allowed by Penn State in the opening 15 minutes all season.
