STATE COLLEGE, Pa. _ It was a Big Ten game in the cold and rain marked by unusual occurrences, such as Penn State mistakes on its punt team leading to two safeties for Iowa.
But the most unusual of all was seeing Nittany Lions quarterback Trace McSorley go down and stay down, clutching at his right knee. It looked like it wasn't going to be Penn State's day.
However, the captain sat out just 11 plays, returned in the second half and dashed 51 yards for the go-ahead touchdown in leading the 17th-ranked Lions to a 30-24 victory over No. 18 Iowa.
McSorley left the game early in the second quarter after he was sacked by Anthony Nelson and Chauncey Golston and had to be helped off the field. He was replaced by backup Tommy Stevens on Penn State's next two drives, and Stevens ran for a 3-yard touchdown one play after an interception and a 44-yard return by John Reid.
McSorley returned to the game for the Lions' next possession but looked uncomfortable on his three pass attempts, two of them incomplete. He tried again in the third quarter and on the fourth play of the drive, broke up the middle, cut to the left sideline, got a block from wide receiver DeAndre Thompkins and scored from 51 yards out.
That gave the Nittany Lions the lead for good. Freshman Jake Pinegar added to it with a career-long 49-yard field goal, his second of three in the game, that extended the lead to 27-17 entering the fourth quarter, but Penn State made it interesting.
McSorley committed turnovers on back-to-back possessions, first a red-zone fumble on a missed handoff with Miles Sanders that Iowa recovered at its own 10. On the Lions' next time with the ball, McSorley pass was intercepted by Geno Stone, who returned it 24 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 27-24.
K.J. Hamler then erupted for a 67-yard return of the ensuing kickoff to the Iowa 31, just enough to give Pinegar a chance to make his third field goal, this one a 44-yarder, to give Penn State a six-point lead with 8:24 to play.
Iowa took possession with a chance to gain the lead and drove to the Penn State 3, but on first and goal, Nate Stanley threw a pass that was intercepted by Nick Scott with 3:18 left. The Nittany Lions made just one first down and punted, and the Hawkeyes took over at their 23 with 1:23 remaining.
Iowa drove to the Penn State 44 but on fourth down, Stanley was hit by Shareef Miller and could only lateral to his offensive tackle, Tristan Wirfs, who rumbled for 15 yards before being tackled at the 29 as the game ended.
McSorley completed 11 of 25 passes for 167 yards and rushed 12 times for 63. Stanley hit just 18 of 49 passes for 205 yards.
The Nittany Lions received the opening kickoff, gained one yard in three plays and set up to punt. But Blake Gillikin dropped the snap and by the time he got the kick off, Dominique Dafney broke through to block it. The ball rolled over the end line and Iowa had a 2-0 lead just 52 seconds into the game.
The Hawkeyes accepted the free kick and drove into position for a 27-yard field goal by Miguel Recinos. Iowa went downfield on its next possession and set up for another field goal from the Penn State 10, but Recinos split out to the left and the snap went to holder Colten Rastetter, who floated a 10-yard pass to Sam Brincks, a defensive tackle, for the touchdown.
The Nittany Lions responded with an 85-yard drive to their first touchdown, an 18-yard pass from McSorley to tight end Pat Freiermuth. McSorley kept the drive alive with a 15-yard completion to Jahan Dotson on fourth down.
However, the Penn State punt team had another failure of execution on the play after McSorley left the game, when the snap from center sailed over the head of Gillikin and out of the end zone for Iowa's second safety of the game.
The Reid interception that led to the Stevens touchdown tied the game at 14 with 6:42 left in the first half. The rest of the half was an exchange of field goals _ a 49-yard effort by Recinos, and a 45-yard kick by Pinegar, the latter with 3 seconds remaining.
