College football media reacts to Iowa beating Penn State in battle of Big Ten unbeatens
By Ethan Lee
After falling behind early, the Iowa Hawkeyes slowly and steadily worked to beat the Penn State Nittany Lions.
It was sloppy and messy at times and there was very little offense relative to the rest of the college football world, but the No. 3 Iowa Hawkeyes completed an impressive comeback against the No. 4 Penn State Nittany Lions Saturday afternoon.
The Hawkeyes fell behind early on as Penn State claimed a 14-3 in the first quarter of the game. Still, slowly and steadily, Iowa chipped into the Nittany Lions’ lead. At halftime, the Hawkeyes trailed 17-10. And thanks to a second half where it outscored Penn State 13-3, Iowa won 23-20.
The college football world reacts to No. 3 Iowa defeating No. 4 Penn State
As some have pointed out, an injury to Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford likely had a pretty big impact on the outcome of this game.
Final: #Iowa 23, #PennState 20. We'll never know how the game goes if Sean Clifford doesn't get hurt, but #Iowa found just enough offense -- plus all the takeaways -- to remain undefeated.
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) October 9, 2021
Punting, crowd noise, defense and a crucial injury win the day for Iowa.
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) October 9, 2021
Iowa taking a knee to give the ball back to this Roberson kid is the most disrespectful thing I’ve ever seen on a football field.
— Rob Dauster (@RobDauster) October 9, 2021
And the Hawkeyes are unbeaten. Halfway through the season and the Hawkeyes have yet to suffer a loss. That’s impressive. Talk to your kids about it.
Iowa stays unbeaten!@HawkeyeFootball puts together a gutsy performance against Penn State to move to 6-0 for the first time since 2015 🔥🙌 pic.twitter.com/5GoSBXWpK9
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 9, 2021
It’s time to once again talk to your kids about undefeated Iowa.
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) October 9, 2021
As Pete Thamel mentions, Iowa did this in its own way. The Hawkeyes won with their defense. It may not have been the prettiest way to win, but that doesn’t matter at this point because the Hawkeyes keep winning.
This game has featured a slew of Ferentizian field position punt pins. God bless Iowa for being so defiantly Iowa. It works. Iowa picks off Penn State on fourth down. Cue up victory formation (essentially).
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) October 9, 2021
Mood in Iowa rn 🎉😤 pic.twitter.com/x25Ch2SyuZ
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 9, 2021
If both of these teams win out, there’s a chance we’ll get to see them face off in the Big Ten Championship Game. Given how closely matched these two teams looked, it’d be fun to see them play again.
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