• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Iowa shocks No. 2 Penn State on late field goal

Nov 9, 2008 - 1:49 AM IOWA CITY, Iowa (Ticker) -- Penn State's dream of giving 81-year-old Joe Paterno a shot at another championship may have died amid the wind and cold at Kinnick Stadium.

Daniel Murray kicked a 31-yard field goal with one second remaining as Iowa shocked the second-ranked Nittany Lions, 24-23, on Saturday, setting off a wild celebration as fans stormed the field.

"I knew eventually I'd probably get a shot," said Murray, one of seven Iowa players from Iowa City. "I didn't know it might be a game-winner, but I'm just glad they could put me out there."

Penn State (9-1, 5-1 Big Ten) came into the game ranked third in the BCS standings. The Nittany Lions' loss improved the national champion hopes of one-loss teams like Texas, Florida, Oklahoma and Southern California.

"Their balloon still isn't busted," Paterno said of his team. "If we win the next two, we'll have an opportunity to go to a big bowl. That's a pretty good year."

The Nittany Lions dominated the first half, holding a 47-15 edge in plays and possessing the ball for more than 23 1/2 minutes.

They put together drives of 19, 11 and 16 plays in the first half, but scored only one touchdown. Penn State twice had to settle for field goals and only had a 13-7 lead at halftime.

An inability to punch the ball into the end zone came back to haunt the Nittany Lions, who still had a 23-14 lead entering the final period.

"They've done a wonderful job of putting whatever happens behind them and pushing forward to the next challenge," said Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, whose team has lost its four games by a combined 12 points. "That's exactly what it took today, and to everybody's credit, we did what we had to do during that fourth quarter."

Iowa (6-4, 3-3 Big Ten) started its final possession at its 29-yard line with 3:46 remaining following an interception by freshman defensive back Tyler Sash. The pick came after Penn State's Daryll Clark tried to force a pass into coverage on 3rd-and-24 from Iowa's 37.

"You have to kick the ball into the wind," Paterno said. "We wanted to get as close as we could. It was an option route and we had three or four other guys in the route. Figured we'd have one guy open to collect the ball to get closer."

Clark, who has played well this season, had a rough afternoon, completing only 9-of-23 passes for 86 yards.

Iowa's Richard Stanzi completed four passes on the winning drive to put Murray in position for his dramatic kick.

However, the Hawkeyes got a break before they even picked up a first down as Penn State was called for interference on a 3rd-and-15 pass that was incomplete.

Stanzi then went to work, connecting with Brandon Myers for completions of 11 and 6 yards. He then found Derrell Johnson-Koulianos for a pair of 11-yard completions, giving the Hawkeyes a first down at the Penn State 15-yard line.

"It is a lot different when you need to get a field goal instead of six points, or seven, or even eight, but it's nice to be able to drive down the field and get our kicker in position," Stanzi said. "Our mindset was not to let anything hold us back."

With near freezing temperatures and a wind gusting to 25 miles per hour, Penn State called timeout in an attempt to ice Murray.

But the sophomore, who had made just one of his previous three field goal attempts this season, calmly split the uprights.

"I think being an Iowa City kid only makes it better because growing up watching it all, you kind of understand the history and tradition behind the entire program," Murray added. "It's something you always dream of."

Penn State grabbed a 23-14 lead on Derrick Williams' 9-yard TD run with 29 seconds remaining in the third quarter, but Iowa closed within 23-21 on Shonn Greene's 6-yard TD scamper with 9:20 left.

"I think we just kept fighting at it and fighting at it and nobody gave up," Greene said. "Nobody would have guessed that we could have done this but we knew ourselves and we just stuck to it and kept fighting to get the job done."

The Hawkeyes forced a three-and-out, but a roughing the passer penalty sustained Penn State's possession, and the Nittany Lions chewed five minutes off the clock before Sash's interception.

Long before his late-game heroics, Stanzi was picked off by linebacker Tyrell at Iowa's 29 on the Hawkeyes' first possession of the second half.

Once again, however, the Nittany Lions had to settle for Kevin Kelly's 25-yard field goal that made it 16-7.

Iowa responded with a 10-play, 77-yard drive, pulling within 16-14 on Stanzi's 27-yard TD strike to Johnson-Koulianos with 4:43 remaining in the third period.

Two possessions later, a fumble by Stanzi gave Penn State a first down at Iowa's 28-yard line. This time, the Nittany Lions were able to get into the end zone, going back up by nine points on Williams' TD.

Stanzi completed 15-of-25 passes for 117 yards, while Greene, the Big Ten's second-leading rusher, ran for 117 yards and two scores on 28 carries.