Penn State-Iowa first quarter update

IOWA CITY, Iowa --

1. Not the kind of start Penn State wanted -- by a long shot. The Lions opened the game with the first possession and two Daryll Clark incompletions led to a third and long. Clark, looking tentative, dropped back and was sacked by Adrian Clayborn. Clark was holding the ball up and had it knocked from his hand. It looked like Iowa recovered in the end zone, but the officials ruled that Clark recovered the fumble on the one-yard line. A review confirmed this ruling and it looked like the Lions escaped. But ...

2. A short punt was returned to the Penn State 25 and two Shonn Green carries later and Iowa had itself a 7-0 lead. Green scored the touchdown on a 14-yard run. It was the first touchdown Penn State had allowed in six quarters.

3. It looks like Penn State guards Rich Ohrnberger and Stefen Wisniewski have switched sides. Ohrnberger is at right guard and Wisniewski is on the left. It may be because Penn State wanted Ohrnberger on dangerous Iowa defensive tackle Mitch King. King has made his presence felt already and burnt Ohnrberger on one play, forcing Clark into a hurried throw.

4. Penn State bounced back with a long, clock-draining drive. It lasted a whopping 19 plays and 9:43 elapsed from the clock. But the Lions couldn't punch it in even though they had first-and-goal from the 2. Iowa was keyed on running back Evan Royster and stopped him for no yards on first down and dropped him five yards behind the line of scrimmage on third down. Second down was an ill-advised play-action pass that had Clark over-throwing tight end Mickey Shuler. Clark, who suffered a concussion two weeks ago, looks tentative here in the early going. Kicker Kevin booted a 24-yard field goal through the uprights and the Lions trimmed the lead to 7-3. With the FG, Kelly set the Big Ten all-time mark with 73 career field goals.