Defense shines as Penn State beats Iowa, 13-3

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Penn State finally broke through for a touchdown on its fourth trip into the red zone, with Matt McGloin tossing a 2-yard scoring pass to tight end Kevin Haplea, and captured a 13-3 Big Ten victory over Iowa before a crowd of 103,497 Saturday at Beaver Stadium.

Anthony Fera kicked a pair of 20-yard field goals for the Nittany Lions, who improved to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the conference.

The Penn State defense limited Iowa (3-2, 0-1) to just a 23-yard field goal by Mike Meyer early in the second quarter, and came up with three big turnovers in the fourth quarter.

The Nittany Lions were able to run the ball, especially late in the game as the Hawkeyes defense wore down. Silas Redd picked up 142 yards on 28 carries.

The Nittany Lions drove 88 and 81 yards on the drives that ended with Fera's first-half field goals but could not get the ball over the goal line. They also marched to the Iowa 5 late in the third quarter but on third down, McGloin's pass to Derek Moye in the end zone was intercepted by Micah Hyde.

But junior linebacker Gerald Hodges, from Paulsboro High, forced a fumble from Iowa quarterback James Vandenberg that was recovered by Nate Stupar at the Hawkeyes 49, and the Lions needed 12 plays to score their first touchdown of the game.

Penn State ran the ball on the first 11 plays, with a holding penalty nullifying an apparent touchdown run by Silas Redd. On the 12th, McGloin faked into the line and found a wide-open Haplea in the end zone.

The Nittany Lions picked off Vandenberg on Iowa's next two possessions. The Hawkeyes drove to their own 41 but Malcolm Willis picked off a fourth-down pass at the Iowa 47. Penn State punted deep into Iowa territory and Nick Sukay intercepted a pass at the Hawkeye 44, with 3 minutes, 42 seconds to play.