On a bleak, windy, wintry day in Iowa City, the bubble burst on Penn State’s magical 2008 gridiron season.

A Nittany Lion team that had surprised everyone with its continual rise through the rankings this fall fell one point short of maintaining its undefeated record and a possible shot at playing in the national championship game—just as the 2005 team fell two seconds short of the same goal at Michigan.

A 31-yard field goal with one second left on the clock by a sophomore Iowa kicker—who had lost his job to a freshman in mid-September—gave the Hawkeyes a 24-23 victory Saturday over third-ranked Penn State, whose record slipped to 9-1 and ranking in the polls to Nos. 7 and 8.

The Hawks’ Daniel Murray had converted only one of three field goal attempts in September and had not been called on since missing a 35-yarder against Pitt, which defeated Iowa by one point. Asked why he turned to Murray in this do-or-die situation instead of freshman Trent Mossbrucker, who had made 13 of 15 since September, Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said, “Experience.”

And, before the 36th consecutive sellout crowd in Kinnick Stadium and an ABC/ESPN television audience, Murray redeemed himself by delivering Iowa’s first victory over a Top Five opponent since 1990 and its first win in the last 10 Hawkeye games that were decided by three points or less.

It was Iowa’s finest performance in a hard-luck season, during which it lost four games by a total of just 12 points, including last week’s 27-24 verdict at Illinois, when the Illini kicked a field goal with 24 seconds remaining.

Penn State won the first three quarters in Kinnick Stadium by nine points, while outgaining the home team 256 yards to 175 and controlling the ball for twice as long as Iowa. But the Hawks won the fourth quarter by 10, while outgaining the visitors, 97-33.

In the end, the Lions’ inability to score touchdowns instead of field goals doomed them. State squandered several opportunities in the first half, when it dominated time of possession by 23:34 to 6:26 and mounted three long scoring drives that averaged 75 yards on 15 plays in 7:41, but only one resulted in a touchdown.

“We were moving the ball well, but we weren’t finishing off the drives,” lamented tailback Evan Royster. “We just weren’t executing when we got to the goal line.”

The game bore a resemblance to the tough defensive clash the Lions had with Ohio State in their last game two weeks ago. Two of the top three defensive teams in the Big Ten slugged it out, until a fourth-quarter turnover by one team set up a victory drive by the other.

The contest bore an even more eerie resemblance to the last time Penn State had a 9-0 record. That would be the 1999 Homecoming debacle in the first game in November, when a Hail Mary pass was deflected by a Lion defensive back but fell into the arms of a Minnesota receiver lying flat on his back on the Beaver Stadium gridiron, giving the Gophers the opportunity to kick a last-ditch field goal of virtually the same distance—32 yards. That boot scuttled the Lions’ great season start by the same final score, 24-23.

Unfortunately, the Penn State team that entered that game ranked second in the nation went into the tank and closed out the season with three consecutive losses.

Lion players vowed that that would not happen with this squad.

“With all the leadership we have on this team, I know for a fact that’s not going to happen. … I felt ready to play today,” said quarterback Darryl Clark, who had just recovered from a concussion he suffered at Ohio State. “But this is one of my worst performances ever. … I want to apologize to the whole Penn State nation for my play today.”

The Big Ten’s pass efficiency leader focused particularly on a throw that resulted in just his third interception in 223 attempts this year.

“I keep having that turnover in my head. I just can’t get it out of my mind,” he said in a sorrowful post-game comment. “The ball didn’t leave my hand the way I wanted it to. I missed a wide open receiver.”

Clark did have the poorest performance of his career statistically, completing only nine of 23 attempts for 86 yards and no touchdowns. A 19-yard sack and fumble on the game’s opening series nearly negated the 25 yards he gained later on four running plays.

Four dropped passes, a missed interception, an uncharacteristic three critical penalties and allowing the Hawkeyes to convert seven of eight third downs in the second half all contributed to the Lions’ loss.

“We had them third-and-long multiple times but couldn’t come through with the big play when we needed it,” said Lion linebacker Josh Hull.

Co-captain A.Q. Shipley said, “They’re a great defensive football team, and they came through when they needed to on offense.”

Iowa QB Ricky Stanzi, who mimicked his season-long erratic play until the middle of the third quarter, suddenly caught fire. He converted three third-down situations with passes to Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, sandwiched around a 20-yard completion to Trey Stross, then threw a 3rd and 13 pass to Johnson-Koulianos for a 27-yard TD. The Iowa wide receiver caught State cornerback A.J. Wallace flat-footed with a stutter-and-go move that left him wide open behind Wallace.

Stanzi made one more mistake, which temporarily let the Lions back in the game, when he fumbled a snap that was recovered by Hull at the IA-28. After Royster gained 19 yards on three consecutive runs, Derrick Williams lined up at tailback, took a direct snap and dashed through the right side for a nine-yard touchdown just 29 seconds before the start of the fourth quarter.

From then on it was all Iowa.

With the wind at his back, Hawkeye punter Ryan Donahue booted a ball that Williams chose not to try to field in the tricky wind, and it bounced to the PS-11, a 55-yard advance. After a three-and-out, State’s punter Jeremy Boone had to kick into the wind, and the ball went only 32 yards.

On third-and-eight, Stanzi passed 18 yards to tight end Brandon Myers, then flipped a screen pass to Myers that went for seven more. Shonn Greene, the third-leading rusher in the nation, took over, carrying the ball 11 yards then six yards to the end zone to cut the Lions’ lead to 23-21.

The Lions ate up five and one-half minutes of clock on a drive aided by a roughing the punter penalty on Iowa. Stephfon Green ripped off an 11-yard dash up the middle, and Williams, from the tailback position, passed to tight end Mickey Shuler for 23 more.

But, after a holding penalty on Rich Ohrnberger, Clark overthrew an open Williams and Tyler Sash intercepted for Iowa at his own 15-yard line and returned it 14 yards. On the first play, Stanzi was sacked for a loss of five by Jared Odrick and Abe Koroma, but on 3rd and 15, he launched a sideline pass toward Andy Brodell. The pass, Brodell and State safety Anthony Scirrotto arrived at the same place at the same time, and a call that could have gone any of three ways went against Scirrotto for interference. Stanzi continued to pick up first downs on passes that went six yards when he needed five, 11 yards when he needed 10, 10 yards when he needed 10 and 10 yards when he needed six. With the ball on the PS-14 and the clock stopped at 0:06, Ferentz took his roll of the dice and won.

Asked what he said to Murray before the kick, Ferentz admitted, “I didn’t say a word. He knows what he’s supposed to do. And he also knows that I know nothing about kicking.”

A 25-mile per hour wind that gusted throughout the afternoon from the north end zone through the south had affected the coaching strategy from the outset. When Iowa won the coin toss, Coach Ferentz, whose team has started on offense in 102 of 120 games, deferred his choice to the second half and got the wind advantage in the first and fourth quarters. The Hawkeyes had a 17-3 scoring advantage in those quarters, compared to the Lions’ 20-7 margin when they had the wind at their backs.

The visitors got off to a horrible start when Clark threw two incompletions on the game’s first two plays then was sacked and fumbled on the third. He recovered at the PS-1, but Boone had to kick out of the end zone into the wind. Brodell fielded the kick on the PS-35 and returned it 10 yards. On his first two plays, Greene, who is the only runner in the country to rush for more than 100 yards in every game this fall, carried for 11 and 14 to pay dirt. And the home team ignited the crowd with a 7-0 lead just one minute into the contest.

After that, Penn State took control of the game, but the 12 points left on the table with field goals instead of touchdowns would come back to haunt the Lions.

State’s first drive was its longest of the decade in number of plays (19) and time of possession (9:43) but was halted after 71 yards, before Kelly kicked a 24-yarder to make him the Big Ten record-holder in career field goals and extend to 30 his consecutive game streak with at least one three-pointer. The Lions had advanced to a first and goal at the two-yard line, but after the Hawkeye defense stopped Royster for no gain and pressured Clark into an incompletion, Karl Klug broke through and nailed Royster for a five-yard loss.

Early in the second quarter Royster followed center Shipley two yards into the end zone to climax an 11-play, 75-yard drive in 5:02 and give the Lions their first lead. A second long drive was stopped at the IA-14 after 16 plays and 78 yards in 8:18, so Kelly booted a 31-yarder for a 13-7 lead less than a minute before halftime.

On the first series after halftime, Lion linebacker Tyrell Sales intercepted Stanzi at the IA-39 and returned the ball 10 yards. Clark immediately passed 17 yards to wide receiver Williams, but the Hawkeye defense stiffened and forced the visitors to settle for their third field goal in four scoring drives.

So, on a day when some fans were debating whether the Lions should be ranked second or third in the polls and how that might affect their chance to get into the title game, it became a moot point, as they fell victim to the same fate that previously befell several other undefeated gridiron giants. But if they can win their last two games at home, they will still be Big Ten champions, and a trip to the Rose Bowl could be quite a consolation prize.

For the glory,