Before the game, Joe Paterno and Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz met at midfield for a chat. Joining them was Penn State President Graham Spanier.
A KICK
Penn State place-kickers warming up include Anthony Fera, Sam Ficken and Evan Lewis. Lewis, the No. 1 kicker early in the season, did not make the trip to Indiana last week because the Lions were limited to taking 70 players — and with Fera now the No.1 place-kicker, Lewis dropped to third behind Ficken (an Indiana native).
Fera has made four of five field goal attempts this season, providing much-needed stability to the Lions’ kicking game. He made FGs from 22, 27 and 33 at Bloomington, missing a 52-yarder. He also made a 29-yarder against Eastern Michigan. His long in 2011 is from 33 — a mere chip-shot for a guy who made a 58-yard FG in high school. If Penn State is to be successful in the second half of the 2011, Fera will need to make some kicks over 40 yards.
Punting, Fera has kicked 18 times for a 43.6-yard average, with a long of 57. He has had one punt blocked in 2011.
Today, he has the leg. In warm-ups, kicking into the north end zone, he kicked a 49-yarder that cleared the crossbar by a good eight yards. He booted a 54-yarder that was barely wide left, but would have been good from 60.
BOLDEN AND THE BUS
Penn State tradition has it that the first player off the team bus when it stops outside of Beaver Stadium is the starting quarterback. Today, for the for the fourth time in four 2011 home games, that player was Rob Bolden.
That’s despite the fact that his counterpart Matt McGloin is coming off a pair of strong efforts in the Nittany Lions’ past three games against Temple, Eastern Michigan, Indiana, all victories.
In those games, McGloin completed 37 of 58 passes for 528 yards, with four TD passes and zero interceptions. Bolden was 22 of 44 for 274 yards, with three interceptions and one TD pass.
PSU2
Blaring over the Beaver Stadium speakers is — appropriately enough — U2’s ‘Beautiful Day.’ A great choice by Penn State Branding Czar Guido D’Elia
It’s 70 degrees right now, with nary a cloud in the sky, which is a light Penn State blue. AccuWeather says it will be a high of 77 degrees at University Park today. A perfect setting for a fall football Saturday.
The roads coming into the Beaver Stadium were clear and free of traffic — a direct contrast to before the Alabama game. The 3:30 p.m. kickoff and great weather have a lot to do with that. Fans have arrived early to the stadium.
IOWA’S DEED
The Hawkeyes have won eight of the last nine games against the Nittany Lions. Over the past 11 games, Iowa is 9-2 against PSU — 4-1 at home and 5-1 in Beaver Stadium. Penn State’s only win at home against the Hawkeyes in the past 16 years came on Oct. 6, 2007, when the Nittany Lions won 27-7.
In three of the last four games, Iowa has won by wide margins — 21 (24-3, 2010), 11 (21-10, 2009) and 20 points (27-7, 2007) points. The most recent close contest was in 2008, when the Hawkeyes beat a visiting Penn State squad, 24-23.
BIG TEN HOME AGAIN
Penn State is 11-7 in Big Ten Conference home openers.
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