The Hawkeyes now are extremely focused on the chance to still play in the National Championship game. They come out and win their opening conference game against a tough Penn State Nittany Lions. The stats were impressive. Franklin Newby returned two punt returns for touchdowns and added 123 receiving yards to his stats column. QB Marvin McNutt set another personal best with a QB Rating of 244.1. McNutt was 10-15 and threw 262 yards, and 2 TD. HB Jevon Pugh had a strong day with 150 rushing yards and 2 TD. In the air it was WR Pat Rogers with 130 receiving yards and 2 TD. On the defensive side, Lebron Daniel returned from being injured for 4 weeks with 6 tackles, 2 tackles for loss a sack and a forced fumble.
With the win, the Iowa Hawkeyes moved up 4 spots in the polls to #6. When they play Purdue, they realize that they could move up at least two spots in the polls because of losses by two top five teams.