Matt Hankins’ return to the Iowa secondary against Penn State was noticeable early.

With Hankins manning the left cornerback spot and wearing his alternate gold uniform with a big No. 8 plastered on the front under the stripes on Iowa’s shoulder pads, the Hawkeye defense held Penn State to just 10 total yards in the first quarter, not allowing Nittany Lion quarterback Sean Clifford to complete a pass.

Clifford finished the game with 117 yards through the air, as the Hawkeyes held opposing teams to under 150 yards for the third-consecutive game.

While Iowa accomplished the feat the previous two weeks as well, it didn’t hurt having Hankins back.

“First Monday coming back, I felt a little rusty, but as the week went on, I felt like I was getting back to myself,” Hankins said.

He looked like himself, too. 

Hankins, who hadn’t played since Iowa’s 30-0 win over Rutgers on Sept. 7, recorded seven tackles with 0.5 tackles for loss to help the Hawkeye defensive backs step up in run support.

As a whole, Iowa failed to defend the run for the majority of the game. Despite its lack of success through the air, Penn State ran for 177 yards on 53 carries.

Iowa still managed to keep the Nittany Lions in check, however, keeping them to 17 points after they entered the contest averaging 47 points per game.

The defensive success started at the defensive line, as the unit racked up three sacks and six tackles for a loss. 

That energy level transferred to the secondary, which held a potent Penn State passing game at bay with all of its starters healthy.

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“We can feed off [the defensive line’s] energy; they feed off us,” Hankins said. “Then on the field, hearing the crowd, that just brings more energy that we can also feed off of, which makes them play harder, faster.”

The unit hasn’t allowed more than 17 points all season. Although Penn State entered the battle against Iowa with just over 500 yards per game, the Hawkeyes held the Nittany Lions to 294 yards.

For the defense, though, the performance wasn’t enough because Penn State touched the scoreboard.

“Going into the game, we don’t really care about other people,” Iowa defensive end Chauncey Golston said. “You can put up a million points on another team — we want you to put up zero. Seventeen points is more than zero, so that’s unacceptable.”

The game marked the second in a row in which the Hawkeye defense led the way, carrying the rest of the squad to the finish line. 

In the past eight quarters, Iowa has scored only one touchdown, which came on an incredible catch by Brandon Smith on a 33-yard pass from Nate Stanley with 2:31 remaining against the Nittany Lions. 

Despite the differences in production between the two sides, the Hawkeyes want to make sure they move on together.

“[When] you start blaming people, that’s when the team falls apart, and we don’t want to fall apart,” Iowa safety Geno Stone said. “It’s a team sport, and we just got to move forward as a team.”