The No. 4 Penn State football team leads No. 3 Iowa 17-10 at halftime.

The Hawkeyes jumped onto the scoreboard first. Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford threw an interception Jestin Jacobs on the first Nittany Lion play of the day. Iowa took over at the Penn State 8-yard line, but had to settle for a field goal to take a 3-0 lead at the 11:08 mark of the first half.

Penn State responded with two first-quarter touchdowns, then added a field goal early in the second quarter to go up 17-3. A nine-yard touchdown pass from Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras to wide receiver Charlie Jones brought the Hawkeyes to within seven points. Daily Iowan Pregame Editor Robert Read and Assistant Sports Editor Chloe Peterson are in the press box at Kinnick Stadium covering the game. Here are their reactions to the first half.

Penn State offense in trouble without Clifford

Sean Clifford, the Nittany Lions’ starting quarterback, went to the locker room after taking a big hit from Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell in the second quarter. Clifford had already compiled 146 passing yards and 36 rushing yards (plus a touchdown) at the time of this injury. Plus, he had Penn State up 17-3.

With backup quarterback Ta’Quan Roberson in the game, however, the Hawkeye defense is looking like its usual self. The first five snaps with Roberson in the game went as follows: Fumbled snap, nearly an interception, and three false starts in a row. The second Penn State drive with Roberson in at quarterback ended in an interception.

Clifford will not play in the second half, per reports.

Iowa defense has already tallied three interceptions on the day, giving the Hawkeyes 15 for the season. Jacobs, Jack Koerner, and Riley Moss all picked off a pass, with the first two doing so off Clifford. Moss limped off the field injured after his interception,

– Robert Read, Pregame Editor

Petras settles in… again

Hawkeye quarterback Spencer Petras did not look good in the first quarter. The junior went 1-for-9 with an interception, with a quarterback rating of two.

Two. 

That’s not good. In fact, that’s very bad.

In the Hawkeyes’ first drive of the game, Petras threw a 14-yard reception to freshman tight end Luke Lachey — but that ended up being the only good play the Hawkeye offense could muster up in the first quarter. 

Petras then did not make a completion for nine straight attempts. Iowa’s defense held down the fort, recording an interception on their own 8-yard line to set up a field goal by Hawkeye kicker Caleb Shudak.

Iowa actually lost yards on its scoring drive after Petras was sacked: four plays, negative eight yards for a 34-yard field goal. Meanwhile, Penn State scored 17 unanswered points.

But the Hawkeyes turned it around in the second quarter, and Petras entered halftime with a significantly higher 86.4 QB rating. The Hawkeyes put together an 11-play, 75-yard scoring drive that brought Iowa within one possession of the Nittany Lions.

Petras produced a pass under pressure, as he completed a 22-yard reception to wide receiver Nico Ragaini on third-and-8. Three plays later, senior WR Charlie Jones caught a 9-yard pass, and touched the pylon for Iowa’s first touchdown of the game.

Petras’s start to this game was bad — but at this point, that seems natural for him. He struggled in the first quarter against Kent State Sept. 18, and in the first half against Colorado State Sept. 25. Both times, he settled into the pocket later in the game, and became a serviceable quarterback for the Hawkeyes.

– Chloe Peterson, Assistant Sports Editor