Nittany Lions set to refocus after Iowa City setback

"We didn't play well, but you have to be careful. I don't want to take anything from Iowa. Those kids played tough. The quarterback played a heck of a game," Paterno said.

In retrospect, it's not all that surprising that Iowa toppled the Nittany Lions.

The Hawkeyes could be 8-2 just as easily as they're 6-4. Their four losses are by a combined 12 points. They also have one of the better defenses in the country, which came in handy on a day when the weather played a major role.

And Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz seems to have Paterno's number. The Hawkeyes have won six of their last seven against Penn State.

"Give Iowa credit. They played a really good defensive football game. They didn't give us anything easy," said Paterno, who spent another game working from the press box because of his sore leg. "We knew we were in for a dog fight. No one's come in and blown these guys out."

Most will remember Saturday's game as the one Penn State lost. But folks in Iowa City see it as a sign that the Hawkeyes are back after two disappointing finishes and a 2008 season that, until Saturday, had been unusually frustrating.

It's easy to forget that, just two years ago, Iowa was ranked as high as 13th. But the Hawkeyes dropped six of their final seven in 2006 and finished 6-7, losing the Alamo Bowl to Texas -- and last season was even worse.

Iowa had one of the nation's worst offenses and finished 6-6 and without a bowl bid.

Ferentz, one of the highest-paid coaches in the country, was being hounded by questions about his program's disturbing string of arrests and it's diminishing on-field returns. He kept insisting the Hawkeyes were on the right track this season even as they kept losing close ones.

"Every game we've lost has been close and, quote-unquote, 'winnable,'" Ferentz said. "The only way to get over the hump is to push over the hump."

The theory heading into this weekend was that Penn State had a relatively easy path to an unbeaten season compared to Alabama and Texas Tech. The thinking now is that Penn State is still in great shape to win the Big Ten, with home games against Indiana and Michigan State remaining.

But great shape can turn bad quickly.

"You have to have the right kind of kids; they can start to go out and regroup and leaders come to the front," Paterno said. "It's not that tough. We've got to do better."