Nittany Lions rally for TD on final play

IOWA CITY — It was happening like it had so often in the past.

A once-sluggish Iowa team had come to life in the fourth quarter at home under the lights, and another top-five opponent was set to go down.

Trace McSorley, Juwan Johnson and the resilient Nittany Lions flipped the script, scoring on the game’s final play to survive a wild Big Ten opener.

Johnson caught a sevenyard touchdown pass as time expired and fourthranked Penn State rallied to stun Iowa 21-19 Saturday night.

Saquon Barkley had 211 yards rushing and 94 yards receiving for the Nittany Lions (4-0, 1-0), who outgained Iowa 579-273 but nearly blew a game that could’ve been crippling to their postseason hopes.

“Felt like with [Johnson] we had a height advantage and we could slip him through the middle of the field,” Penn State coach James Franklin said of the winning play to the 6-foot-4 receiver.

Akrum Wadley had a 70yard touchdown reception midway through the fourth quarter and a 35-yard touchdown run with 1:42 left to put the Hawkeyes (3-1, 0-1) ahead 19-15.

Penn State went 80 yards on 12 plays to close out the game, and McSorley found Johnson in a crowded end zone on fourth down.

McSorley finished with 284 yards passing on 48 tries.

“It’s a tough loss for all of us,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “You can see first-hand why they were the Big Ten champs last year.”