WATCH: Spencer Petras 44-yard touchdown pass, Iowa takes fourth quarter lead
With just over six minutes remaining, Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras found Nico Ragaini on a 44-yard touchdown pass to take a 23-20 lead over Penn State. On a play-action pass to start their drive, Petras found Ragaini wide open after his route confused his defender.
Spencer Petras touchdown to Ragaini, Iowa takes lead
After falling down early against the Nittany Lions, Petras led Iowa’s comeback as they trailed by a touchdown entering the fourth quarter. With Iowa’s defense beginning to shut down Penn State, Iowa managed to take the lead midway through the final quarter.
After forcing the third straight three-and-out drive against Penn State, the Hawkeyes began their drive on Penn State’s side of the field. On the first play of the drive, Iowa ran a play-action pass that drew all eyes to the right side of the field.
Ragaini ran a beautiful misdirection route on the play, faking a deep crossing route as Petras rolled to that side of the field. With the deep safety covering an even deeper crossing route, Ragaini got his defender to cheat on his coverage before moving back out to the far sideline. Wide open from the play design, Ragaini ran the ball in with ease for the go-ahead touchdown.
In a tough first quarter for the Hawkeyes, Petras threw just one completion on nine attempts for 14 yards and was intercepted once. From the second quarter through his go-ahead touchdown toss, Petras’ accuracy improved to 16 of 22 with 194 yards and two touchdowns.
Tradition shines during big game
Iowa plays its home games in Kinnick Stadium located in Iowa City. The stadium is placed directly next to the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital, which directly overlooks the stadium and provides patients the opportunity to watch Hawkeyes football from the windows. At the end of every first quarter, Iowa’s gameday tradition is for the team and its 60,000-plus fans in attendance turn and face the children’s hospital and wave to the children looking out the window.
Iowa did its signature Kinnick Wave for the fourth time this season, with Penn State, the visitors, admitting that the heartwarming tradition means a lot for the program. Penn State head coach James Franklin said earlier in the week that playing in Kinnick Stadium is a tall task for any visiting team, but the tradition is one of the best in the sport.
“It’s a tough environment. There’s no doubt about it,” Franklin said of Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium. “We’ve got a lot of respect for that school and that community and the support that they give their football program. Obviously, there’s special things about it. Obviously, the wave to the children’s hospital is, I think, one of the better traditions in college football. You know, whenever you can support people in challenging times, you want to do that. It’s something that I think is very unique to college football and very unique to the University of Iowa.”
The children watching on Saturday were treated to a wonderful image of the Iowa fans storming the field after their 23-20 win over Penn State. Petras’ fourth quarter touchdown gave Iowa a statement win in their pursuit of a College Football Playoff appearance.
On3’s Simon Gibbs contributed to this article.