Terry Smith told NBC’s broadcast in the lead-up to Saturday’s game at Iowa that his Nittany Lions would “shock the world” amid turmoil from James Franklin’s firing this week.

However, the interim coach led a Penn State group that fell to the Hawkeyes, 25-24. And the most shocking part was that the Nittany Lion defense somehow performed worse against a running quarterback than Nico Iamaleava’s 128 yards in the UCLA loss two weeks ago .

What a night for @HawkeyeFootball 's Mark Gronowski 🔥

🐥 9 Rush

🐥 130 YDS (career high)

🐥 2 TD pic.twitter.com/KyrW9O6Mrl — Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) October 19, 2025

Listen to the Blue-White Breakdown podcast

See Full Page