It’s a new era for Penn State football — but it started in the same crushing fashion.

In their first game since firing longtime head coach James Franklin , the Nittany Lions coughed up a fourth-quarter lead and lost a 25-24 heartbreaker to Iowa on Saturday night at Kinnick Stadium for their fourth straight loss.

Penn State fell to a brutal 3-4 on the season and has dropped its first four games in the Big Ten. 3

“I think we gave everything we had,” interim head coach Terry Smith said following his first game at the helm.

“There was no one that didn’t give great effort. We just have to execute.”

The Nittany Lions held a 24-19 lead with just under five minutes to go, until Hawkeyes quarterback Mark Gronkowski ran for 67 yards to set up Kaden Wetjen for a go-ahead rushing touchd

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