Penn State football looked different on the sideline but heartbreakingly familiar on the scoreboard. In its first game under interim head coach Terry Smith, the Nittany Lions fell 25-24 to Iowa, their fourth straight defeat in a season that has unraveled faster than anyone in Happy Valley could have imagined.

Smith, the longtime assistant elevated after Penn State fired James Franklin , watched his team lose a fourth-quarter lead as Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns, including a 67-yard burst that set up the go-ahead score. Despite another painful ending, Smith left the field proud of his team’s fight.

“I don’t think anyone in that stadium would say they didn’t see the toughness and grit I asked for,” Smith said. “Our guys played hard. They gav

See Full Page