An Emotional Victory for Iowa

Iowa had so much confidence in its defense, the Hawkeyes gave Penn State two points.

The No. 25 Hawkeyes held Penn State’s offense scoreless, making Kyle Schlicher’s two first-half field goals stand up for an ugly 6-4 victory on Saturday at State College, Pa.

Iowa gave the Nittany Lions their final points, conceding a safety instead of punting from its end zone late in the fourth quarter. The strategy worked perfectly when the Hawkeyes (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten) intercepted a fourth Penn State pass.

“Typically, if you punt off your own one-yard line, it’s almost a guaranteed three for the other team,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. “And this type of game, I sure as heck didn’t want to give them three easy ones.”

It was an emotional victory for Ferentz, whose father, John, died at 84 on Sunday in Mount Lebanon, Pa. The coach and his son, Brian, a starting guard, left the team Tuesday to attend the funeral. They rejoined the squad Friday in State College.

“I told the team on Tuesday, I wish they’d gotten to know my dad, you know.... They’d have loved the guy,” Ferentz said.

It was the lowest-scoring game for Penn State (2-5, 0-4) since a 20-0 loss to Michigan in 2001.

“I don’t know whether we could play much poorer than we did today,” Penn State Coach Joe Paterno said.

No. 6 Wisconsin 24, Northwestern 12 -- Anthony Davis rushed for two touchdowns at Madison, Wis., and the Badgers started 8-0 for only the fourth time in the program’s history.

The Badgers (5-0 Big Ten) were without standout defensive end Erasmus James, who injured an ankle in the previous game against Purdue. James, who insisted in a halftime television interview that Purdue tight end Charles Davis hurt him intentionally with a cut block, hopes to return for the Badgers’ Nov. 6 game against Minnesota.

Northwestern (3-4, 2-2), which had not lost to Wisconsin since 1999, trailed, 17-0, at halftime.

Ohio State 30, Indiana 7 -- Troy Smith threw two touchdown passes, and Tony Pittman ran for 144 yards at Columbus, Ohio, as the Buckeyes (4-3, 1-3) ended a three-game losing streak.

Pittman was starting for Lydell Ross, who was suspended from the team Friday after encountering trouble earlier in the week at a strip club in Columbus. The club filed a police report, accusing Ross of theft by deception for using coupons in the club that weren’t his. He had not been arrested or charged by Saturday afternoon.

Indiana (2-5, 0-4) lost its fifth in a row.

Minnesota 45, Illinois 0 -- Marion Barber III ran for two touchdowns and threw for another at Minneapolis, helping the Golden Gophers end a two-game losing streak.

Minnesota (6-2, 3-2) held a conference opponent scoreless for the first time since a 12-0 victory over Indiana on Oct. 20, 1990.

The Fighting Illini (2-6, 0-5) were held to 72 yards rushing and lost their 13th consecutive conference game.