The Penn St. Nittany Lions football program earned its fifth straight victory Saturday night, easily defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes, 38-14, in a Big Ten Conference game in Iowa City. The victory improved Penn State to 5-3 overall, but more importantly boosted the Nittany Lions' league record to 3-0.
Sophomore running back Bill Belton ran for 103 yards and scored three touchdowns while quarterback Matt McGloin threw for 289 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead Penn State to its first victory in Iowa City in 13 seasons.
The win was impressive, but according to the SB Nation blog Black Shoes Diaries, it could have been better.
While you revel in a 38-14 win, I'll be annoyed it wasn't 52-7.
The blog's strive-for-greater attitude stems from head coach Bill O'Brien, who despite earning a 24-0 halftime lead, wasn't pleased about his team's first-half performance.
And the best part is that Bill O'Brien gets to have his cake, and eat it too.
When he was interviewed coming out of the tunnel at halftime, O'Brien told the Big Ten Network sideline reporter that he considered it 0-0, that Penn State had left too many points on the board. He wasn't resting on the 24-0 lead his team had built up in the first half. He, like me, knew it should have been more.
To read Black Shoes' full recap of Saturday's game, click here.
Penn State's next game is schedule for Saturday against the visiting Ohio St. Buckeyes. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. ET and the contest will be broadcasted on ESPN.