IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Trace McSorley and Saquon Barkley looked toward the sideline and locked in on their offensive coordinator. While they went through pre-snap adjustments wide receiver Juwan Johnson had one job: Catch the ball.
"We want to be calm and poised and go and make the play," James Franklin said.
As the 66,205 people in Iowa's Kinnick Stadium looked down at the field, seven yards separated the No. 4 Nittany Lions' high-powered offense from overcoming a fate that, at numerous points during Saturday night's game, looked like this team and all its championship hopes were doomed.
"I just went straight, tried to break him outside and just try to go inside," Johnson said. "It's nothing really complicated about it, just ran a simple post route."
Johnson's post route on 4th and goal at the Iowa 7 on the final play of the game turned into a touchdown that sealed Penn State's 21-19 victory against Iowa. It propelled the Lions (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) past a gut-check game where the offense sputtered and put up just three first-half points, but behind a strong defensive effort, the same poise that was present with this group last season as the Lions came out of nowhere to win the Big Ten was evident on the Lions' final two-minute drive.
