There are so many things worth discussing about this game that I simply cannot get to all of them, but I'll hit what I feel are the high points.
1. This game will go down as a great battle, which it was, but I don't know that it was a great game. I enjoy a pitcher's duel, a defensive battle if you will, but this was partly defensive dominance and partly offensive ineptitude. I believe that it will be remembered as a great game because of the old boxing truism; win the last 30 seconds and you win the judges. The fans were excited for the last four minutes and will remember it as a classic.
2. The personal foul call did not lose the game -- although the two offside penalties may have -- but it surely didn't help. Iowa was pinned deep and would have been looking at a 3rd and long had the flag not been thrown. After the ref watched the replay. After a legal hit. The receiver turned up field, dropped his head, and the defender blasted him in the upper shoulder. The hit may have rolled up into the helmet, but it was the offensive player that made that possible. He was not defenseless. Twice this year we've been hit by bad, bad personal foul calls.
3. There are all sorts of clever sayings for the prevent defense. It only prevents you from winning being the most common. I tend to disagree. However, Iowa does not have a deep threat. Don't worry about changing things up. Do what you have been doing.
4. I am upset that the final pass play did not have safety help and that the corner did not take away the slant, making the QB throw the much tougher fade or out and giving the blitz more time to apply pressure. I'm not mad about the result so much. How many plays from inside the 6 can we truly hope to stop in one game? I mean, we held strong on at least two goal line possessions.
5. I will call it the Hook and Ladder. I know that the hook and lateral makes more sense. I like to think of a ladder fire truck, reaching out a certain distance initially before providing a platform for the extended second portion of the ladder. Plus the yard markers make nice rungs. In any event, the play hardly ever works because you know it is coming. 99.99% of the time it is the last play of a game. BUT, if you run it with 2+ minutes left on a 3rd down (rather than another obvious trickeration down) it is brilliant. It was executed almost perfectly. I'll say almost because, as I've discussed with a few people since the game, Caper was trailing White and could have taken a block from White to score sooner. Who knows if it makes any difference.
What is most upsetting about the game is that Iowa is not that good. The lines are far superior to MSU's lines, and the starting TE is better than any of MSU's TE's, but other than that MSU is better at nearly every skill position. MSU is deeper and better at QB, RB, LB, and deeper at least at TE. This team is not as good as Penn State overall and not as good on defense as OSU. The MSU defense looked stout against the terrible Iowa offense with the exception of one bad series, where Iowa was wide open for 11 yard pass after 11 yard pass somewhat by design.
Bad calls were a factor. A much greater factor was jumping offsides twice on hard counts (one on a 3rd and 5) and DROPPED PASSES primarily at tight end. Sims dropped two that hit his hands. One would have kept a drive alive and killed the clock. The other would have set up a 3rd and very short, opening up a shot down field to Cunningham or White. The drops were, in my mind, the biggest reason Iowa was even in the game.
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