The last time Tony Stewart dropped a crucial pass, his teammates reamed him for looking foolish on the field.

Flash back to 1998. In the Outback Bowl against Kentucky, Stewart stood wide open in the end zone, only to bobble the ball and drop a surefire touchdown.

Penn State defeated the Wildcats that day, adding flavor to the jovial ribbing the then-sophomore tight end would endure.

Since then, Stewart has become the team's most sure-handed receiver. It's a note of high praise, considering the Nittany Lions and quarterback Rashard Casey have been plagued by dropped passes all season.

Leave it to another dropped pass to doom Penn State once again. Saturday against Iowa, it happened. And suddenly, Stewart looked about two years younger.

On the game's final play, Stewart momentarily had a Casey strike in his hands at the Iowa 14-yard line. But after the play had cleared, it was not Stewart with the ball, but instead, Iowa defensive back Ryan Hansen.

It was overtime, and the Hawkeyes had been up three, so the turnover ended the game.

"I got my hands on it, I just didn't come up with the play," Stewart said.

Someone asked him what he thought when he saw Hansen with the ball.

"Say it ain't so," Stewart responded. "Some things like that, I mean, how many times is that going to happen out of 100?"

He paused.

"Maybe one."

Not surprisingly, the mood on Saturday was slightly different than in 1998.

"It was a solemn mood like somebody died or something," said Stewart's fellow tight end, John Gilmore.

"From what I saw, it was an out pass that we ran and Tony turned around, and it was just something that happened," Gilmore added. "The defensive guy made a good play."

"We dropped too many passes, made a lot of mistakes and were very flat the first half," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "He'll feel bad enough about it with everybody looking at that one saying that's what cost us the football game.

"One play never costs you a football game."