It was almost the Happy Valley Miracle.

But for the past two football seasons, Iowa had Penn State's number.

Now, make it three seasons.

The No. 12 Nittany Lions valiantly fought back from a 35-13 deficit in the fourth quarter, but were unable to come away with a win as the Hawkeyes gave Penn State their first loss of the season in a stunning overtime upset, by a score of 42-35.

Iowa (3-1) outplayed Penn State (3-1) from the start of the game until there were ten minutes remaining in regulation, where the Nittany Lions showed their heart.

The Iowa defense beat up quarterback Zack Mills throughout, sacking him three times and rushing him into two interceptions.

Despite the defensive aggressiveness from the Hawkeyes, Mills went 23-44 and set a new Penn State passing record with 390 yards on the day.

While the Penn State front seven contained the run early on, the secondary continued its struggle this season.

Iowa quarterback Brad Banks connected on long passes with tight end Dallas Clark and wide receiver Maurice Brown to maintain their first drive down the field and the subsequent touchdown on their first possession.

There was even more bad news for the Penn State secondary when it was reported that true freshman safety Calvin Lowry suffered an ACL injury that may put him out for the rest of the season.

On the other side of the ball, the Penn State offense routinely seemed flat and off balanced for the majority of the game.

Mills felt the pressure instantly after being sacked on the first play of the game by Howard Hodges deep in Penn State territory.

The Lions offensive struggles continued.

Larry Johnson fumbled the ball after receiving a short pass from Mills, turning the ball over to Iowa on their first play of their second possession.

The turnover proved costly as Iowa converted the favorable field position into a touchdown off of a 20-yard run by Russell, bringing the score to 17-0.

All of this, in the first quarter of play.

The last time Penn State gave up 17 points in the first quarter was in 1994 when they allowed 21 points against Illinois.

Iowa continued the seemingly relentless attack when Banks hit Erie native Ed Hinkel for six points in the second quarter.

The Nittany Lions picked up some momentum as Derek Wake blocked the extra point, ending Iowa kicker Nate Kaeding's school record of 60 consecutive successful attempts.

Feeding off the energy from the blocked PAT, Mills helped chip away at the Hawkeye lead with a 28-yard pass to Bryant Johnson for his first touchdown of the season.

Iowa did not go into the locker room quietly after capping off the first half with a 55-yard field goal, bringing the score to 26-7.

The field goal extends Kaeding's other school record of 13 consecutive field goals over six games.

After Penn State punted after their first possession of the third quarter, Shawn Mayer picked off a pass on Iowa's first play as Banks attempted to go deep and put the game out of reach for Penn State.

Despite Larry Johnson's spectacular dive over both the offensive and defensive lines for a touchdown, the celebrating was short lived as the PAT was blocked and returned 99 yards by Iowa's B.J. Johnson for two points, bringing the score to 28-13.

Iowa added onto the onslaught with a 54-yard touchdown reception by Brown, which brought the Penn State fans in attendance to the quietest they have been so far this

season.

But just when many fans in Happy Valley headed for the parking lot, a strange turn of events ensued.

Within a two-minute span, the Nittany Lions recovered a fumble and an interception in

their own end zone on two drives by Iowa, keeping some hope alive for a comeback.

Shortly after, Mills tossed a touchdown pass to Larry Johnson with seven minutes remaining, bringing the Nittany Lions closer with the score 35-20.

After stopping the next Iowa drive, the resiliency of the Lions showed again when Mills fired a pass to Tony Johnson, getting the Penn State only a touchdown behind after a Chris Gantor quarterback sneak for the two-point conversion.

The defense held strong again to force a punt by Iowa.

It would not be long before Mills nailed Bryant Johnson for the equalizer leveling the score to 35 apiece.

After electing to play defense first in the overtime period, Penn State was unable to prevent Banks from hitting C.J. Jones for the touchdown.

The Iowa touchdown was setup after a questionable completion call was made after cornerback Richard Gardner seemed to knock the ball out of the receiver's hands and out of bounds.

In the overtime offense, Mills seemed poised as he executed several passes to move the offense down the field.

Once inside the 10 yard line, the Nittany Lions' luck simply ran out.

The outlook was promising for Penn State, but Mills was heavily pressured on fourth down and threw an incomplete pass, extending Iowa's win streak over the Nittany Lions to three.