It was a bizarre loss to begin with, so it only fits that, on a day that qualifies as one of his worst as a Nittany Lion, Zack Mills set the school passing record.

His performance also earned him Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors.

A statistical look at the play of the sophomore left-hander from Maryland reveals little. He was 23-for-44 for 399 yards (besting the old record of 366, set by Mike McQueary in 1997 against Pittsburgh) and threw four touchdown passes.

Yet, the story is much different than that. Mills had only 89 passing yards going into the half and his arm often looked weak. His decision-making was thrown off kilter by blitzing Hawkeyes and he threw his first two interceptions of the year. He looked as confused as he did last year in Charlottesville, when Virginia dropped eight men into coverage.

Except, the Hawkeyes weren't doing anything to confuse Mills.

"They didn't do anything special," he said. "They were just a fundamentally sound defense. In the second half, we finally started making plays and that got to them."

Mills did start making plays when the team needed it most. His deep pass on a post to Tony Johnson that tied the game was as good as any that's been thrown on the Beaver Stadium grass.

So, that begs even more the question: What happened in the first half?

Mills was questioned after the game if nagging tendonitis in his elbow was catching up to him.

"No, that's just a day-to-day thing," he said. "It has never, ever bothered me on a Saturday."

The problem may have started after Mills made his first big play of the game, a 21-yard pass to Johnson for the Lions' initial first down. An Iowa holding penalty moved Penn State to their own 46, and it looked as if the offense would easily be able to tie the game at seven.

But Mills missed Johnson, then Ernie Terrell, then Johnson again. The inability to pass early meant Iowa could stack up on the run and blitz linebackers. Penn State never got its game plan going.

"I was worried with everyone getting enamored with all the trick stuff," Penn State football coach Joe Paterno said. "That stuff is okay, but when a team lines up and is as sound as they are, you have make some things happen."

The Lions and Mills did not do that until the fourth quarter.

"Zack had an okay day," Johnson said. "There were things he could have done different, but you could say that about all of us. But he's there when you need him, and he showed that today."