The question is simple: which sort of death are you looking for, brutal but fast or slow and agonizing?

For the longest time Saturday, the Penn State football team seemed to yearn for the quick option before Iowa let the Nittany Lions climb back into the game, only to take the more painful way out.

While the comeback was nice and probably did things to show the Lions were capable of pulling it together if given enough chances, the thrust of the players post-game comments was about the disappointment of getting shellacked in the first three quarters.

"We came out and we played half a game of football so we rightly deserved to lose," cornerback Bryan Scott said, "but when you come back this close it's kind of heartbreaking."

However, many were quick to point out the benefits of the 23-point rally.

"I think I can take both positive and negative," wide receiver Tony Johnson said. "The positive, if we are down we can come back. We fought so hard, we just came up short and time ran out."

Coach of the week?

ESPN.com college football analyst Jim Donnan proclaimed Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz coach of the day in his weekly column. Ferentz's coaching genius allowed Penn State the time to mount a final scoring drive thanks to notably poor clock management.

With 2:39 left in regulation on second and nine, Iowa called a toss sweep to tailback Fred Russell, putting him in easy range of being knocked out of bounds by Shawn Mayer, stopping the clock. On third down, quarterback Brad Banks dropped back to pass, only to throw the ball away, again stopping the clock. Then on fourth down, punter David Bradley kicked the ball with 19 seconds left on the play clock. What's worse, the kick traveled all of 35 yards.

Add it up, and the Hawkeyes could have eaten enough time to put Penn State's offense in a rush mode needing a touchdown.

Day to remember

-- Offense: Iowa RB Fred Russell. Russell gained 142 yards on the ground thanks in large part to the valleys opened up by his offensive line. His late fumble did allow Penn State to mount a comeback instead of polishing off the game, but he did enough early on to put the Lions in a deep hole.

-- Defense: OT Matt Schmitt. With 12:54 left in the fourth quarter, one of Mills' passes was intercepted by Iowa

cornerback Jovon Johnson, who returned the ball all the way to the Lions' one-yard line before getting knocked out of bounds by Schmitt. Russell fumbled the ball on the ensuing play, allowing Penn State to mount a comeback.

Day to forget

-- Offense: QB Michael Robinson. It's not his fault. First off, there's no way Robinson could keep up his superhuman touchdown production forever. Moreover, the backup quarterback/utility man's number wasn't called in the second half, as Penn State toned down its offense trying to establish momentum.

-- Defense: Penn State. Russell ran rampant through a front four that got pushed around by Iowa's offensive line. Banks hit enough big passes to keep the Hawkeyes moving -- at times picking up big chunks of yardage like the 54-yard touchdown strike to receiver Maurice Brown.

Statistically Speaking

The last time Penn State allowed 17 points in the first quarter was in 1994 against Illinois ... Penn State has forced as many turnovers in four games, 12, as the team did in 11 games last season.

Did you notice...

The student section didn't fill up, again (the assumption is the no-shows were having water bottle fights in the parking lot) ... For the fourth straight game, the Lions lost yards on their first play from scrimmage ... Early in the second quarter, after Mills was slow getting up, the official forced him to the sideline for a play like a boxer forced to take a standing eight count.

Finally

How many of those "our faith has been restored" signs hung after the Nebraska game are still hanging? The game was ugly, but it's too early to bring them down.