Nervousness reigned from an otherwise energetic crowd.

Penn State had just converted on a fourth-down-and-3, but there was little optimism from a fan base waiting breathlessly for the other shoe to drop.

First-and-goal from the Iowa 10-yard line. It might as well have been a mile.

A one-yard run. A false start. An easy lob to an open tight end for a touchdown that sailed harmlessly over the receiver's head. A third-down pass that wasn't that lucky, coming to rest in the hands of an Iowa cornerback at the 2.

Shakespeare couldn't script such a tragic performance.

The Nittany Lions' offense was misery personified Saturday at Beaver Stadium, mustering just 147 yards in a 6-4 loss to Iowa that was as hideous as it sounds.

"There have been a lot of tough ones, but this certainly would be right there with them," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "Whether this is the toughest or not, I don't know. It's tough when you have opportunities and you don't take advantage of them."

Opportunities -- there were plenty of those. An inspired performance by the Lions' defense, its best of the season, saw to that. But a never-ending stream of futility on offense overshadowed a stellar defensive effort in Penn State's fourth straight loss this season and fifth straight to the Hawkeyes (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten).

It's difficult to even decide where to begin. The six total first downs, lowest ever under Paterno. Quarterback Zack Mills completing just seven of 19 passes before leaving the game after taking a head-on hit from Hawkeyes linebacker George Lewis. His understudy Michael Robinson had as many interceptions (two) as he did completions.

"I stunk the place up," Robinson said. "I didn't make good reads, I didn't make good passes. What more can I say?"

Robbie Gould missed two field goals -- a 51-yarder that wasn't terribly close and a 25-yarder that he pushed left.

"I just missed them," Gould said. "That's all me. No one else did a bad job. Everyone else did their job and I didn't do mine. That's how I'm going to leave it."

Iowa needed only two 27-yard Kyle Schlicher field goals in the first half to leave Happy Valley with a victory. The Hawkeyes gift-wrapped two safeties as a reward to a Lions defense that thoroughly dominated them throughout the game.

The first came not two minutes into the game when a snap went over punter David Bradley's head and through the end zone.

The final insult, though, came from the Iowa sidelines. Leading 6-2 with eight minutes remaining, Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz elected to have Bradley intentionally take a safety on fourth down at his own 1. The surrender put the Lions (2-5, 0-4) in position to win the game with just a field goal.

"The decision is pretty obvious," Ferentz said. "If you guys were at the game, it was pretty obvious. Typically if you punt on the 1-yard line it's almost a guaranteed three for the other team and in this kind of game we sure as heck didn't want to give them three points. I'd rather give the safety and then play field position, ride our defense and that was a pretty good thing to do today."

Paterno expounded on the call, saying it was a gamble. But since his offense wasn't going anywhere and Gould had already missed two kicks, Paterno theorized, "in the back of their mind, they don't have to worry about a field goal."

Iowa's offense was almost equally dreadful, finishing with just 168 yards of total offense. Sophomore quarterback Drew Tate was 14 of 31 for 126 yards and an interception, a week removed from his dismantling of Ohio State.

The Penn State defense did everything but take the ball into the end zone itself, but the offense couldn't manage a single point.

"When you're frustrated, you're frustrated," center E.Z. Smith said. "It's just hard really to put into words right now."

Not words, but numbers. 6-4 said it all too eloquently.