Daryll Clark had never been here before.

The Penn State quarterback never remembered feeling this bad, standing in front of reporters, more than 750 miles from home, accepting all of the blame for his team's upset loss to Iowa.

As Clark boarded Penn State's plane with the rest of his dejected teammates, his phone lit up. It was a glimmer of reassurance in the form of text message from someone who knew how terrible Clark was feeling.

"Call me as soon as you get the chance to talk," the message from Michael Robinson read.

As soon as Penn State's plane landed, Clark phoned his friend and former teammate Robinson, who watched on TV as Clark's errant fourth-quarter pass was picked off by an Iowa defender. The play gave Iowa the ball back with 3 minutes and 35 seconds to play and the Hawkeyes used the time to put Penn State's national championship hopes on life support.

Robinson's words of encouragement were to the point, after all, he told Clark, he'd been in his shoes before.

"I just bascially told him, 'Man, that's part of the game. Things are gonna happen,' " Robinson said Tuesday night. " 'They're other plays in that game that could have won or lost the game. You can't just look at the interception at the end.' "

When Clark talked to reporters Tuesday morning, he was quieter than normal and described his state of being after his faulty pass, as the "worst" he's ever felt, but said talking to his parents, his position coach Jay Paterno and Robinson made him feel better.

Robinson urged Clark to forget his poor outing and concentrate on playing better in practice. Robinson spoke from experience.

"I told him about when we played Iowa in 2004," Robinson said. "I was playing wide receiver back then and Zack [Mills] got hurt. We lost that game, 6-4, and I threw an interception inside the [15] yard line driving to win the game and I fumbled on the next drive."

Robinson was involved in a heartbreaking loss that Clark was more familiar with -- the 2005 Michigan game, when Penn State allowed a last second touchdown that ruined its undefeated season.

Clark has traded calls with Robinson all season, with the former Penn State quarterback offering guidance and tutelage to Clark in the middle of his own NFL season.

Robinson offered what could be his most important advice yet when Clark responded to his message. Robinson told Clark to simply forget the loss. Forget the BCS. Focus on Indiana.

"Daryll'll be fine," Robinson said. "He's making the right reads, he's doing the right things. Sometimes quarterbacks just go through a little bit of a slump."

Paterno had other advice, Clark said. Paterno told Clark his teammates would look to him for leadership, so it was imperative that he put the loss behind him.

Clark's teleconference with reporters lasted just over twenty minutes. The longer the quarterback talked, the more confident and upbeat he sounded.

"I haven't played well these past two games and I guess I've gotta do a little soul searching," Clark said. "You're going to get pressure sometimes. You're going to have to step up and make the plays happen. I haven't been able to do that and I've criticized myself the most for it.

"I'm going back to the drawing board. I'm going over everything I have to go over for this week so that I'm extra ready. Hopefully everything will change up."