An inexperienced kicker lined up for a last-second kick to derail Penn State's national championship dreams.

The Nittany Lions were 9-0 with only three more hurdles to clear before finishing the regular season unbeaten and securing a spot in the national championship game.

A kicker got in the way.

Penn State lost, 24-23, after the defense squandered a late lead.

Several seniors sprawled out on the field, tears welling in their eyes as the realization of playing for No. 1 was likely over.

"I just feel sorry for these kids, for the seniors who don't have a chance to do what they wanted to do," Joe Paterno said. "But we can still have a great season."

The mood could reflect the one in Iowa City, Iowa, on Saturday evening.

Instead, it reflects the one in University Park on a Saturday afternoon nine years ago.

The similarities are eerie. On Nov. 6, 1999, Penn State's bid to play in a national championship died at the hands -- or feet -- of Dan Nystrom, Minnesota's freshman kicker who made a 32-yard field goal with two seconds remaining.

Move the date ahead nine years and two days to Nov. 8, 2008. Change the name to Daniel Murray, his class to sophomore and his school to Iowa.

Take a yard off the field goal and a second off the clock.

Keep the score, the 9-0 start and the championship hopes being dashed.

Penn State has been here before, and nobody wants to go back.

Perfect start, imperfect finish

Set the scene back to 1999.

Penn State hosted Minnesota in a Homecoming game, and the Nittany Lions were ranked No. 2 in the country.

Home games against Minnesota and Michigan and a road trip to Michigan State closed the regular season. Win those three games, and Penn State plays for the national championship in the Sugar Bowl.

Penn State led, 23-21, with about two minutes remaining, and victory was within reach after moving the ball to Minnesota's 33-yard line. Then Paterno, who was coaching his 400th career game that windy afternoon, said he made a mistake.

The Lions faced a fourth-and-10 and had reliable kicker Travis Forney waiting in the wings. Forney had already made three field goals, two from 44 yards.

A field goal forces Minnesota to drive the field for a touchdown.

Instead, Paterno decided to punt, and the ball landed in the end zone for a touchback.

"I never thought twice about it," Paterno said after the game. "I just figured they were not going to be able to go the distance on us. I just didn't think they could."

The Gophers took over at their own 20-yard line and converted a fourth-and-16 desperation Hail Mary from Penn State's 40 that moved the ball to the 13-yard line.

Nystrom later sent 96,753 fans home disconsolate. Some sat stunned in the stands at Beaver Stadium, awaiting a comeback that never came.

"You can hear your heart beat in there," star linebacker LaVar Arrington said after the game, describing the locker room. "It's not the best atmosphere, no doubt."

Penn State lost the next two games and limped to the Alamo Bowl. If Penn State beat Michigan and Michigan State, the Lions would have met Stanford in the Rose Bowl.

Arrington, selected No. 2 overall by the Washington Redskins, and defensive end Courtney Brown, the first overall pick, never could regroup and unify the team.

Paterno was critical during his bye week press conference but didn't name names.

"We had a couple guys that I felt kind of let the rest of the football team down," he said. "And I won't get into names -- guys who were going to be high draft picks and all that kind of stuff, and maybe lost sight of the fact that it was not a question of the team. It was a question of what might happen to them."

Paterno again referenced Arrington and Brown on Tuesday.

"The people that played were used to doing a lot of big-time things and big-time players and I'm not sure what happened, whether they got distracted by agents calling and all those kinds of things that happened," Paterno said. "I don't know, and it would be unfair for me to say it was that or what."

Perfect start, undetermined finish

Circumstances swirling around Iowa's win Saturday are all too fresh. Quarterback Ricky Stanzi marches the Hawkeyes into field goal position after a contested pass interference call on Anthony Scirrotto, and Murray kicks a 31-yarder with one second left for an unexpected 24-23 Iowa win.

Jay Paterno insists the similarities between the 1999 team and the 2008 team end there.

"We gotta make sure we don't have what happened in '99," he said after the game. "We got a game just like this with Minnesota, and the next thing you know, we lose three in a row. That's not going to happen with this team. We're not going to let it happen. They're not going to let it happen."

Penn State is turning to another year that ended in heartbreak as a reference point.

Michigan beat Penn State in 2005 on a late touchdown that foiled the Lions' Bowl Championship Series championship game possibilities, and a number of current seniors will draw on that experience for guidance.

Penn State was 6-0 before the loss, then won its final four regular season games and beat Florida State in the Orange Bowl as the co-Big Ten champion.

"When we came to practice the next week [after the loss], it was all about Illinois," former quarterback Michael Robinson said.

"We can't talk about Michigan. That game is over. We can't control what happens in the BCS. We've got to take care of what we can take care of. That's the only way you move on from it."

Wide receivers Deon Butler, Jordan Norwood and Derrick Williams all contributed to varying degrees that year, and so did safety Anthony Scirrotto and cornerback Lydell Sargeant.

They moped Saturday and Sunday after their last shot at a national championship ended.

Monday was back to business.

"There were guys like Michael Robinson, Levi Brown, other upperclassmen that year that were kind of picking everybody up, saying there's more football to be played, still things on the table for us to go after," Norwood said. "That's kind of the role we're taking as seniors on this football team as far as this week in practice."

It was Illinois in 2005.

It is Indiana this year.

Tackle Gerald Cadogan called the captains Sunday to encourage the team to refocus and not avoid a collapse like the 1999 team.

Cadogan, and the rest of the senior class, could become the first group in school history to win two Big Ten titles.

All that needs to happen for the Lions to play in their first Rose Bowl since 1995 is Penn State beating Indiana and Michigan State.

"It would be foolish to say you'd be unsatisfied with a Big Ten title," linebacker Tyrell Sales said. "We set out at the beginning of the year to win a national championship, and winning a Big Ten championship was part of that. We'd be very grateful to put ourselves in position to win a Big Ten championship."

Defensive tackle Jared Odrick said after the Iowa loss "it's not the end of the world."

The 1999 team acted as though the Minnesota loss was the end of the world by finishing with a "real flop," as Paterno said.

The 2008 team sees today as a new beginning.

"It's 2008 now," center A.Q. Shipley said. "We're not thinking about 10 years ago. We don't want to focus on their stretch at the end of the season.

"Our goal is to keep everybody focused and avoid the collapse."