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A Penn State Nittany Lions win in the 2009 BCS Championship would pay out $3300 for every $100 bet at Sports Interaction
The Nittany Lions' first defeat of what had been a dominant season, 24-23 to the Hawkeyes in Kinnick Stadium, was the combined result of some inconsistent and mistake-filled play by both units.
Quarterback Daryll Clark struggled to find his receivers on a windy night, and the Nittany Lions' rushing attack mustered just 42 second-half yards after 138 in the first half, when Penn State enjoyed a 17-minute time-of-possession advantage.
The defense couldn't get inconsistent Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi off the field in the second half and the special teams-and some poor offensive play-calling-gave Iowa great field position all night.
"When you look at the tape, you're gonna see some missed assignments here, you're gonna see a lot of different things," Penn State center A.Q. Shipley said. "And you've got to give credit to them, too. They're a great defensive football team, and they came through when they needed to on offense."
Nine years ago, the 9-0 Nittany Lions were beaten 24-23 in Beaver Stadium by Minnesota on a 32-yard field goal by Dan Nystrom with two seconds remaining. That loss would be the first of three straight to close the regular season. This Penn State team wants to avoid a similar fate.
"We've really got to focus on the next game, and not let one (loss) turn into two, or two turn into three," said wide receiver Derrick Williams. "Obviously, a lot of guys are upset, sad. We've played a flawless season this year, done everything that everybody wanted us to do. But we got beat today by a good Iowa team."
It probably won't happen again, at least not this coming weekend.
The Nittany Lions were listed as a huge -34 ½ favorite against a 3-7 Indiana team. Penn State has won the last 10 in this series dating back to 1998. At home, Penn State has beaten Indiana by no less than 14 points over that stretch.
Penn State has great value heading into this weekend as far as future bets go and potential future payouts as well.
Sports Interaction is giving away a 15 percent cash bonus to anyone who opens a new sports betting account with Canada's first online sportsbook.
Mary Montgomery, Gambling911.com
