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Penn State vs. Iowa 2012: Nittany Lions put together impressive performance

The Penn St. Nittany Lions football program put together a solid performance on Saturday, defeating host Iowa Hawkeyes, 38-14, in a Big Ten Conference game. The Nittany Lions (5-2, 3-0 Big Ten) used a 103-yard, three-touchdown performance from sophomore running back Bill Belton to remain unbeaten in league play. Quarterback Matt McGloin finished 26-for-38 with 289 passing yards and two touchdowns and no interceptions.

The victory was Penn State's fifth straight, however, according to the SB Nation blog Black Shoes Diaries the Nittany Lions could have won by more.

While you revel in a 38-14 win, I'll be annoyed it wasn't 52-7.

The settle-for-nothing-more-than-perfection attitude comes from Nittany Lions head coach Bill O'Brien, who wasn't pleased with his team's first-half performance, despite being ahead 24-0.

When he was interviewed coming out of the tunnel at halftime, O'Brien told the Big Ten Network sideline reporter that he considered it 0-0, that Penn State had left too many points on the board. He wasn't resting on the 24-0 lead his team had built up in the first half. He, like me, knew it should have been more.

To read Black Shoes' full recap of Saturday's game click here.

Penn State's next game will be Saturday against the visiting Ohio State Buckeyes. The contest is schedule to start at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Photographs by dizfunk used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.