Penn State had been reeling before coming to Kinnick Stadium after firing its head coach, James Franklin.
The Nittany Lions are in the midst of a three-game losing streak coming in, and the Hawkeyes had an emotional win over Wisconsin last weekend.
In typical Iowa fashion lately, Mark Gronowski tossed an interception on Iowa's first offensive drive, and it all went downhill from there.
The Hawkeyes gained only 119 total yards in the first half and were gifted a touchdown by the Iowa defense after an interception by Xavier Nwankpa.
The Hawkeyes have also only converted one of six third-down conversion attempts, as Gronowski clearly does not look healthy.
He did briefly enter the blue tent in the first quarter, but quickly emerged and played the rest of the half.
Gornowski only completed eight of 14 pass attempts for a woeful 51 yards as the offense continues to struggle moving the ball.
The Iowa defense is fired up, only allowing 98 total yards and forcing two interceptions, but the worst part of the first half was the horrendous call by Head Coach Kirk Ferentz at the end of the first half.
He sent kicker Drew Stevens out for a 66-yard field attempt, and after he was well short on his attempt after a timeout was called, he still sent him back out for the attempt.
The field goal was blocked, and Penn State took it back for a touchdown, killing any momentum the Hawkeyes had heading into halftime.
If the Hawkeyes do not get it together in the second half, Penn State will win this game, and you can directly point to the lack of execution on offense and special teams as the cause.
Halftime score: Iowa 10, Penn State 14