Beathard back at practice, hoping for 100 percent by Saturday

IOWA CITY — You can't become a QB without having a plan and, for the most part, sticking to that plan.

Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard knew a torrent of health questions was coming his way Tuesday. The last you saw the junior he limped his way toward the sideline in the fourth quarter of No. 11 Iowa's victory at Northwestern.

The official actually called for an injury timeout because Beathard moved so slowly.

After the bye week, Beathard had a story and kept it straight going into this weekend's matchup with Maryland (2-5, 0-3 Big Ten).

'I think I'm a lot healthier,' Beathard said. 'I was hurting after the Northwestern game. Luckily, we were up enough to where I didn't have to finish the game. That bye was nice to get some rehab and treatment and all of that stuff. It was nice to get of your feet and kind of rest it.

'I think by Saturday I should be pretty good.'

Beathard suffered a hip injury in week 3 against Pitt. Then, against Illinois on Oct. 10, he pretty much shut down in the second half — generating just 6 yards total offense — while senior running back Jordan Canzeri finished off a 29-20 victory with a school record 43 carries.

In the week leading up to the Northwestern game, Beathard didn't practice. You saw Northwestern. He grimaced during a sideline scramble in the first quarter, but he hung in, completed 15 of 25 passes for 176 yards and an interception and rode the wave of a rush offense that produced 294 yards.

'It's something in my leg up in my hip area,' Beathard said.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz told TV at some point that day Beathard was around 50 percent.

'Yeah, I didn't practice much that week,' Beathard said. 'Running the ball was tough, that's what hurt it the most. It was tough to be 100 percent running the ball. When you realize that, it's kind of tough to get out of the pocket and do the things you want to do. I had to realize that and check it down when I had to.'

During the bye, Beathard visited trainers twice a day over the weekend. That and time has helped.

'I continue to get better each and every day,' Beathard said. 'Compared to after the Northwestern game, I feel a lot better. I don't think it's 100 percent yet, but hopefully by Saturday, it'll be up there at 100 percent.'

The bye week has at least afforded him this: Beathard is back out on the field and practicing. So, there's some measurable progress.

'He's been working,' Ferentz said. 'We gave him a majority of last week off, which was good for him and a couple of other guys in that same category. He's been working and he's throwing the ball well.'

A tougher question is whether or not this will linger? Beathard couldn't answer that.

'I felt a little bit slower,' Beathard said of the Northwestern game. 'It was hard to run and do some stuff that I'm comfortable doing. It's kind of frustrating. When I need to make play, I'm still going to make plays, it just might be a little slower than normal.

'There are certain things that bother it, but running and, sometimes, dropping back. Different things hit it a little bit differently and it feels a little bit different.'

Beathard didn't take a pain-blocking injection before the Northwestern game. He credited getting to the field that day to Iowa's training and medical staff.

You probably noticed Iowa (7-0, 3-0) didn't run a lot of its staple play-action bootlegs against Northwestern. That was about Beathard preservation.

How much Iowa tries it this weekend against Maryland will probably be a pretty good gauge for Beathard's health.

'I probably won't be thinking of that during the game, 'Oh, it's a boot, I want to see how my leg feels,'' Beathard said. 'I guess we'll see after it's called, but I should be fine.'

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