The Big Analysis -- Pittsburgh

When the Hawkeyes have the ball

Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Keith Patterson shares a town with the Steelers. The man who holds his job for the Steelers is Dick LeBeau. He's a Hall of Fame players who has been the Steelers defensive coordinator when the team was molten.

Patterson installed a 3-4 defense similar to the Steelers. Pitt will snow different looks, presnap movement and throw in zone blitzes to disrupt and try to create turnovers. Patterson had several opportunities in the offseason to talk football with LeBeau and that can only be a good thing.

Still, it's a new defense at Pitt and the Panthers are still trying to nail it down. In their 35-29 victory against Maine, the Black Bears had three drives that went for 10 or more plays and a touchdown and the other was a two-play drive which included a 42-yard pass play. First-year coach Todd Graham said he believes that the defense simply stopped playing.

In the opener, Buffalo used a short passing-game to move the ball. Buffalo scored two touchdowns in the second half and should've scored a third. The Bulls had 284 of their 406 total yards in the second half. This is a new scheme being played with new players. It's an aggressive style that might have a few Panthers thinking more than playing right now.

The Hawkeyes are searching for consistency. Quarterback James Vandenberg remains a strength, but he completed just six passes in the first half last week. He admitted to missing throws and showed some happy feet at times. That wasn't the only kink in Iowa's passing game. Receivers dropped three passes last week and now have nine drops this season.

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said this week he'd like to ID a running mate for running back Marcus Coker, who carried a career-high 35 times last week. Who that would be is up for grabs. It was no one last week. Junior Jason White is the stated No. 2, but even he doesn't know if that's accurate.

Advantage: Iowa

When the Panthers have the ball

Todd Graham is wearing the blue and gold of Pitt because of what his offenses did while he was head coach at Tulsa. The Golden Hurricanes twice led the nation in total offense under Graham (2007-08). Last season, Graham's Tulsa team rolled up 505.6 yards per game to rank fifth nationally and averaged 41.4 points to rank sixth.

Some things in life come with subterfuge. Graham being at Pitt because of offense is not one of them.

Tempo is a giant part of Graham's offense. It goes no-huddle, something the Hawkeyes haven't dealt well with the last two seasons. When he was hired in January, Graham made a point to declare that his offense isn't a spread.

He said it's a collection of several different schemes that utilizes fullbacks, tight ends and has two running backs on the field "about 70 percent of the plays."

"It is a very unique and innovative approach," Graham said. "I told you we were going to be a physical football team and I don't know how you can be a physical football team without having fullbacks and tight ends. We're going to be a run, play-action football team."

Still, Graham's offensive coordinator is Calvin Magee, who was Rich Rodriguez's OC at West Virginia and Michigan. Graham also worked under Rodriguez at West Virginia.

However Pitt tries to move the ball today, there is a degree of newness that has things sort of hamstrung right now, especially at quarterback. Tino Sunseri has completed 37  of 63 passes for 403 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, and a 111.4 quarterback rating, which ranks next-to-last in the Big East.

Good thing for Ray Graham, Pitt's 5-9, 195-pound running back who leads the nation with 161.0 yards through the Panthers' first two games. He's an aggressive runner with fight. Pitts O-line clearly leans run blocking, having given up nine sacks in two games.

The debate rages on with the Iowa defense. Yes, it allowed a respectable 24 points in regulation last week at Iowa State, but the Cyclones scored TDs on five of its final six drives. Iowa jumped on three fumbles, but ISU missed two field goals. ISU's 90 plays were inflated by the triple OT, but it was the most against the Hawkeyes since a double-OT victory over Michigan State in 2007 (96 plays).

ISU QB Steele Jantz wasn't contained and was barely hassled. He excelled at extending plays until something Cyclone happened. The keyword this week and moving forward into the teeth of a schedule full of dual-threat quarterbacks is contain. There is no magic personnel acquisition on the way, either.

Is Iowa's D-line built to play physical, "two gap" scheme, which requires physically dominating O-linemen and pushing them into running lanes? Do the D-ends have the range to keep leverage on speedy QBs? They are going to have to be.

Against no-huddle offenses, the Hawkeyes have to get off the field. Third-down defense is atrocious. The Hawkeyes are 115th in the nation with 56.76 percent. That's a losing stat. Every game.

Advantage: Pittsburgh

Special teams

Iowa's specialists are fine. Sophomore Mike Meyer earned a national honor for his four field goals, including a career-best 50-yarder, against ISU. Senior Eric Guthrie had one punt he wanted back, one from the shadows of Iowa's goalpost, but he finished the day with a 46.8-yard average on four punts.

From there, it all went downhill for Iowa's special teams. Iowa State ran middle return on kickoffs. Iowa's gunners or stingers never got to the ball and the Cyclones averaged 31.8 yards a kick return,  it made for a deadly combo with a defense that couldn't get off the field.

This is the second year of mega-struggle for kick coverage. That more than anything else is telltale of an unhealthy roster, one with 11 walk-ons or former walk-ons in this week's two deep.

Ronald Jones (10.8 yards a punt return) and Buddy Jackson (37.5 yards on two returns) are doers in Pitt's return game. Kicker Kevin Harper is just (2 of 5). Sunseri has three punts (must be pooch) for a 25.7 average.

Advantage: Pittsburgh

The Scoreboard

Pitt's offense short circuits the Panthers' case. The nine sacks allowed so far this season is next-to-last in the country. Sunseri is going to need to make plays to give Ray Graham some help. Pitt's defense has some interesting talent. End Robert Lindsey is off to the races with two sacks already this season.

It's week 3, so you have to be very careful with the term "must win." If you throw that out there and Iowa loses, um, yeah, still nine games left. But shrink the season to just the month of September and there's no question this game is weighty. Iowa had a scrimmage with Tennessee Tech. It failed the big road test of the first month at Ames last week. Now, here's Pitt from the Big East Conference, one last weighty test before Louisiana-Monroe, an off week and then the start of the Big Ten season in Happy Valley.

You'll often hear Ferentz say, "If we want a chance to have a good season . . ." Well that, today.

Iowa 34, Pitt 27