Huddle, schmuddle

IOWA CITY -- Kirk Ferentz assured the media late Saturday afternoon that his football team will employ the huddle again.

He stuck by that. Really, he did.

"Yeah, at least a couple times a game for sure," Ferentz said.

Maybe that'll be a better question for after today's video review. After falling behind 24-3, the Hawkeyes kicked into no-huddle, two-minute desperation mode and produced the greatest comeback victory in Iowa football history, 31-27 over Pittsburgh on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.

During this stretch, quarterback James Vandenberg completed 17 of 20 for 217 yards and three TDs. Before no huddle, Vandenberg was 14 of 28 for 182 yards, an interception and no TDs. That's a pass efficiency of 97.45. Over the last quarter-plus, Vandenberg's efficiency was 225.64.

Quite simply, no huddle worked. It looked like a genius move, but down 24-3 with just more than 18 minutes left in the game, Iowa's hand was sort of forced.

"We were getting the ball out quick and it was all about putting completions together," said Vandenberg, who finished 31 of 48 for 399 yards, one interception and three TDs. "It was all about making plays and those guys did all day."

The 399 yards are the second-most during the Ferentz era. The 48 attempts are the third most. Vandenberg's 31 completions are the fourth best for a game in Iowa history.

"James is a pretty composed guy," Ferentz said. "He's got his wits together at all times. If he doesn't, he doesn't show it."

The other end of Vandenberg's passes were just as clutch. Only three wide receivers touched the ball, but Keenan Davis, Marvin McNutt and Kevonte Martin-Manley totaled 22 catches for 317 yards and three TDs. After nine drops in the first two games, Iowa didn't have any Saturday.

"We practiced [no huddle] a lot in camp, but we really didn't practice it the last couple weeks," said Davis, who's caught 15 passes for 224 yards and three TDs the last two weeks. "We just know we can do it."

The yin and the yang of this going forward is, yes, desperation drove Iowa's move to the no-huddle Saturday, but Vandenberg's comfort level running it was striking. In other words, it probably won't change Iowa into a no-huddle spread, but it's there and, now, it's proven.

"We're not against being uptempo," Ferentz said. "The other thing, too, up tempo could be three plays and you're out pretty quickly."

It's true. There are T-shirts on Pitt's campus that read "High Octane Football," which is basically an ode to first-year coach Todd Graham's no-huddle offense, which clicked for a play every 12 seconds in the first half Saturday. Sandwiched between Vandenberg's two TD passes to Martin-Manley was a Panthers' drive that lasted three plays and took only 1:57 off the clock.

Iowa took the ball at its 36 with 4:22 left in the game. The Hawkeyes scored the winning points seven plays later.

"That helped us," Ferentz said. "It was nice to look up and still have some clock up there. You have to do what gives you the best chance to win."

But still, Iowa will probably use a huddle again at some point this season.