Audlehelm, Donatell are their names

IOWA CITY -- Special teams coaches Lester Erb and Darrell Wilson rifled through the couch cushions of the roster to try to come up with a solution on kick coverage.

They found Joe Audlehelm and Tom Donatell.

Audelhelm is a 5-foot-8, 182-pound senior from Van Wert. He might never had played a down before making a tackle on Iowa's penultimate kickoff Saturday, though he did make the trip to Iowa State last week.

"He traveled not because he's going to play receiver, but because of the way he works in practice," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. "I really like his attitude. He's a guy who appreciates getting on the field and he made the most of his opportunity today. Hopefully, he'll be hard to knock out of the lineup."

Yes, it was one tackle at Pitt's 20, but after last week's kick coverage debacle at Iowa State, it was a sign of life from the 103rd-ranked kickoff team in the country, allowing 26.5 yards a return. Saturday, the averaged dipped to 19.8 yards.

The biggie happened on Iowa's next kickoff.

Donatell is a fifth-year senior walk-on. He's moved from quarterback to safety to linebacker during his career. He was listed as No. 2 outside linebacker, but watched as sophomore Anthony Hitchens replaced injured senior Tyler Nielsen, who left in the first quarter because of the aftereffects of a sprained ankle suffered last week.

Donatell crashed through the blocking and tripped up Corey Brown at Pitt's 9. That's where Pitt was forced to set up shop for it's last-gasp drive while trailing 31-27 with 2:46 left.

"We'll find a seat for anyone who can cover a kick," Ferentz said. "Someone else might get bumped off, but I'll take a car and I'll drive."