Hlas: Hawkeyes use aggressive thinking in aggressive thumping

IOWA CITY — The response from Kinnick Stadium's fans was as warm as the sun-heated aluminum seats they occupied.

Iowa kicker Marshall Koehn had rushed for eight yards on a fake field goal in the second quarter Saturday, and Hawkeye supporters cheered as he trotted off the field.

But here's the rub: It was on a fourth-and-10 from the Illinois State 30, so the ball was turned over to the Redbirds on downs. Yet, those fans didn't care. They saw aggressiveness, they liked it, and they let their team know it.

'It probably won't be as popular next time it doesn't work,' Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. 'I'm just going to go out on a ledge and take a shot at that one.'

Well, no. Of course, it helped that the fans had already seen their guys emphatically build a 14-0 lead off their first two possessions of the season. They liked it, and let their team know it.

The crowd was smaller than normal here at 59,450, but no one who wore gold here didn't appreciate the way Iowa dominated, mentally and physically. The score of the Hawkeyes' 31-14 victory doesn't reflect the control they had on this contest from the start.

The physicality and execution Iowa employed to master the Redbirds on both sides of the ball would have been a good enough way to open the season. What wasn't to like, who wasn't to like? Pick a Hawkeye, any Hawkeye.

VIDEO: Iowa players react to season-opening win

But a fake field goal? Kicker Nate Kaeding scored off one for Iowa in 2003 at Ohio State. 'Twas long ago.

Exotics in the history of Ferentz's program have been unusual, foreign ... exotic. In fact, the description of a trick play as an exotic went into retirement at Iowa late last century with Hayden Fry, who was present here Saturday and probably giggled when he saw Koehn almost squeeze out that first down.

The field goal that wasn't came two possessions after Iowa went for a first down on fourth-and-2 at the Redbirds' 14 and got it, then punched the ball in the end zone to cap its opening drive.

Who was disguised as Ferentz, and what had that scoundrel done with the cautious, predictable coach we've known for so long? Well, Iowa did go for first downs — declining a few field goal tries in the process — 23 times on fourth down last season in a surprising development.

However, this was the off-season in which the program's philosophy was challenged and perhaps changed.

Maybe necessity was the mother of invention. Ferentz commissioned a think tank last winter. His words, not mine.

'We kind of shifted our thinking a little bit last year about four-down situations,' Ferentz said. 'We talk weekly, and then certainly before the game about what our parameters are going to be and what our thought-process would be based on down-and-distance. Also, the score of the game.

'But after recruiting finished (last winter), we tried to go through everything as thoroughly as we possibly could, and I think that's probably the creation out of that think tank a little bit.'

What a week. Iowa hired a president from outside academia, and its football coach said he had convened a think tank.

Anyway, there was a still a question that remained unanswered. Why wasn't C.J. Beathard the starting quarterback last season?

The people's choice didn't become the coach's choice until immediately after last season ended. Watching Beathard confidently and effectively zip the ball around and use his size and athleticism to pick up two rushing touchdowns and three first downs in short-yardage situations made you wonder why this guy wasn't starting ahead of Jake Rudock last season.

But last year is last year, and maybe it's just as well Beathard's arm and legs were saved for this season and next.

Meanwhile, the narrative of the state of Hawkeye football won't change with a win over a good FCS program. But on this day, everything sure felt different around here. Better. Warmer.

Comments: mike.hlas@thegazette.com

Twitter: @Hlas

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