Iowa 27, Pitt 24: Koehn wins it with 57-yard field goal

IOWA CITY — When this thing ended, everyone's eye black had run like homecoming mascara. The tape jobs were unwound. And Marshall Koehn still might be doing that airplane thing that field goal kickers do.

Koehn made a career-long 57-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Hawkeyes past Pittsburgh, 27-24, before 63,363 fans Saturday night at Kinnick Stadium.

Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi tried to freeze Koehn and the first kick fell well short. The 'freeze' technique only seemed to make Koehn mad. His kick, the second longest in Iowa (3-0) history, made it to the net.

Koehn turned and sprinted one way up the Kinnick turf and then another way and then he reversed and someone ended up crashing down in the opposite end zone in a pile of black and gold jerseys.

You wanted a new Kirk Ferentz. You got a new Kirk Ferentz.

Pitt (2-1) tied the game with 52 seconds left, when QB Nate Peterman hit star wide receiver Tyler Boyd, who caught 10 passes for 131 yards, for an 8-yard TD.

Old Kirk Ferentz probably takes the knee and trots into OT. You wanted a new Kirk Ferentz.

Iowa QB C.J. Beathard, a one-man band Saturday night completing 27 of 40 for 258 yards, scrambled for 12 yards on first down. He scrambled for 8 yards on third down at Pitt's 39. Iowa quickly called the timeout with 2 seconds left.

Freeze technique, it's good in theory.

The Hawkeyes' defense, without star DE Drew Ott most of the night, held Pitt to 227 yards total offense. Iowa now has its chance for its first 4-0 non-conference run since 2009 with North Texas on tap next week at Kinnick.

Maybe Marshall Koehn will have stopped running by then. But probably not.

Beathard and the Hawkeyes were on the edge of the ledge. It was buttered and Pitt was pushing.

OK, Pitt wasn't pushing as much as it was hitting Beathard in the face. Literally. Coming off the Panthers' first-half TD (a 15-yard pass from Nate Peterman to tight end Scott Orndoff) Pittsburgh linebackers Matt Galambos and Nicholas Grigsby ran a twist. Center Austin Blythe picked up Grigsby, but Galambos came on a free run and stuck his helmet under Beathard's chin. The ball flipped free on the turf and linebacker Bam Bradley recovered at Iowa's 1.

The buttered ledge started to crumble and Iowa had its pinky stuck on it.

Replay overturned the play and Iowa pulled itself out of danger. On Pitt's next drive, the Hawkeyes held it to a three-and-out and so it was the offense, run by Beathard whose left hip had been heavily worked on the sidelines after a 9-yard TD run, left to make something work against a wildly aggressive Pitt defense.

On second down, Pitt defensive end Ejuan Price lined up inside and broke free and landed a shot on Beathard, but it came after he zipped an 18-yard bullet to wide receiver Tevaun Smith. And the Hawkeyes were off.

Pitt's blitzing linebackers were eventually frozen with a passing game that attacked the middle of the field. Tight end Henry Krieger Coble caught a 14-yard pass. Wide receiver Matt VandeBerg caught a 7-yard slant. Short pass in flat to Krieger Coble, another slant to VandeBerg and Iowa's buttered ledge suddenly was first-class leather chair in full recline.

Out of a new formation, running back Jordan Canzeri powered 7 yards and then 4 more to finish it and give Iowa a 17-7 halftime lead.

Pitt didn't blink.

The Panthers drove 10 plays and made it 17-10 on the opening drive of the second half with Chris Blewitt's 48-yard field goal.

And then Pitt saw something it really liked in Iowa's punt formation. The Panthers got close to one in the first half. They smothered this one in the third quarter. Defensive back Ryan Lewis was one of the many who arrived at punter Dillon Kidd. Defensive back Pat Amara recovered and returned the ball 25 yards to tie the game 17-17 with 5:51 left in the third.

Pitt was welding some momentum here. Iowa's next drive was snuffed on a third-and-1, with running back LeShun Daniels, who played after sitting out the second half last week with an ankle injury, stoned at the line of scrimmage.

Peterman zipped a 16-yard completion to Boyd on a third-and-10 on the last play of the third quarter, giving Pitt a first down at its 49. The Pitt sideline met the offense on the sideline with that bouncy dance that all excited teams do.

Iowa's defense plugged away all night with its best player extremely limited. Senior defensive end Drew Ott suffered a dislocated elbow last week at Iowa State while jumping into a pile for a loose ball in the first quarter. He played sparingly and mostly in third-down pass situations.

So, without its best player, Iowa's defense stated a strong case as the best unit on the field Saturday night.

King's two interceptions, including one in the end zone that kept Pitt pointless from Iowa's 4-yard line, were the centerpiece. The Hawkeyes' effort against Pitt's rush was the foundation.

On a fourth-and-short from Iowa's 42, Pitt tried a ton of motion, like something you'd see at a German disco, but ended up punting in the end.

Iowa answered with a drive that might've been Beathard's symphony. A 32-yard slant to Jacob Hillyer put the drive in gear. On a second-and-16, Beathard teased Pitt with a 17-yard screen pass to Canzeri, who gave Iowa a 24-17 lead with a 1-yard run with 6:03 left in the game.

Pitt's offense came online and answered. The Panthers converted two fourth downs before Peterman found Boyd for an 8-yard TD with 52 seconds left in the game. Just when you thought it might be safe to hand Iowa's defense the gameball, the Panthers go 75 yards on 13 plays to tie the game with less than a minute left.

For a more detailed breakdown of this game, click here.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com