Good kind of turnover

IOWA CITY -- All the newbies in the defensive backfield Saturday were told about the changes before Tuesday's practice.

In the wake of 473 yards and 44 points at Iowa State, the changes were decisive. The secondary was far from perfect in Saturday's 31-27 victory over Pittsburgh, but the decisive changes feel permanent.

Junior Micah Hyde was the offseason project. He picked off four passes four passes at cornerback last season, but with the early NFL departure of Tyler Sash, Iowa needed him at safety.

He went back to corner Saturday, replacing junior Greg Castillo, and picked off two passes, including the game-sealer-upper with 1:41 left.

"We shuffle in and out in practice," Hyde said. "We have a lot of guys who can mix it up. I play free safety and corner. We do it everyday in practice, so it's not a big deal."

The turnover didn't stop with Hyde. Sophomore Tanner Miller replaced Hyde at free safety and made his first career start. Senior Jordan Bernstine, who missed the Iowa State game with an illness, replaced junior Collin Sleeper at strong safety.

This all kind of worked.

Miller made seven tackles, had a tackle for loss and forced a fumble. It was his first start and it was far from perfect. He said he was late with help on quarterback Tino Sunseri's 66-yard TD pass to Devin Street. Sunseri lofted it over corner Shaun Prater's head and in front of Miller. It was the longest TD pass against Iowa since a 79-yarder at Penn State in '09.

"We were in cover 2 there, the quarterback made a great fake and I think we both stepped up a little bit," Miller said. "I was supposed to roll over the top on that. It's one play, after that you put it out of your mind and go after the next play."

Bernstine was a major spark. He was aggressive and physical on run support. The fifth-year senior had eight tackles and two tackles for loss.

"Jordan Bernstine brought a lot of passion and energy and that kept us going," Prater said. "Bernstine has waited a long, long time for this. He finally got a shot and kept his foot on the gas."

The one change up front paid immediate divends. Sophomore Dominic Alvis sacked Sunseri and caused a fumble on Pitt's first drive. He moved from tackle back to end, where he began his career. Senior Thomas Nardo took over at tackle.

"They [coaches] thought I would be more comfortable over and they're right," said Alvis, who had one of Iowa's three sacks Saturday. "[D-line coach Rick Kaczenski] Coach K did a great job catching me up to drift with current schemes were running. It was good, and I was more comfortable with it."

Yes, it was good all around for the Iowa defense, which looked more comfortable in just about every aspect.