Hot spots leave the Hawkeyes feeling burned

Iowa State quarterback Steele Jantz (2, right) leaps away from Iowa's Tyler Nielsen (45, back) and Shaun Prater (28) in the second quarter of their game at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2011, in Ames. (Liz Martin/SourceMedia Group News)

(Now with PDF box score and cumulative PDF.)

AMES -- Sweaty shirt, matted hair and the sharp after-loss eyes, Kirk Ferentz mentioned "hot spots."

The hot spots have nothing to do with the sunny, steamy mosh pit that engulfed Jack Trice Stadium around 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon. The Cyclones and their fans tore the Cy-Hawk Trophy in two after Iowa State's absolutely thrilling and brilliant 44-41 three-overtime victory over the Hawkeyes.

ISU quarterback Steele Jantz whirled and dervished his way into Iowa State-Iowa lore with four touchdown passes and more great escapes than David Blaine. Jantz is now the Lafaster Rhodes, the Cyclones basketball player who dropped 54 on the Hawkeyes in a 102-100 ISU victory in 1987, of Iowa State football.

OK, he's the Lafester Rhodes who's not the Seneca Wallace of Iowa State vs. Iowa football.

Jantz's performance was that singular, that memorable.

“Some guys rise up when the spotlight is the brightest,” Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads said. “. . . When the game was on the line, he played spectacular.”

There are hot spots in victory (Jantz) and there are hot spots in defeat. Ferentz sees hot spots across the board for the Hawkeyes (1-1), who play host to Big East Conference foe Pittsburgh (2-0), which struggled to beat FCS Maine on Saturday, 35-29.

"We've got hot spots in all three phases right now," Ferentz said. "Until we get those things cleaned up and corrected, it's going to be tough to be successful against a good team."

With offense, it might be as simple as consistency. This concept conveniently spreads the blame, but that doesn't make it any less true.

Quarterback James Vandenberg missed a few throws. He said he did. After ISU took a 17-16 lead in the second half, he floated a pass over wide receiver Marvin McNutt's head. The drive still ended in a touchdown, but the throw and a few others hung in the front of Vandenberg's mind.

"We need to clean up some little mistakes," said Vandenberg, who completed 16 of 28 for 207 yards and two TDs. "In the run game, letting guys come untouched. There were plenty of throws out there that I could've made, but the key was we kept bouncing back and gave ourselves a chance to win. We just came up a little short."

Either Iowa's pass protection had struggles or Iowa State's secondary locked down Iowa's receivers. Probably a little of both. Vandenberg had seven rushes Saturday. Only one was called.

Wide receiver Keenan Davis had a breakout afternoon, five catches for 95 yards and a 23-yard TD. But he also had a drop in the third OT that forced Iowa to kick a field goal.

Sophomore running back Marcus Coker carried a massive load for the Hawkeyes, with 35 carries for 140 yards and two TDs, but he also fumbled after a near-perfect hit from ISU corner Leonard Johnson. The Cyclones turned that into seven points.

Defensively, the mantra was contain. Jantz consistently broke contain and extended plays until he found what he was looking for. Iowa's defense is built on the concept of leverage, a team concept where every defender strives to force everything inside.

Jantz made a living on the outside and took advantage of the vulnerabilities that came with that. That is where "bend don't break" was shattered. The six touchdowns Iowa allowed were the most since a 45-33 loss at Indiana in 2000. Granted, OT touchdowns are three-quarters of the way there, but still, they count as touchdowns.

"We have to correct the correctables and try to get better," defensive end Broderick Binns said.

Mike Meyer isn't a special teams hot spot. The sophomore has made 6 of 6 field goals in two games this year, including a career-long 50-yarder Saturday. He's made 20 of 23 in two seasons for the Hawkeyes.

You know the special teams hot spots, spots as in the plural. The Cyclones averaged 31.8 yards on five kick returns and 12.0 yards on two punt returns. For the second year, Iowa has youth and inexperience in these units. The middle of the field was where Iowa State attacked.

"I thought last week the guys ran down hard after seeing film," said Ferentz, referring to kick coverage, in which Iowa now ranks 103 out of the nation's 120 FBS teams. "Not sure they weren't today, but we're not playing smart enough."

This is Tyler Sash, you might remember him. He'll play for the Giants today.

At about 3:00, he describes the concept of leverage. Suggested view here.

Iowa 02

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