Stat Pak: Viable Beathard

FIVE BULLET POINTS FROM THE MARYLAND RESULT

1. Beathard is the viable answer

- Remember when Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said very early in the season that his favorite passes are short ones that the receiver takes for a lot of yards? You could make a pretty good argument that's what is keeping defenses honest against quarterback C.J. Beathard.

Ferentz said after yesterday's assignment was completed against Maryland (really, kind of what that was, right?) that you're probably not seeing naked rollouts and play-action moves from Beathard the rest of the season. You watched the ABC broadcast. Clearly, this was spilled in the production meeting. Ferentz said on the pregame radio that Beathard probably won't be right until January.

Iowa made it work against the Terrapins, a defense with a pretty great front seven (second-half adjustments and Iowa throttling down led to dreadful third and fourth quarters for Iowa's offense) and one really big hole at cornerback.

In passes less than 10 yards, Beathard completed 8 of 11 for 99 yards, including 6 of 7 to the left side of the field for 85 yards (that's actually a pretty impressive number and a tribute to Iowa's patience and execution of the WR screen).

In 10-to-20 yarders, Beathard completed 2 of 4 for 34. In 20-plus, he was 2 of 7 for 49 (all four of his 10-plus completions came down the middle - yes, I did a passing chart).

Iowa didn't try any naked boots. It only tried a few play-actions within the pocket. This is probably how Iowa is going to look over the next four games.

Ferentz kind of threw up his hands after the game and said, basically, this will not be difficult for opponents to figure out. And then he threw out some parade candy about the 'game manager” thing. I thought that was a pretty strong statement and I dove for the pavement for the parade candy (might've elbowed a few other kids for the Snickers).

My question was about calling a controlled game for Beathard. Ferentz answered the question straight up.

'You may not see too many of those in the next month or so I'm just guessing, but we'll see,” Ferentz said. 'He's not 100 percent, won't be, so we'll try to be smart about what we do that way, and I'm sure they had that figured out today probably coming into the

game.”

And then the parade candy about 'game manager” and I totally bit on that. (New Kirk!!!! said in Seinfeld voice when he said, 'Newman!!”)

Where I should've gone was how viable is this? This is a huge edit in Iowa's playbook. How will this look?

Well, I think we saw it vs. Maryland. Beathard will throw the ball short (he tried a long one to Matt VandeBerg that would've been a first down if he ladders down to Jacob Hillyer at the sticks; Iowa also kept both TEs in to block at least once for some max protect, something it doesn't often do). Iowa will try to be smart about him taking the intermediate and deep shots (and I think it was smart about that yesterday).

How viable is this? We're going to find out, starting this week at Indiana (Vegas had this at Iowa -7 and then it went down to -6, so this is a thing and the No. 11 team in the country will be on upset alert on a 4-4 team's field, a team that also is winless in the Big Ten).

Beathard is Iowa's guy and he's going to remain Iowa's guy. A lot has been invested. CJB has answered all the questions of poise, athleticism, toughness. A diminished CJB gets the benefit of the doubt. Also, no one in their right mind is going to call for No. 2 Tyler Wiegers. A one-legged CJB is Iowa's best option and has proved to be viable.

Beathard said in postgame that he's 85 to 90 percent. Seriously, he would've said anything to make that question go away (and, really, he could've said anything, who measures these kinds of things in a postgame setting?).

The offense now volleys back from CJB making some magic (Iowa State TD pass to Riley McCarron, running for six first downs vs. Pitt) to the thing that Ferentz has dedicated, pretty much, his life to - the offensive line and the running backs.

2. The Four Deadly Horsemen thing is fun

- Senior Jordan Canzeri floated that one to his underclassmen running back brothers and they unveiled it during last weekend's postgame.

It's a fun thing to see the college kids have fun. What really had to be fun for the group, and for Ferentz, was seeing junior heavy-back LeShun Daniels (I write 'heavy,” the guy is a cut 225 pounds) looking as good as he's looked since week 2 in the first half against Iowa State.

He finished with 60 yards on 13 carries with a TD and a long run of 16 (Iowa's longest against UM). He had burst, was impossible for linebackers to handle one-on-one and snapped arm tackles. That's different from sophomore spider back Akrum Wadley, whose vision, feet and cuts (all on display in his 11-yard TD run vs. UM) make him look a lot different from a lot of Iowa backs in the last . . . well, during the KF era.

The two combined for 127 yards and two TDs on 32 carries, which counts as a day for one running back. Just as Iowa's passing game maybe looking like this the rest of the season, maybe this is how running back will look?

Sophomore Derrick Mitchell is clearly the third-down receiving back. He caught two passes for 24 yards vs. UM. He carried once for a 2-yard TD just before half. He has a role (he also had a couple of solid pass blocks vs. UM).

And then Canzeri. He's perhaps the fastest of the foursome. He might be the most full service of the foursome. He might be given the keys when he returns from his ankle injury.

Options abound here. I seriously roll my eyes at that AIRBHG crap, even though the circumstances bear that out. There are a couple of AIRBHG Twitter accounts that still get giggles out of other's misfortune. I hear from them when you'd think I'd hear from them.

All's quiet right now. (I will say that all four could use a few more paragraphs on the resume, even Canzeri but mostly because he'll be coming back from an ankle.)

3. A second on Iowa's secondary - This group is playing really well right now, huh? Let's run down their Saturday.

- Junior cornerback Desmond King

: He's a star. A lot had to happen to make his 88-yard pick six happen. 1) DT Jaleel Johnson was free running on UM QB Perry Hills (Johnson is 310 pounds). 2) DT Nathan Bazata read the play and threw some color in Hills' vision. 3) MLB Josey Jewell totally read the play, fought through a blocker and affected the primary WR's path.

King read this three steps into the primary WR's route, which was flat and, perhaps, a little too 'screeny” behind the LOS. King read this, kept the receiver in front of him and never took his eyes off Hills' eyes. Hills threw to a spot. His eyes had to have locked on the primary. He clearly had no feel for where King was. King kept his eyes on his eyes. King looked like the primary receiver.

It was his second career pick six and he now leads the nation with seven interceptions.

- Junior cornerback Greg Mabin

: On Maryland's first drive, the Terps had it going. Running back Brandon Ross broke free off the edge and into Iowa territory. Mabin threw his arm across Ross' arms and knocked the ball loose. Iowa recovered and turned it into a 7-0 lead.

It was like this play forced Maryland to remember that it is a team with a turnover problem. The Terps finished with four, two of which turned into Iowa TDs. Mabin also had a pass breakup.

- FS Jordan Lomax

: He picked off a pass in the second half. He had five tackles, a pass breakup and forced a fumble.

He did all of that after it was announced in the press box just seconds before kickoff that Lomax wouldn't start but would be available to play. I asked him after the game. He said he didn't practice much and the plan was to hold out, but he played every down.

- SS Miles Taylor

: I thought he had his best game. He recovered Mabin's forced fumble (along the sideline). He picked off a pass that DE Nate Meier tipped. He also fumbled it, but give the UM tackler some credit, that was a beauty shot (maybe don't spin move in traffic, but hey, Taylor is a safety and not a running back). Taylor also led the Hawkeyes with eight tackles.

This is how a defense overcomes the loss of its top pass rusher. (How viable? Well, we'll find out.)

4. Checking in on penalties

- This is something that I haven't checked or written about all season. I thought maybe against Maryland the Hawkeyes out-penalty'd. They didn't thanks to a late personal foul call on defensive end Yannick Ngakoue. Iowa finished with seven for 53 yards. Two facemasks (Johnson and Jewell) basically delivered the Terps first and only offensive TD. That's mainly why I checked it this week.

The seven penalties were a season high. The season yardage high was against Illinois, which included four major penalties against the secondary.

For the season, Iowa's 44 penalties are tied for fifth in the Big Ten. Iowa is fifth in penalty yardage, avg. penalties per game and avg. penalty yards per game.

So, about average. Base has now been covered.

5. And injuries

- FWIW, the ABC TV crew said groin for Beathard. Last week, Beathard said hip. I've said since I saw him with ice on his left hip and right groin after the Illinois game that it's been groin/hip. I said on Bleacher Report Radio with @KegsnEggs (Adam Kramer) the injury is the 'girdle” area. OK, the most noteworthy thing with Beathard is what Ferentz said and that was he won't be right for the rest of the regular season. (There's an injury that kind of fits in this area, but I'm not going to mention it because I don't know if it's it and I don't want to spend the next 10 hours answering questions, but you can figure it out and draw your own conclusion.)

If you haven't seen the DE Nate Meier video from Saturday night, check it out here. He appeared to injure his left shoulder late in the second half. He conducted interviews with his left arm in a sling. It looked like he got his left arm caught under himself while diving and the shoulder took the brunt. I'd guess separated shoulder. Now, that's just a guess. Those come in degrees and we'll see.

OT Boone Myers (stinger) made it back. RB LeShun Daniels (ankle) made it back. I thought they looked good. (Myers' athleticism is underrated. The guy really gets out on the edge for outside zones and I thought was pretty athletic in the tunnel screens yesterday. He had a false start and a hold. Hey, that's rust.) Daniels, we've covered. Iowa likes what he brings and I think you'll see more and more of it.

Ferentz in his Sunday convo on Canzeri (high ankle vs. Northwestern on Oct. 17: 'With a little luck, maybe we'll get Jordan Canzeri back. Maybe not this week, but we're getting closer. From what I saw today, it looks like he's making some significant progress.”

Ferentz in his Sunday convo on Boetter (high ankle vs. Illinois on Oct. 10): 'I could say the same about Ike Boettger. Those are two guys we're hoping to get back soon.”

Nothing about Meier. He said himself, 'I'll be all right.”

THREE STARS

1. CB Desmond King

- He's kind of become a clutch shooter or a clean-up hitter. Whatever sports cliche you want to insert, King has become a player you expect to make things happen in clutch moments. You know why you expect that? He's done it. The Iowa State punt return. The Iowa State interception. The two interceptions at Pitt. The two interceptions at Wisconsin. And then, of course, Saturday's 88-yard pick six.

King now is tied for the national lead in interceptions (Northern Illinois' Shawun Lurry also has seven). With five games to play, King now sits one off Iowa's interception record of eight held by Nile Kinnick (1939) and Lou King (1981). King's 10 career interceptions tie him for 10th all time.

2. WRs Matt VandeBerg and Tevaun Smith

- These two made Iowa's passing game work as much as CJB did vs. the Terps. VandeBerg caught three passes for 54 yards and almost broke a tunnel screen for a score. Smith caught two passes for 35 yards, including a 21-yarder on Iowa's first scoring drive. He also drew two pass interference penalties that contributed to scoring drives. They are Iowa's WR corps. VandeBerg has 44 receptions (that's 34 percent of Iowa's receptions, BTW). Smith missed two games and still is No. 2 on the team with 270 receiving yards.

3. P Dillon Kidd

- The senior has been steady for the Hawkeyes all season. Saturday, he was quietly effective, with three of his five punts falling inside Maryland's 20. Iowa wanted to avoid kick return specialist William Likely. It did except for that 105-yard kick return (goes down as 100 yards in the NCAA record books). Kidd booted one out of bounds late in the second half. It wasn't a pretty kick, but Ferentz was the first one to greet him and offer a low five-ish kind of handshake thingie. The whole point then was to avoid Likely. Mission accomplished on that particular punt.

FILM ROOM

Speaking of William Likely, that 100-yard kick return with 7:26 left in the game, pulled the Terps back from a 31-7 deficit.

You'd love to pinpoint one thing that Iowa did wrong on this play, but maybe this happened: Maybe Maryland did everything right. It sure looked that way to me.

Iowa ran a pretty straight up lane-based coverage (TV view didn't allow me to see any tricks with gunners, but I don' think there were any). LB Bo Bower lost inside shoulder to a blocker. LB Jack Hockaday lost inside shoulder on a blocker and lane opened down the middle. Maybe safety Brandon Snyder drifted too close to the scrum and lost positioning, but Likely hit that seam up the middle with so much speed, it probably wouldn't have mattered.

Likely was on top of K Marshall Koehn almost before Koehn's right leg was back on the turf from kickoff.

What did Iowa do wrong? Well, everything or nothing. What did Maryland do right? Everything. That and Likely is the best return specialist in the Big Ten.

TWO PLAYS

1. Second-and-6 from Maryland's 11

- This was Wadley's 11-yard TD run. This also showed that Wadley has skills that make him a player that you keep engaged even though he's fumbled.

(BTW, I almost forgot about this OC Greg Davis quote on Wadley: '(Running backs coach) Chris White had been saying for about two weeks now that with LeShun down, he had been kind of beating the table, hey, this guy has really practiced. Everybody can see his ability to jump sideways and make people miss. But everybody can also see that before that, that ball was out way too many times.

'But Chris had really been saying this guy is really practicing well, is really doing a good job. During the course of that time he got hit more than you normally would get a back hit in practice, and so we felt pretty good about it, but it certainly made us feel better that we came out of the ballgame and he had carried it over 20 times and not once was it close to coming out.”)

The play looked like an outside zone. It also looked like it was going to be blown up when OT Cole Croston overran LB No. 23, who pushed upfield and forced Wadley outside. Guard Jordan Walsh had No. 90 locked up and was running with him. That block picked No. 23 just enough. Wadley got super-skinny behind Walsh and the block that fullback Macon Plewa put on No. 37, splitting that hole and getting free to the outside.

There, Wadley planted his foot and split a pair of UM defenders with a block from Hillyer. The getting skinny and the plant and lean, all big-time stuff.

2. Tracking Raider

- Defensive coordinator Phil Parker used the 'raider” package five times and it worked at a high percentage. They went: Meier sack (on a three-man rush), Bower forced a pitch on an option and hustled to make a tackle, a blitz that allowed a 7-yard completion for a first down, a 3-yard pass allowed on a third-and-9 and a delay of game.

Parker also called six blitzes, all kind of different. Jewell got caught up field once and was trapped by a pulling OL. This opened up for a 23-yard run. At the end of the game, with Maryland pinned on its own goal line, Parker ran three consecutive blitzes: 1) a zone with freshman DE Matt Nelson dropping into coverage, 2) Jewell in the A gap that flushed Hills and 3) Jewell in the A gap again that ended in him batting down a pass.

UP NEXT - INDIANA (4-4, 0-4)

- Indiana had a bye week last week. So, it went under the hood, from Pete DiPrimio of the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel.

There seems to be a fourth-quarter problem.

That's especially true in the fourth quarter. The Hoosiers have been out-scored 58-0 in their last three fourth quarters. They've lost the fourth quarter in seven of their eight games, winning only against Florida International, by a 17-8 score.

- The last time out, Indiana was more than game at Michigan State. And then the fourth quarter.

From Mike Miller of the Bloomington Herald-Times (link):

IU coach Kevin Wilson said his team's struggles in the secondary and on third down were at least partially a product of fatigue. The Hoosiers' young players, especially, have hit a wall, Wilson said, and the upcoming bye week could be coming at an ideal time.

'Our defensive back, Andre Brown, had a birthday Thursday, and he turned 18,” Wilson said. 'And he already had seven Big Ten starts as a 17-year-old. I'm out there watching (safeties Jameel) Cook and (Jonathan) Crawford and Tyler Green - I think some of those freshmen guys have hit the wall with their ability to make some of those plays on the ball with their strength level and maturity. This week comes at a pretty good time, because we've got to get some guys fresh.”

- Are you guys ready to be shocked? An SB Nation blog is suggesting something rash (OK, I'm joking, half-joking. I do think SB Nation blogs sometimes steam too far in emotional directions, but I don't write that from a judgmental place, but more out of . . . maybe jealousy. I try to keep it understated, rational. That probably drives some readers away. You'll read hotter copy other places certainly. I'm just going to do things at my speed. Hey, the fact that I'm writing this about SB Nation blogs shows I read and enjoy them. So, don't go crazy with this, all I'm saying.)

Here's a level-headed and fairly premised post from Crimson and Quarry (this was written after the Hoosiers blew a 55-27 lead in the second half to Rutgers, so, yeah, I would've gone to town here, too): But if you showed this score to someone familiar with Indiana football, they'd tell you that the game wasn't even close to being over. And they'd be right. And the loss yesterday was indicative of everything that has frustrated me through watching this team over the past few years. Even worse, the loss happened after Leante Carroo, the Rutgers WR who was probably the best player on the field among both teams, left the game after suffering an injury.

Sure, this wasn't Ball State or Minnesota, where we needed to rally just to stay in the game, only to suffer a heartbreaking loss. Nor was it Bowling Green, where we played pretty evenly only to let the game slip away on the final drive. This was a collapse, through and through, and regardless, the feeling remains the same. The only equivalent B1G game I can think of in this vein was when Michigan State rallied from 35 down to beat Northwestern in 2006. But that was in Pat Fitzgerald's first season. And in the fifth year of a coaching regime here at Indiana, it's time we expected better.

THE NUMBERS GAME

Touchdowns in the red zone

Iowa

- 3 of 4

Maryland

- 1 of 2

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. ISU - 4 of 5 (off), 1 of 1 (def); Week 2 Iowa State - 2 of 3 (off), 1 of 2 (def); Week 3 vs. Pitt - 3 of 3 (off), 2 of 3 (def); Week 4 North Texas - 5 of 5 (off), 1 of 3 (def); Week 5 Wisconsin - 1 of 4 (off), 0 of 2 (def); Week 6 vs. Illinois - 1 of 4 (off), 1 of 2 (def); Week 7 vs. Northwestern - 4 of 8 (off), 1 of 2 (def); Week 8 vs. Maryland - 3 of 4 (off), 1 of 2 (def)

The takeaway

: This was Iowa's money stat to start the year. It slumped to a 2 of 8 through Wisconsin and Illinois, rebounded last week with 4 of 8 vs. Northwestern and was at a high percentage against the Terps. Does this trend follow Beathard's health? I think it probably does. Remember, he came up limpy after the 9-yard TD rush vs. Pitt. That was his last TD rush. This was and could've been a real finishing move for Iowa. When does the next CJB rush TD happen?

3 and outs (forced by defense)

Iowa

- 6

Maryland

- 1

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. ISU - 3 (def), 2 (off); Week 2 vs. Iowa State - 4 (def), 4 (off); Week 3 vs. Pitt - 3 (def), 2 (off); Week 4 vs. North Texas - 6 (def), 3 (off); Week 5 vs. Wisconsin - 4 (def), 3 (off); Week 6 vs. Illinois - 5 (def), 1 (off); Week 7 vs. Northwestern: 7 (def), 3 (off); Week 8 vs. Maryland - 6 (def), 1 (off)

The takeaway

: Great numbers for both offense and defense. Maybe the best number was Iowa's defense forced a punt on an 11-play, 48-yard drive. That's 'bend don't break,” the classic blend. One quibble, Iowa's one three-and-out on offense was in the fourth quarter when a power drive would've drained the block in the final seven minutes. The door wasn't open, but if you ask them, they would tell you that they would love to be able to close it.

Second half adjustments

Iowa

- 53 yards, 2.03 yards per play (26 plays)

Maryland

- 173 yards, 5.1 yards per play (34 plays)

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. ISU - 163 yards, 5.25 yards per play (31 offensive plays), 195 yards, 6.5 yards per play (30 plays on defense); Week 2 vs. Iowa State - 232 yards, 6.62 yards per play (35 offensive plays), 66 yards, 2.12 yards per play (31 defensive plays); Week 3 vs. Pitt - 165 yards, 5.5 yards per play (30 off plays), 124 yards, 5.1 yards per play (31 def plays); Week 4 vs. North Texas - 148 yards, 4.9 yards per play (30 offensive plays), 207 yards, 4.3 yards per play (48 defensive plays); Week 5 vs. Wisconsin - 69 yards, 2.55 yards per play (27 offensive plays), 177 yards, 4.21 yards per play (42 defensive plays); Week 6 vs. Illinois - 179 yards, 5.42 yards per play (33 offensive plays); 242 yards, 5.90 yards per play (41 defensive plays); Week 7 vs. Northwestern - 296 yards, 7.1 yards per play (42 offensive plays); 80 yards, 2.75 yards per play (29 defensive plays); Week 8 vs. Maryland - 53 yards, 2.03 yards per play (26 offensive plays); 173 yards, 5.1 yards per play (34 defensive plays)

The takeaway

: As far as pure production goes, that was the Iowa offense's worst half of the season. Then again, it wasn't about pure production. It was about running clock. Maybe Iowa ends up paying a bill here at some point this season, but the second halves haven't been super productive for Iowa's offense since probably Pitt. Of course, you can live with these numbers when your all-Big Ten and maybe all-American cornerback rips off an 88-yard pick six and your defense stacks up three-and-outs and keeps points off the board in the second half.

20-plus plays

Iowa

- 4

Maryland

- 2

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. ISU - 4 (off), 3 (allowed); Week 2 vs. Iowa State - 6 (off), 3 (allowed); Week 3 vs. Pitt - 4 (off), 3 (def); Week 4 vs. North Texas - 4 (off), 4 (def); Week 5 vs. Wisconsin - 2 (off), 3 (def); Week 6 vs. Illinois - 5 (off), 5 (def); Week 7 vs. Northwestern - 4 (off), 1 (def); Week 8 vs. Maryland - 4 (off), 2 (def)

The takeaway

: Beathard passes accounted for all four of Iowa's 20-plus. OK, that's not entirely accurate. TE George Kittle's one-handed diving catch accounted for one of them. It was a beauty. Iowa's most improved players are Kittle, LB Cole Fisher and, I don't know, maybe Wadley, maybe Daniels. Or maybe VandeBerg, who caught two 20-plus vs. Maryland (23 and 22). Iowa's other explosive plays were Wadley (14 run), Daniels (14 and 16 run) and Mitchell (19 reception).

The Iowa/Greg Davis definition of explosive (it's 12-plus runs and 16-plus passes)

: 8 (Illinois State 9, Iowa State 12, Pitt 6, North Texas 10; Wisconsin 5; Illinois 9, Northwestern 12, Maryland 8)

Magic points (scores inside of two minutes)

Iowa

- 7

Maryland

- 0

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. ISU - 3 (off), 7 (allowed); Week 2 vs. Iowa State - 7 (off), 0 (def); Week 3 vs. Pitt - 10 (off), 7 (def); week 4 vs. North Texas - 7 (off), 0 (def); Week 5 vs. Wisconsin - 3 (off), 0 (def); Week 6 vs. Illinois - 3 (off), 0 (def); Week 7 vs. Northwestern - 0 (off), 0 (def); Week 8 vs. Maryland - 7 (off), 0 (def)

The takeaway

: Iowa has scored in two-minute drill in every week but one and that week it was a missed 34-yard FG from magic points before halftime. I think this is getting to be a borderline incredible stat.

It wouldn't have been possible this week (or maybe it would've, but . . .) without LB Aaron Mends getting his hand on a punt with just more than a minute left before halftime. Want to see something really cool? If you DVR'd this game, watch Mends' effort. He's stumbling and takes off on an uncertain foot. Slow this one down and go frame by frame. It's like the dude is flying. This kind of effort, from a reserve LB that the defensive coordinator saw fit to pull a redshirt off another linebacker to get some competition at the guy's spot, gets trophies.

Mends' block kept it to a 13-yard punt. Mitchell finished with a TD with 9 seconds left and, suddenly, the comfort margin in this game bloomed to a 21-0 halftime lead.

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