If running = winning, then Beathard is green lighting

IOWA CITY - Part of the Iowa coaching staff's fascination with quarterback C.J. Beathard has been his skills as a runner.

Last summer, head coach Kirk Ferentz said during Big Ten media days in Chicago that Beathard was a 'nimble” athlete and that could be something worth mining. This spring, offensive coordinator Greg Davis expressed the two sides of this coin.

'We will incorporate a little bit using his legs because he has the ability to run,” Davis said. 'At the same time you don't ever want to expose a quarterback to undue hits, but we will do some things where we feel like we can take advantage of his legs. And I think he will do some things just leaving the pocket on unscheduled runs.”

Hey, Beathard can move. You have to sift through a whole bunch of rubble, but the few highlights Iowa was able to pull out of its TaxSlayer Bowl matchup with Tennessee, a 45-28 defeat, included Beathard beating the Volunteers on the edge with his feet. He finished with 82 yards on eight carries, the best rushing total in a game for an Iowa QB in Ferentz's 16 seasons.

The possibilities are exciting, but so are the consequences. Beathard, a 6-2, 210 pounder, could get slammed. Last season against Indiana, Beathard took a shot and suffered a hip injury that cost him playing time the following week at Maryland.

'Last season there were times I should've gotten down and the coaches have talked to me about that,” Beathard said. 'I need to slide more.”

This year, the QB depth chart goes from Beathard, a junior with one start and enough experience to allow coaches to sleep at night, to red-shirt freshman Tyler Wiegers, who's yet to take a snap in a game.

'Coaches have faith in Tyler, too,” Beathard said. 'He's young and he's still learning, but he's a smart guy. If anything were to happen, I'd have total trust in him.”

Wiegers' development during the spring was something Ferentz wanted to see bloom. Remember, last fall Wiegers played more scout team than Iowa offense.

'I think in the last third of our practices, the last five practices, we've really seen him start to take off,” Ferentz said. 'The big thing for him is that this will really serve him well this summer when he can look at the film and it will mean more to him. He has gotten a lot of really quality work.”

The bottom line with Beathard and running the ball is it won't be metered. It probably can't be. Everyone involved wants to win, whatever it takes, so, if Beathard's running ability is a plus, you'll see it.

'I definitely think it's going to be a big thing in our offense,” wide receiver Tevaun Smith said. 'When no one is open, he'll be able to scramble and make people miss. Hopefully, he'll be behind the line of scrimmage and be able to throw the ball 40, 50 yards, when guys are kind of contained and trying to go for him. That's definitely going to be good for our offense.”

Now, it's June and the Hawkeyes are in their first week of summer conditioning and will soon begin 7-on-7 drills between the offensive skill players and the linebackers and defensive backs. Whether or not Beathard runs this fall hasn't been a huge point of discussion. Still, in Beathard's mind, he believes he has the green light.

'You've got to do whatever you've got to do to win,” Beathard said. 'If running the ball and using my feet is part of that, that's what I'll do.

'If that's what the defense gives you, that's what you have to do.”

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