Hlas: Beathard runs, throws, leads, wins

AMES — What you have, Iowa, is a quarterback.

More precisely, what you Hawkeyes have is a football player playing quarterback. But he's definitely a quarterback, arm and head. And feet.

Sam B. Richardson played a great first half at quarterback for Iowa State. But Hawkeye QB C.J. Beathard played a great game, and that had a whole lot to do with Iowa getting a 31-17 win that it dearly, clearly craved.

Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz got a little misty-eyed on the sideline as the final seconds ticked away. He and his program needed this one.

His players formed a big, old-fashioned Hawkeye swarm in proceeding across the field to get a traveling trophy to display in its $55 million football castle. Those guys roared with force in their dressing room afterward.

But for all the evident emotion, Beathard was a cool, collected cat during the game who made play after play, many that would qualify as terrific.

'C.J. obviously made some great plays with his feet,' Ferentz said. 'He made some great plays, some precise throws.

'I think the thing I was most impressed about C.J. today was him keeping his poise. It would have been easy to get rattled today. I've seen quarterbacks get rattled here on our team.'

Beathard had rushes of 44 and 57 yards. He had three touchdown passes, and all qualified as lovely. Even the one that got fumbled to a teammate for a score.

With the game tied at 17 early in the fourth quarter and Iowa facing 3rd-and-21 at its 6, he aired a 48-yard pass to Matt VandeBerg to deny the Cyclones the ball and near-certain good field position.

But his most important play may have been lunging forward one yard while he was 100 yards from the opposite end zone.

Iowa was down 10-3 and regained possession at its own 7-yard line midway through the second quarter, Cyclone defensive end Dale Pierson bore down on Beathard and sacked him. But the quarterback somehow willed his way forward from a near-safety experience, and stretched to the Iowa 1.

If it had been a safety, ISU would have been up by two scores and would have received a free kick from the Hawkeyes.

'You definitely don't want to take a safety there,' Beathard said.

The Cyclones already had momentum at that point, and a 12-3 lead with the ball might have sent them and their loud crowd over the moon. But Big Mo leapt over to Iowa's shoulders on the next play when Beathard broke three tackles on his way to a 44-yard scramble. Seven plays later, he fired a 14-yard touchdown strike to Tevaun Smith on 3rd-and-9, and it was 10-10.

Then he topped that with a 57-yard gallop late in the first half.

What do you have more of as a runner, Beathard was asked. Athleticism, toughness or instincts?

'I think a little of all three,' he replied, underselling all three categories in one short sentence.

Passing was Beathard's calling card in the second half. Iowa's go-ahead touchdown was a 25-yard throw from Beathard to Riley McCarron with 2:14 left. It was perfect, put in a place where McCarron would either catch it or it would fall incomplete. McCarron made an over-the-shoulder grab, his first career catch of importance. It came from a quarterback who seems to trust and use all his teammates.

'He's a great leader, first of all,' said VandeBerg. 'He commands his troops. He's an all-around player.'

'He likes to play,' center Austin Blythe said. 'We love having him back there.'

'He's just a heck of a competitor,' said tight end Henry Krieger Coble. 'He competes his butt off.'

The Hawkeyes had all kinds of players who came up big in the second half, starting with the entire defense, which posted a second-half shutout even without star end Drew Ott. VandeBerg was sensational. Running back Jordan Canzeri, punter Dillon Kidd, the offensive line ... and let's mention the defense again.

But Beathard was the maestro. Feet, arm, head. And not necessarily in that order.

Comments: (319) 368-8840; mike.hlas@thegazette.com

Twitter: @Hlas