Hlas: Sunshine all around for Hawkeyes

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Sunshine, indeed.

That was the byword of Iowa's football team after its 24-10 handling of Purdue here Saturday. The weather was warm and sunny, the visiting Iowa band was playing up a storm, and the football players themselves formed their traditional road-victory conga line to celebrate with their fans.

For all we know, the Hawkeye coaches sported sunny smiles once they back inside the Hawkeyes' cramped Ross-Ade Stadium dressing room.

Even quarterback C.J. 'Sunshine' Beathard could grin a little. After a rocky beginning to his first career start, Beathard gave a passable performance. With the way Iowa's defense blocked out the sun against Purdue's dubious offense, it made for a satisfying trip home for the 4-1 Hawkeyes.

Make that a satisfying flight home. Because of an act of sabotage at an air traffic control center in Aurora, Ill., Friday, the Hawkeyes were left without a chartered jet to whisk them from Cedar Rapids to Lafayette. So they lived like paupers for several hours and bussed here.

'We adjusted,' Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. 'No big deal.'

Much like Beathard and the Hawkeyes' offense adjusted, to each other and to Purdue's defense.

Playing from 10 points behind two straight weeks on the road is flirting with failure. But for the second-straight week, Iowa's defense was the game's dominant force while its offense played well enough after halftime to prevail.

'Coach said we'd like to get a decent lead one of these games,' Beathard said. 'We haven't put in the full 60 minutes of good play yet. I think it's coming up soon.'

The defense didn't wait until halftime to assert itself. It gave up a measly 156 yards. Purdue's lone touchdown came on a pick-6 of Beathard by safety Frankie Williams. The Boilermakers got in the red zone just once, and were immediately chased out of it by Iowa defensive tackle Louis Trinca-Pasat.

Trinca-Pasat's sack of beleaguered Boiler quarterback Danny Etling made it 4th-and-16 at the Purdue 25, and the Boilers were contained to a second-quarter field goal.

The Iowa senior then did a little bow while folding his hands, as if he were a martial arts practitioner. It either wasn't flamboyant enough to draw a penalty or the officials never saw it.

'It was spur-of-the-moment,' Trinca-Pasat said. 'I was kind of psyched to make a sack. I probably won't do it again or else Coach (Phil) Parker is gonna have me on the bench.

'I shouldn't do it.'

That was the biggest sin Iowa's defense committed this day. The Hawkeyes had four sacks and a flurry of hurries. Etling was as unprotected as a salmon in the hands of a bear.

'They didn't show us anything we didn't already know,' Etling claimed. 'We just need to change the protection. It's unacceptable and we need to get it fixed.

'I played very poorly.'

For the second-consecutive Saturday, Iowa's defense faced an opponent that would love to have either Beathard or Jake Rudock running its offense. (After losing to Iowa, Pittsburgh fell at home Saturday to Akron, 21-10.) Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes' defenders were merciless.

Well, not really. Backup Boilermaker quarterback Austin Appleby was intercepted at midfield by Hawkeye safety John Lowdermilk on Purdue's final offensive play.

Lowdermilk, who picked off an Etling pass on the previous Purdue possession, had little but green ahead of him after interception No. 2. But after running 18 yards, he chose to cling tightly to the ball and down himself with his team up two touchdowns and just 1:04 left.

Not charging ahead for a score was a tender mercy, right?

'No. No,' Lowdermilk said. 'It wasn't needed. The game was over. It would have been an unnecessary touchdown.'

So, it was mercy? Yes? No.

'Don't drop it at the 1,' Lowdermilk said he thought to himself. 'I just didn't want to drop it at the 1, so I just went down.'

In last January's Outback Bowl, Lowdermilk dropped his 71-yard interception return against LSU just before crossing the goal line, creating a 1st-and-goal at the 1 instead of a touchdown. Mark Weisman ran for a score two plays later to take the safety off the hook.

But Iowa lost that game. This day's foe wasn't LSU in any way, shape or form. Beathard survived his pick-6, Lowdermilk declined his, and the Hawkeyes breezed home on a sunny day.

l Comments: (319) 368-8840; mike.hlas@sourcemedia.net