Beathard gets the call, goes out and balls

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - C.J. Beathard is from Nashville and has the kind of laid-back drawl you'd expect. When he got the call at halftime Saturday that he was going in, that's kind of how he jumped in.

Totally laid back. He pushed his long, curly hair back and put his helmet on.

'Coach [Greg] Davis came in and said, ‘Hey, you're up,'” Beathard said. 'I honestly was in a little bit of shock. I was excited to get in the game. I was a little nervous, but more excited than nervous.”

Pitt spent the first half delivering body blow after body blow to the Hawkeyes, piling up a 17-7 lead and a near 2-to-1 advantage in time of possession (19:14 to 10:46). The Hawkeyes were limited to one possession and five plays in a dismal second quarter.

Quarterback Jake Rudock took a low hit late in the quarter and spent a lot of halftime in the training room. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said after the game that it was a strain, possibly a hip.

That's the scene setter. Let's allow Beathard to take it from here.

His first pass attempt was a 7-yarder to Kevonte Martin-Manley in the left flat. It was a modest beginning.

'I came in here as a young quarterback who didn't know much about checking the ball down,” said Beathard, who finished 7 of 8 for 98 yards. 'That's kind of what I've been trying to work on, checking the ball down, and not just chucking it in the air and seeing what will happen.

'Sometimes you've got to take those shots and that's what you've got to do.”

'Sometimes” came on the next play.

Wide receiver Damond Powell streaked past cornerback Avonte Maddox. The pass Beathard threw pulled Powell ahead just enough for the senior receiver to make a spectacular one-handed catch and set up Iowa's second touchdown.

'We were down 10 points and we had to get something going,” Beathard said. 'I just tried to be calm about it, not make a big deal out of it. Just have confidence in myself and confidence in my team.”

Iowa pulled within 20-17 on its next drive, which was stumped on a called run on third-and-9 from Pitt's 34. Kicker Marshall Koehn cleaned it up with a career-long 52-yarder.

On the drive where Iowa took the lead for good, 24-20, Beathard was 4 of 5 for a modest 23 yards. It wasn't explosive, but a third-and-7 completion for 10 yards to tight end Ray Hamilton showcased 1) the fact that Beathard is willing to take a hit to make a play (two Pitt defenders whacked him after the pass) and 2) a lightning-fast release.

'It's just kind of a natural thing,” said Beathard, who replaced Rudock three times last season because of injury, about how quickly he triggers and throws the ball. 'You can't really practice a quick release. It just comes natural.”

Because he didn't know Rudock's health status, coach Kirk Ferentz didn't make any QB pronouncements for next week's game at Purdue. Beathard led Iowa for points in all three drives. The Hawkeyes also converted two fourth downs in the fourth quarter and were left without a timeout for the final seven minutes after Beathard needed one to set up before one of those fourth downs.

'This isn't the first time we've seen him do good things, I think we have two good quarterbacks,” Ferentz said. 'I'm really pleased with how he played. I'm not standing here saying, ‘Gosh, I didn't see that coming.' This guy is a good football player.

'I think Rudock is a good football player, too. Usually, if you have two, you don't have any. But this is a situation where I think we have two.”

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