Halftime thoughts from Ball State-Iowa

IOWA CITY - Some quick thoughts about 30 minutes of football between Ball State and Iowa:

1. The nature of football was on its full, ugly display on the one touchdown of the first half. On the play in which Ball State defensive tackle Blake Dueitt returned a second-quarter fumble 35 yards for the Cardinals' score, Iowa star offensive tackle Brandon Scherff injured a knee.

It looked ugly, at least when Scherff had to be helped off the field and then walked to the dressing room.

You didn't know. Was Scherff done for the day, for a few weeks, for the season? On such injuries can seasons unravel and hopes dim.

It wasn't as bad as it looked, and Scherff got back on the field before the half was over. It was Iowa's only good news of the half.

2. Iowa's Mark Weisman had just three carries, for minus-1 yard. I don't care how many running backs the Hawkeyes can trot out there, they aren't as good as they could be without a useful Weisman.

3. Marshall Koehn missed two of three field goals, and the misses were from 35 and 37 yards. It's the difference between leading and trailing. Keep missing field goals from that distance, and it will be the difference between a lot more.

4. Dillon Kidd, on the other hand, placed two punts inside the Ball State 10. That'll work.

5. The first-half score was Ball State 7, Jake Rudock 3, C.J. Beathard 0. But Beathard's one drive produced more excitement than all of Rudock's combined, and people want excitement. The 38-yard pass to Damond Powell that originally was ruled a touchdown was a pro's pass, perhaps as lovely as anything an Oakland Raider will throw all season.

OK, that's an exaggeration. Maybe.

But north-south is entertaining, and east-west is not. Had Powell's 'catch” been upheld as a catch, we'd have more than a quarterback controversy right now. There would be a petition sent to the White House by Iowa fans for more C.J.

6. Total yards: Iowa 208, Ball State 91. The Hawkeyes got outgained last week against Northern Iowa and won. Iowa won the turnover battle against UNI. There's been one turnover in today's game, and you know what the one has meant.

7. This game is the only thing on ESPN2 right now.

8. If every day were as nice as it is here today, we'd have 10 million people living in Iowa, and the state would be chaos.

9. I was behind a Buick Enclave driving through Coralville this morning. Enclave? What the what?

Is there a car name that makes sense? I have a Toyota Corolla. A corolla is the part of a flower that consists of the separate or fused petals.

What the what?