Hlas: Everyone was right about Hawkeyes, everyone’s happy

PITTSBURGH - This win was for everybody.

This Iowa 24-20 win over Pittsburgh was for the outside world that insisted head coach Kirk Ferentz and offensive coordinator Greg Davis needed to change their ways and use underutilized offensive talents.

This win was for Ferentz, who held firm and always will hold firm to his assertion it's all about better execution, not any flaws in offensive philosophy.

This win was for an entire Hawkeyes team that seemed headed from Pittsburgh to Palookaville at halftime, trailing 17-7 and getting run over literally and figuratively.

Another week, another narrative-change. Now, it's the resilient Hawkeyes. Now it's the Hawkeyes who recognize they have a big-armed quarterback and big-play potential at wide receiver. Now, it's a coach going for (and getting) first-downs on fourth-down in the opponent's territory as if it were second-nature for him.

But all those things are side issues - or should be - when stacked up against what won this game. Which was a team that totally reversed the tide in the second half and got itself a good victory.

'I know the sky was falling a week ago or the last three weeks,” Ferentz said. 'And nobody wants to hear this, but it really gets down to execution.”

Yes, of course. But yet ... the Hawkeyes got great use out of a downfield passing game!

They got an enormous play out of little-used Damond Powell, who ran past his defender and successfully one-handed a 62-yard, third-quarter pass from ...

C.J. Beathard!

Iowa punched it in three plays later to cut the Pitt lead to 17-14, and the game instantly was different.

Now, Beathard became the second-half quarterback only because starter Jake Rudock strained something. Details were murky after the game, but the injury was real. So it isn't as if Ferentz voluntarily chose to ride a different horse.

But what became obvious during the second-half is what so many have said all along: Beathard is too gifted to spend whole games on the sideline.

'We've said all along we've got a lot of confidence in both players,” Ferentz said. 'Both outstanding young guys are different, but they're both really good football players.”

The biggest hesitation in using Beathard more has been that he's been more of a chucker than a checker. Which is to say, he has had plenty to learn about checking down, looking for solid singles when a home run isn't to be had.

Beathard had to burn two timeouts on the touchdown drive that put Iowa ahead for keeps with 6:56 left, so it was clear there are things that can fluster him in the heat of battle. But his mistakes seemed minimal. He seemed patient, and didn't overreach.

At halftime, Davis matter-of-factly told Beathard he was going into the game.

'Really chill, actually,” Beathard said. 'They acted like nothing happened, because they don't want me freaking out.”

There was no freak-out. Not by the player with the big hair and bigger hair. And, just as importantly, there was no freak-out by an Iowa defense that looked like a Pittsburgh prop in the first-half in surrendering 262 yards.

'We could have packed up,” Ferentz said. 'We just got hammered in the first half. That's the only way I can put it. That was a battering we took.”

James Conner rushed for 100 yards, and Pitt quarterback Chad Voytik hit on three passes of 18 yards or more in the half to compound the Hawkeyes' problems.

'Frustrating,” Lowdermilk said. 'Really frustrating. We're not really used to that. People just don't run it down our throats.”

The Hawkeyes cleared their throats at halftime, then cleared away the Panthers.

'We didn't make a lot of adjustments, we really didn't,” Lowdermilk said. 'We just played a whole lot better.

So it was all about execution. Or talent had previously been underused. Or both. Winning supports everyone's arguments, and the debates are gentler.

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