Iowa 30, Illinois 14: Dnuh nuh nuh . . . the final countdown

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Kirk Ferentz stood at the podium and listened to questions and really did seem interested in talking about the game the Hawkeyes just played.

It was a 30-14 victory over Illinois, a sagging program with a coach whose seat is hotter than lava and a mostly disinterested fan base, at least according to the 50,373 attendance Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

Iowa (7-3, 4-2 Big Ten) did a lot of good, fun things. It played defense, something it completely forgot in last week's debacle at Minnesota. The offense, fueled by senior running back Mark Weisman's 134 yards, did offensive things, real offensive things and not things that were offensive.

The Hawkeyes rolled out 587 yards offense, fourth-best effort in Ferentz's 15-plus seasons, and ran the Fighting Illini (4-6, 1-5) into basketball season.

'Our second fourth down, I'd like to think we could convert that one, for sure,” Ferentz said. 'It was bad execution on our part.”

Ferentz was talking and tapping his fingers on the side of the oldest of old school podiums deep in the dungeon of what passes as the opponent's locker room area in Memorial Stadium. He tapped his fingers and his feet. He seemed interested in discussing what just happened. He even said, no, no way, not looking forward to next week, not at all.

'We're going to enjoy tonight,” said Ferentz, sounding like a man who most definitely wasn't going to enjoy this one. 'We're going to go back to Iowa City, hopefully be smart, put our feet up and relax a little bit and enjoy it. Tomorrow we'll critique the film like we always do and then we'll get on to Wisconsin.”

And there it is.

Saturday was nice for the Hawkeyes. It was a total full-body detox after last week's 51-14 loss at Minnesota.

Some of the fun included Weisman's first 100-yard effort in 18 games (since 147 vs. Minnesota last season).

'The offensive line, tight ends, fullbacks, receivers blocking downfield, it was awesome out there,” Weisman said. 'All working together, everyone really understanding the big picture.”

Quarterback Jake Rudock completed 14 of 21 for 210 yards and two TDs, both of which were to tight end Ray Hamilton (1 and 6 yards), the first TDs of the senior's career.

Hamilton gets it. It was nice to score and yada, yada, yada . . .

'As much as we love you guys, we're going to ignore you guys,” Hamilton said of next week's matchup with Wisconsin at Kinnick Stadium. 'We're just going to focus on what we can control in our building. That's our preparation for Wisconsin this week.”

More fun numbers: Tight end Jake Duzey caught three passes for 110 yards (the most yards for an Iowa receiver this season and the second 100-plus game of his career). He caught a 53-yarder from backup QB C.J. Beathard, who entered the game in the fourth quarter after Rudock scored on a 6-yard TD run. Rudock shook his shoulder and arm after the play, but Ferentz said he was OK.

Iowa's defense held the Illini to a season-low 235 yards of offense. The Hawkeyes also held quarterback Wes Lunt to season lows for yards (102) and completions (14).

And the Hawkeyes definitely shut the door on the jet sweep, a play that worked repeatedly for Minnesota in last week's debacle.

'I don't think so,” strong safety John Lowdermilk said when asked if there was any way in H-E-double hockey sticks this defense would be burned by the jet sweep against the Illini. 'We were well-prepared for that play today. We got off blocks and were ready for it.”

Iowa rolled up a season-high 304 rushing yards, reached 30 points for the fourth time in Big Ten play (first time it's done that since 2002, and Iowa is, by the way, 62-6 when scoring 30 or more points under Ferentz) and piled on 26 first downs to just 12 for Illinois.

'They bounced back from a defeat last week and they played, as I guess you would say, Iowa football,” Illinois coach Tim Beckman said. 'They ran the ball extremely well. They played defense. We never really got into tune.”

That's enough from Illinois. Let's get to the Wisconsin hype. And not only the Badgers, but, heck, let's dive headlong into the Nebraska game, too. Iowa trails by one game in the Big Ten West Division with the leaders coming to Kinnick in the next two weeks.

It's on, so let's pump it up in here.

'Next week, it's a big game,” Rudock said. 'Every single game we play is the biggest game and now that's the biggest game on our schedule.”

OK, let's try this again.

'The good thing is we're not too excited, so to speak, for this,” senior defensive tackle Louis Trinca-Pasat said. 'It's a win, but we're trying to finish strong and after tomorrow, we'll focus on our next opponent.”

No matter what they don't say, the Hawkeyes are in position to have a say.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com