It wasn’t all good for Hawkeyes, but it ended all good

IOWA CITY - 'You all right, hoss?” Iowa wide receiver Kevonte Martin-Manley said to Hawkeye offensive tackle Brandon Scherff in a Kinnick Stadium hallway early Saturday evening.

Scherff had suffered a second-quarter knee injury that silenced the stadium as much as the Ball State touchdown off a Hawkeye fumble that occurred on the same play. He told his teammate he was OK.

'As long as you're good,” Martin-Manley replied.

That could have been said to the whole Iowa club after it survived the fighting Cardinals, 17-13. Fifty-four minutes of offensive torment were, well, tormenting. But the final six, with touchdown drives of 69 and 59 yards? They were good.

Scherff was good in that stretch. Martin-Manley was good. Everyone on the offense was suddenly good, catching up late with Iowa's defense.

Quarterback Jake Rudock was especially good.

You play 60 minutes, not 54. Maybe this bumpy win over a good Mid-American Conference team will prove to be a signal of a bumpy season. Or maybe this September escape will be a springboard to slicker autumn Saturdays, to a season that's special instead of so-so.

In the moment, we ask 'How?” as often as 'How much?” But as time passes, this victory will simply become a number in the win column. The good column.

'That was Iowa football they just played,” Ball State Coach Pete Lembo said. 'They don't panic. They stick to the plan.”

The plan wasn't to have three points in 54 minutes, to botch three field goals from 37 yards or less, to seemingly waste a defensive tour de fource that held the Cardinals to a paltry 3.3 yards per play.

But a good bit of the success Hawkeye football has is created in Chris Doyle's strength-and-conditioning room and head coach Kirk Ferentz's mindset over 12 months, not in six furious minutes on the field.

'It's all about finishing,” said Iowa defensive tackle Carl Davis. 'That's the one thing Coach Doyle and Coach Ferentz alays talk about, finishing. We talked about it the whole offseason. We knew we were going to face adversity. We did.”

Ball State was admirable; smart and tough. The Cardinals didn't beat themselves in the last 10 percent of this game. Iowa beat them. It wouldn't have happened had Rudock not shrugged off the offensive fizzle of the game's first 90 percent.

'The first half, we didn't come out ready to go,” Rudock said. 'It was very clear. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure that out.”

There he was, cool at the helm with 5:50 left, the ball at the Iowa 31, and the Hawkeyes down 13-3. Ten plays later, the longest a 16-yard Rudock rush, it was 13-10 with 2:52 left.

'It's important not to panic,” Rudock said, 'regardless of the situation. You just keep playing football, keep playing Iowa football, be methodical about what you're trying to do and be on the same page.”

Defensive determination and two timeouts got Iowa the ball back a mere 29 seconds later. Iowa needed a field goal for a tie. Rudock took his guys to something better: A win.

'The fans were getting hyped and getting really loud,” Rudock said. 'But it's important to stay focused on not let that get too loud.”

Those same fans got a taste of C.J. Beathard at quarterback in the first quarter and liked what they saw, though an apparent Beathard touchdown pass to Damond Powell was waved off after a review. Rudock never had a drive as eye-pleasing. Until it mattered most, that is.

If Rudock were rattled even slightly one time on those last two drives, it was news to anyone who watched him. When he passed, the passes were put in good places. When he took off and ran, the running room was there. When it was 1st-and-10 at the BSU 12 on both possessions, he hit the right receivers both times for near-uncontested scores.

The man has thrown 93 passes in two games and his team has a pair of white-knuckle wins over Northern Iowa and Ball State. Both things were unexpected. What does it all mean?

'Two wins are all I was hoping for,” Rudock said. 'There is no big picture.”

On to the next great adventure.

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