Scherff video: F-150 vs. Squirrel

IOWA CITY — If you're at all adept at the internet and interested in Iowa football, you have by now seen the latest Brandon Scherff video.

If you haven't, it goes a little like this: Ford F-150 pickup meets squirrel. Squirrel loses and remains winless against F-150s.

Scherff was the 6-5, 323-pound F-150 (or offensive tackle, take your pick). Pitt cornerback Reggie Mitchell was the squirrel. Scherff released a defensive end, turned his head and saw Mitchell just at the right moment. Mitchell he didn't see anything except maybe a flash of white light.

Don't go into the light, squirrel.

'It's probably more about the guy who got hit's reaction than mine,' Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said about the play. 'He's a guy who loves playing. He's got good awareness, and that's what that played showed really. Good vision, good awareness, which is an important trait for everybody.'

For the 'whoa, that was really, really cool' reaction, we go to the players. They had a lot of that. Offensive tackle Andrew Donnal was, of course, on the other side of that play doing his job. He said he saw the video on Facebook and played it during the bus ride from Heinz Field to the airport on Saturday afternoon.

'That was a good hit,' Donnal said chuckling. 'That was a pretty cool video. Whenever a teammate gets a good lick on someone, it's fun to watch. We got some good laughs out of it on the bus ride home.'

Actually, the story behind the story here is revenge, pay back and, quite literally, 'gotcha back.'

Earlier in the game, Mitchell picked up on Scherff pulling and made the play every defensive back would against an offensive tackle. He cut Scherff's legs out from under him and caused a pileup that ruined the play.

'He had some motivation behind that,' center Austin Blythe said. 'There was a play where Brandon pulled and he got cut by the same guy. The guy told him, 'Gotcha.' So, Brandon had a little extra motivation for revenge there.

'I think it's safe to say Brandon got him.'

During Sunday morning's video review, the hit was clicked, rewound and played again a few times. Offensive line coach Brian Ferentz has coaching points and likes to highlight plays that are, well, picture perfect.

This blitz pickup was suitable for framing.

'He [Brian Ferentz] shows guys doing the right thing, doing their job and doing it well,' Blythe said. 'I think we just saw it repeatedly in a natural way, because that's just how Brian watches tape. He watches something, rewinds it and so we were able to see it several times.'

During this process, each O-lineman is highlighted and given 'coaching points' by Ferentz.

'When he got to Brandon and his coaching points, he just let the film play and we kind of just chuckled about it,' Blythe said, 'and then we saw it a few more times.'

The Outland Trophy campaign just got a huge donation at the expense of a Pitt defensive back.

Actually, that campaign chest is already full of YouTube treasures. There's the 435-pound hang clean that Iowa strength coach Chris Doyle posted in the summer. There's also a 410-pound hang clean from summer of 2013. And, if you're interested in charting the growth, there's a 385- and 400-pound hang clean video from the summer of 21012.

From last season's overtime victory over Northwestern, there's Scherff one-handing a Wildcats defender about 15 yards downfield. If you're feeling nostalgic or wondering where this all started, there's also a video from Scherff's sophomore year at Denison High School, where, yes, he played quarterback.

(There is no video of his Sept. 9 arthroscopic knee procedure, but he probably has pictures and would show you if you asked.)

Scherff went through last Saturday's postgame and didn't drop any hints of F-150 vs. Squirrel. He did, however, note that it did feel good for the offensive line to finally help trigger an effective running game. The Hawkeyes rushed for 133 yards and two TDs against Pitt, including 85 yards in the second half when Iowa surged to the lead and needed to run some clock.

'We wanted to just focus on the smaller details and get back to what we're known for, just powerful football and try to finish every play,' Scherff said.

Scherff flashed back to the Iowa State loss and noted the fact that the outside world was 'hootin' and hollerin'.'

'We can't listen to the noise, like coach Ferentz always says,' Scherff said. 'It's going to be a roller coaster, up and down, up and down. We've just got to focus on ourselves and play the way we're capable of playing.'

Iowa's defensive players saw the F-150 vs. Squirrel video. And, oh yes, they were taking notes.

'It was like, 'Wow.' I was in shock,' Iowa free safety Jordan Lomax said. 'That guy was coming full speed and Scherff was just kind of standing there and shocked him. He went right on his back. It just gives you a little hint of how strong Scherff actually is.'

Maybe the biggest hint yet, and that is saying something.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@sourcemedia.net