Not everything worked

IOWA CITY -- In the end, the victory flag went up. Some of you might actually have a victory flag, but Iowa won either way Saturday.

The Hawkeyes (2-1) overcame a three-touchdown deficit in their 31-27 victory over Pittsburgh at Kinnick Stadium. It was the greatest comeback in Iowa history, according to Iowa sports information. Iowa goes into Saturday's game against University of Louisiana-Monroe (1-2) with chance to go 3-1 before going into an off week and beginning its Big Ten schedule at Penn State.

All it took was the greatest comeback in school history. The greatest comeback in school history comes with a negative side, of course. Not everything worked.

The Hawkeyes fell behind 24-3 at the 3:11 mark of the third quarter. That comes with its own set of headaches. Pitt's defense had Iowa's offense cornered until coach Kirk Ferentz threw away the gameplan and opened the throttle to no-huddle. And, yes, Iowa's defense had a hand in 24-3.

A lot didn't work for the offense. Yes, the game switched and that skewed the rushing numbers, but if Iowa coaches would've stuck with the run, the Hawkeyes would've needed the greatest comeback in the history of sports.

Sophomore Marcus Coker finished with 86 yards on 23 carries, a 3.7 average, his second 3.7-yard effort this season. Statistically, he's off to a slow start or at least not the start that his MVP performance in the Insight Bowl seemed to portend.

"The only thing I can tell you is he missed a lot of time back in camp," Ferentz said. "We'll be OK. It would've been better if Mika'il [McCall, out for the season with an ankle injury] had stayed healthy. That train left the station. Next guy up. This will be a good experience for him."

Iowa's running game wasn't all on Coker, though. Pitt's 3-4 defense was aggressive and attacked Iowa's line of scrimmage with safeties and linebackers. The Panthers gummed up everything, also picking up four sacks.

Quarterback James Vandenberg had a blazing finish, but he needed a relaunch after a rough start. The junior completed 14 of 28 for 182 yards and an interception through three-plus quarters. He finished 31 of 48 for 399 yards, an interception and three TDs.

He pointed to a completion to wide receiver Keenan Davis late in the third quarter. It was a crossing route that Davis snared and controlled on the Iowa sideline. It was called incomplete, but reviewed and turned out to be a 22-yard gain.

"That's when we put a solid finger on what they were doing and how they were doing it schematically," Vandenberg said. "They kept us off balance run and pass. They had us running into some dead ends."

Iowa, coaches and Vandenberg, started to focus on matchups and detail. Before going to freshman receiver Kevonte Martin-Manley for the game-winner, Vandenberg told him to concentrate on his release.

"Then, it was just a seam route," Vandenberg said.

All it took for changes to happen on defense was a three-overtime loss and the coronation of a quarterback.

From Iowa State the previous week to Pitt on Saturday, only senior cornerback Shaun Prater played the same position in the defensive backfield. Sophomore Tanner Miller made his first start at free safety. Junior Micah Hyde went from free safety to corner. Senior Jordan Bernstine entered the lineup at strong safety. Juniors Greg Castillo and Collin Sleeper went to the bench.

After Iowa State and quarterback Steele Jantz showed them changes were needed, Iowa's defensive coaches were decisive, announcing the lineup changes in practice Tuesday.

Ferentz was asked if Iowa's defense was better with Hyde, who finished off Pitt with his second interception of the game, at corner.

"I guess you could make that argument," he said.

Still, it didn't work, not fantastically. Iowa allowed a 66-yard TD pass, longest against the Hawkeyes since a 79-yarder at Penn State in 2009. Iowa allowed four plays of 20-plus yards. Then again, Iowa had three new starters on defense (DT Thomas Nardo and safeties Miller and Bernstine).

Also, senior outside linebacker Tyler Nielsen left the game in the first quarter because the ankle injury he suffered at Iowa State flared up. Sophomore Anthony Hitchens went in at weakside linebacker and sophomore Christian Kirksey slid over to the outside spot.

"We're used to the switching around, we do it in practice all the time," Prater said. "But that was the first time we were out there together in a game. It took some time."

The good news is Iowa put up the greatest comeback in school history. The bad news is Iowa needed the greatest comeback in school history.

Victory flag, either way.

Iowa 03

IACUME03

Ferentz postgame

COACH FERENTZ: Obviously just really pleased with the win, happy for our players. I thought their effort was outstanding. Anybody that was at the game or saw the game clearly we had a lot of play with loose ends, just a lot of mishaps that made it really tough on ourselves in a lot of different regards.

But the big thing is the guys hung in there and they kept fighting, certainly got it done there in the last, whatever it was, 20 minutes. Just really proud of their efforts.

We clearly have a lot of work to do. It all starts with the effort and not quitting. Our guys did a great job of that. Pittsburgh made it hard on us. Credit to them. They played a good game. They have a good football team. They certainly made it tough on us.

Q. This is a game you won't forget.

COACH FERENTZ: I don't think so. I was trying to forget it somewhere there about mid third quarter. Things weren't going very well. Nothing really looked very pretty, maybe outside of Eric Guthrie's punts.

Just really pleased with the way the guys hung in there. Like Gary just said, I think it's one of the biggest comebacks ever in Iowa history. That will be good medicine for our football team, something we really needed.

Q. What do you do in a comeback?

COACH FERENTZ: Well, needless to say I'm very happy. Whatever happens we're going to push forward and try to get better next week. But with a team with a lot of young guys, I'm going to say we're a young team, we got some good senior players, older players, but we have a lot of moving parts right now, so for us to be able to do that, pull something off like that, especially when it looks pretty bleak, if we allow it to be, it will be a really good thing for us and help our growth.

Q. What button did you push at that point?

COACH FERENTZ: I wish I could tell you. The biggest thing, I just shared with our players, the best thing about it to me, we were kind of self inflicting ourselves, self inflicted wounds in all three areas, then it was really a team win. If you think about the kickoff coverage, Joe Audlehelm coming up with a big play, then Tommy Donatell following up with a really big play. Those kind of things spark a defense, they certainly sparked the crowd. We were struggling. We wanted to throw the ball a little bit today but were struggling in the passing game. Really found our rhythm in the last 20 minutes. That was really good to see.

Q. On the first two and a half quarters, how did Vandenberg look?

COACH FERENTZ: He was fine other than we weren't doing well. When we were doing well, we'd get a negative yardage play, penalty, a holding call, what have you.

Those second and 20s are really tough to deal with, third and 15s are tough to deal with. I don't know how many we had, how good we were. I know we weren't good on third down in the first part of the game. But James is a pretty composed guy. He's got his wits together at all times. If he doesn't, he doesn't show it.

The other thing I had to remind myself during the course of the game, too, he's still a pretty young guy out on that field. We had Stanzi last year, was a three year player. James is whatever now, four starts. Not only help him but a lot of our younger guys, this is going to be really good.

Q. (Question regarding the no huddle offense.)

COACH FERENTZ: I don't know that we work on it any more than we have in the past. Maybe a little bit more. We spent maybe a little bit more time since I guess even in spring ball.

But you really don't want to be in that situation where in the third quarter you have to go to it, but we did. Realistically that's where we had to go. And James has a knack. I think he's always had a good knack of operating that, even when he's second team. So that's a part of it, too, just having a little feel for things.

The execution overall was pretty good. It was great to have some young guys step up and make plays, guys that haven't done a lot in the game. Bullock had a touchdown run, Kevonte Martin Manley making a couple TD grabs. If we're going to have a team that's represented, we're going to have contributions from everybody. That was great to see. Zach Derby making some big plays for us, too, which was outstanding.

Q. You seemed emotional after the game. What about this game brought out those emotions?

COACH FERENTZ: You know, probably because I watch this team every day. You got a feel for where we're at, what our challenges are. You know, I mean, my sister could have been at the game, she might have been watching, come to think of it, she could have been at the game and said, Boy, this team has a lot of work to do right now. And we do. There's every phase.

So despite all our rough spots, despite our deficiencies right now, our inexperience, whatever it may be, whatever it is, wherever it is, to push through and still get the game, to win the game, have the guys feel good about themselves afterwards, that's something a growing team really needs. You need that.

Quite frankly, we could use one of those in November, too. I think I read enough about that as well. It's just an important part. You know, just puts a whole different light on things.

Q. A lot of the players talked about James' composure in the huddle. How big is that for him?

COACH FERENTZ: We were just talking a little bit a while ago. He always gives you that appearance. I don't know what's going on, I'm not a mind reader. He typically looks unflappable. You go back to the Ohio State game, that's how he appeared there. The Minnesota game, the next week, which was kind of like this one for a while, there wasn't much going right.

So that's always his demeanor, that's just how he is. But clearly things weren't going well. But he never came unglued, stayed positive, kept pushing. Then things started moving well for us.

Q. What did you think of the play of Kevonte today?

COACH FERENTZ: I just said a minute ago, it's great to have a lot of young guys step up, be it Kevonte, which was great to see. He wasn't running very well in August. He had a foot injury. He was out there. Certainly didn't look like he was going to be able to help us a lot. That was huge for him. All the receivers I think have been practicing better, which is great.

Bullock got his first carry, took it right in the end zone. Nice cut he made and a tough run. I take it back, he wasn't in the end zone. But they put the ball inside the 1. I stand corrected. I thought it was a touchdown.

So it was a good, nice cut by him. And he kept the ball in his arm. That's the biggest worry with a young guy.

Again, Audlehelm, Donatell on the kick teams, that's what we're going to need if we're going to have a chance to have a good team.

Q. Keenan Davis had a good day.

COACH FERENTZ: I missed that talking on the radio with Gary. Gary talked about him like he's a grizzled veteran. To me, he is just like Vandenberg, hasn't played much. Both have done some really good things, but they're still guys that haven't played much. That's huge. We need those guys. Guys graduate every year in college, we've graduated some pretty good ones the last two years. Somebody has to step up there and get it done.

I can't say enough about Keenan. I thought he grew a lot last week. I know it was a tough ending for him, but he grew a lot last week. This is another step in the progression and same with James I think.

Q. Did you have any sense in practice this week it might be tough to shake off a previous loss and keep going today?

COACH FERENTZ: Not necessarily. I think we had pretty good practice actually. You know, Sundays are always tough, they're always tough after a loss. We talk about shaking it off. But easier said than done.

I thought Tuesday, Wednesday we had pretty good focus out there. Didn't show in the first three quarters, but at least we did.

Q. (Question regarding changes on defensive starters.)

COACH FERENTZ: Yeah, I mean, first of all, we were hoping Tyler (Nielsen) could go. We thought he could. He couldn't play effectively. He tried. Next thing you know Kirksey is out at the leo, outside backer position, Hitchins was back in there at will.

Now that last week is gone, I'll just say it, he didn't have a real great outing. Only played 12 snaps. Wasn't much to write home about. He must have played better today. That's what we're looking for.

Then, yeah, we tweaked a couple things. Slid Micah out to the corner. Tanner jumped in at the free. Jordan was out last week. We weren't necessarily going to start him last week, but I think you would have seen him in the game. I think he's flying around at a tempo that we haven't seen from him.

I mentioned at the I Club breakfast yesterday morning, I was here in the '80s with three guys that I coached that were in the offensive line, they didn't start till their fifth years, and they were all NFL picks. One of them was a first round pick. I'm not saying Jordan is. But those guys all find their spot at different times.

That's two games. Now it looks like Jordan is flying around, having fun, playing with enthusiasm. And nobody's forgetting about Collin either. Collin has been doing okay. Maybe we're going to get a little depth out of this whole thing.

Q. Is it better with Hyde at corner?

COACH FERENTZ: You know, I tell you what, I guess you could make that argument. We didn't have a lot of choices in the spring. Tanner Miller was not out there so we felt we would get a look at it. We wanted to ride it through. Good news is he can always slide back there and we'll see what happens.

But, yeah, those are huge plays. That was a great way to finish the game obviously. Just told the Insight Bowl guys, three hosts from December were here, said he must like showing off for you guys. Bring them back every week.

Q. How big was the Donatell play right there?

COACH FERENTZ: Really big. Two points on it. We've been so bad. I mean there's no issue or sugar coating. We've been so bad, awful on kickoff coverage. Joe Audelhelm got one and then Tommy came back and got that one. So it was field position.

Just plays like that spark everybody on the bench. Then obviously it helped the stadium, too. I mean, shoot, we're playing at home, might as well get our fans into it. We were having a hard time doing that. They wanted to early. We kind of lost them there for obvious reasons.

Q. Are you concerned about Marcus Coker?

COACH FERENTZ: The only thing I can tell you he missed a lot of time back in camp. That's what happens. Kevonte is the same way. He wasn't moving around much in August. Today he looked okay. It was a positive step forward.

We'll be okay. It would be better if in Mika'il had stayed healthy. That train left the station. Next guy up. This will be a good experience for him.

FastScripts by ASAP Sports

Pittsburgh at Iowa at Game Notes

September 17, 2011

Iowa (2-1) erased a 21-point third-quarter deficit to rally to beat Pittsburgh (2-1) today at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, 31-27. The Hawkeyes trailed 24-3 with 3:11 left in the third quarter, but rallied to score 28 points the last 16:16 to win 31-27.

The 21-point comeback is Iowa's largest comeback in school history. The previous record comeback was 18 points in a 34-31 victory over Oregon on Oct. 29, 1949 in Iowa City. Iowa trailed 24-6 with 2:30 left in the third quarter against the Ducks.

Iowa scored 21 fourth-quarter points today, the most fourth-quarter points scored since posting 28 in a 42-24 triumph over Indiana on Oct. 31, 2009.

Iowa has scored over 31 points its first three games this season: Tennessee Tech (34), Iowa State (41) and Pittsburgh (31).

Iowa improves to 23-1 in its last 24 non-conference home games. The Hawkeyes have won 51 of their last 62 games in Kinnick Stadium, dating back to the 2002 season.

STARTING ON OFFENSE

Pittsburgh won the toss and deferred to the second half. Iowa has started on offense in 126 of its last 146 contests. The Hawkeyes have started the game on offense in 129-of-152 games under Coach Kirk Ferentz. Iowa games vs. Iowa State (9/10/11), Minnesota (11/27/10), Wisconsin (10/23/10), Ohio State (11/14/07), Indiana (10/31/09), Purdue (11/15/08), Penn State (11/08/08), Wisconsin (10/10/08), Minnesota (11/10/07), at Northwestern (11/3/07), vs. Michigan State (10/27/07), at Penn State (10/6/07), vs. Iowa State (9/16/06), vs. Minnesota (11/19/05), vs. Michigan (10/22/05), at Purdue (10/8/05), at Minnesota (11/13/04), vs. Purdue (11/6/04), at Miami, OH (9/7/02) and at Michigan State (9/27/03) are the only contests that the Hawkeyes didn't start on offense. Iowa won 13 of the 20 games.

OPENING DRIVE

Iowa did not score on its opening drive for the second time in three games. Iowa scored a passing touchdown on its first possession at Iowa State.

Pittsburgh did not score on its first possession, due to a lost fumble. The Panthers scored with 6:35 remaining in the first period, marking the first points Iowa has allowed in the first period this season.

Seven of Iowa's opponents scored on their first possession a year ago. Iowa has allowed nine opponents to score on their opening drive in its last 42 games.

FIRST TIME FOR IOWA

Senior defensive tackle Tom Nardo started for the first time in his career. Dominic Alvis started at end after starting the opening two games at tackle. In addition, safety Tanner Miller started for the first time, while Micah Hyde started at cornerback after starting the opening two games at safety. Jordan Bernstine started at strong safety, earning the first start of his career.

VANDENBERG LEADS OFFENSE

Junior QB James Vandenberg started for the fifth time in his career. He completed 31-48 attempts for 399 yards and a career-high three touchdowns, with one interception. He scored his second rushing touchdown of the season on a one-yard run in the third period.

The 399 passing yards passing ties Chuck Long for seventh best in a single-game in the Iowa record books. Long passed for 399 yards on 19-26 passing against Northwestern on Oct. 26, 1985. The 31 pass completions rank fourth in school history behind Chuck Hartlieb (44 vs. Indiana in 1988), Scott Mullen (36 vs. Indiana in 1999) and Drew Tate (32 vs. Florida in 2006). The 48 pass attempts rank as the third most by a Kirk Ferentz coached team (55 vs. Florida in 2006; 51 vs. Minnesota in 1999). The 399 yards passing are the second most by an Iowa team under Coach Ferentz.

Vandenberg had career bests in completions, attempts, yards and touchdowns. His previous single-game passing bests were 20-33 for 233 yards and two touchdowns in the 2009 overtime loss at Ohio State in his first career start.

MCNUTT HAS ANOTHER BIG GAME

Senior WR Marvin McNutt, Jr. grabbed eight passes for 112 yards today. McNutt surpassed 100 career receptions in the game and now has 106 receptions for 1,859 yards. The eight receptions is a career high. McNutt previously had seven receptions for 155 yards at Indiana in 2010.

McNutt is now tied with Quinn Early (1984-87) for 15th in career receptions. His 1,859 yards ranks 10th all-time at Iowa. McNutt surpassed Travis Watkins, Marv Cook and Quinn Early today in career receiving yardage.

DAVIS HAS CAREER DAY

Junior Keenan Davis had a career bests in receptions and yards (10-129), with one touchdown. Last week at Iowa State, he had five receptions for 95 yards and a touchdown.

MARTIN-MANLEY MAKES BIG CATCHES

Redshirt freshman Kevon Martin-Manley had four receptions for 76 yards and two scores. All four receptions and both touchdowns came in the fourth period. Martin-Manley scored on touchdown catches of 25 and 22 yards, including the game winner.

TWO SURPASS CENTURY MARK

Iowa wide receivers Marvin McNutt, Jr. (8-112) and Keenan Davis (10-129) each had over 100 receiving yards. The last time Iowa had a pair of receivers top the century mark in receiving yards, in a game, was in a 42-34 home win over Indiana in 2009. McNutt, Jr. had four receptions for 155 yards and a touchdown, while Derrell Johnson-Koulianos had three catches for 117 yards and a score.

BINNS GETS SECOND TURNOVER

DL Dominic Alvis caused a fumble in the first period, which was recovered by senior DL Broderick Binns. Today marks the second straight week Binns has recovered a fumble and he now has four in his career. He also had a pass break-up, giving him a pass break-up in three of Iowa's last five games. Binns' totals for the day included five tackles (four solo), a sack for a loss of six yards, a pass break-up and a fumble recovery.

HYDE GETS FIRST THEFT

Junior DB Micah Hyde came up with his first interception of the season in the second period. He added his second theft of the game, and sixth of his career, in the fourth quarter. Hyde had two touchdown returns on interceptions a year ago. Hyde finished the contest with 10 total tackles (nine solo).

MEYER ADDS TO TOTAL

Sophomore PK Mike Meyer made a 22-yard field goal in the second quarter, improving to 7-7 on the season, before missing from 40 yards in the second period and 50 yards in the third. He made all four attempts last week against Iowa State. He is 11-11 on PAT kicks in three games. He has made 21-26 career field goals.

IN THE RED ZONE

Iowa scored on all three red zone possessions today, two touchdowns and a field goal. The Hawkeyes have scored on 117 of the last 128 (.914) red zone possessions (77 TDs and 40 FGs), dating back to the Michigan State game in 2008. Iowa is 98-109 (.899) combined inside the red zone its last 32 games.

Pittsburgh was also a perfect 3-3 in the red zone, but had two field goals and a touchdown.

GUTHRIE HAS STRONG DAY

Senior Eric Guthrie punted six times for 273 yards for a 45.5 average, including booming a long of 50 yards. He has had kicks over 50 yards in consecutive weeks; Guthrie had a career long kick of 59 yards last week at Iowa State.

SOPHOMORE LINEBACKERRS LEAD DEFENSE

James Morris led the Hawkeyes matching a career high with 13 tackles (six solo). Christian Kirksey added eight tackles and Anthony Hitchens equaled a personal best with seven stops (six solo).

POINTS OFF TURNOVERS

Neither Iowa nor Pittsburgh scored any points following turnovers today. The Hawkeyes collected two interceptions, both by Micah Hyde, and recovered a fumble. The Panthers collected an interception.

Iowa has scored 20 points in three games following eight opponent turnovers (four fumbles, four interceptions).

The Hawkeye defense has collected at least one takeaway in 59 of its last 65 games, dating back to 2006.

Iowa opponents have scored seven points following three Iowa turnovers in 2011.

LOWDERMILK SEES FIRST ACTION

True freshman DB John Lowdermilk saw his first career action on Iowa's special teams. Loudermilk is the eighth true freshman to play for Iowa this season. True freshman Damon Bullock had his first rushing attempt of the season.

INSTANT REPLAY

Instant replay was used in the third period, when the spot of the ball on a Pittsburgh punt return was overturned. Later in the third period instant replay was used on an Iowa pass reception that was initially ruled incomplete. The call was overturned, giving Iowa a first down.

NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE

Iowa is home again next Saturday, hosting Louisiana-Monroe in its final non-conference game (11 a.m., BTN).