After 28-yard flub, Murray walking a straight line at kicker

It's kind of odd how 48 yards has been an elusive distance for kicker Daniel Murray.

In Iowa's opener, he had a 48-yarder leak left and the Hawkeyes barely lived to tell, 17-16. Just before halftime against Michigan, Murray lined up for a 48-yarder but the Hawkeyes were called for delay of game. He missed the 53-yarder.

Last week against Wisconsin, Murray finally knocked one down, ripping a 48-yarder dead solid perfect for the final points in Iowa's 20-10 victory.

“It's kind of funny, because when I ran out there, I looked at (holder Ryan) Donahue and said, ‘Let's see if I can make one of these for once,'” Murray said. “I was fortunate enough to actually make it, so pretty pleased with that.”

It was a career long for Murray, beating a 47-yarder he made at Wisconsin in 2007.

Saturday, Murray watched running back Brandon Wegher lose 7 yards and then quarterback Ricky Stanzi get sacked for an 8-yard loss on third down.

“I thought, now I'm not going to be able to kick anything,” said Murray, who's made six of his last seven field goals after badly pulling a 28-yarder against Arkansas State. “I think we gained 14 yards on the play before that, so I got my chance.”

D-line help?

Iowa D-line coach Rick Kaczenski has stuck with his horses for the most part this season. Why not? Adrian Clayborn, Broderick Binns, Christian Ballard and Karl Klug have formed one of the Big Ten's elite units.

Last week, sophomore Mike Daniels got a shot at tackle, replacing Ballard for a few series. With about four minutes left in the first half, Daniels blew by center Peter Konz, drilled fullback Erik Smith and dumped quarterback Curt Phillips on a third-and-2. Then, on first down of Wisconsin's final drive, Daniels got a first step and powered again past Konz for his first sack this season.

Going into Wisconsin, Iowa's reserve D-linemen had accounted for two tackles.

Jurassic Park

That's been the long-standing gag about Iowa's 49-3 drubbing at Michigan State in 1999, the Hawkeyes' worst loss of the Kirk Ferentz era. Michigan State's players that day included NFL standouts wide receiver Plaxico Burress, linebacker Julian Peterson and defensive tackle Robaire Smith.

“I remember (offensive coordinator) Ken O'Keefe saying he thought we were in ‘Jurassic Park' when he saw Plaxico Burress running up in warm-up drills,” Ferentz said. “That was a pretty good description.”