3 and Out: Life after drops

1) Life after death — Does that seem harsh? 'Life after death' implies a grave circumstance. Certainly, a wide receiver dropping a pass isn't anywhere near the same plane. The quarterback and philosopher Ricky Stanzi once said that you don't get shot for losing a game. That's true. Still, for wide receivers, a dropped pass is all the fixings they need for a sleepless night.

And, no, wide receiver Damond Powell has never had a play where he caught a pass and then accidentally flipped the ball into a defenders waiting arms for an interception.

'Never,' Powell said. 'I've never had a play like that and I hope I never have one again.'

Sophomore Matt VandeBerg had a drop on a slant against Iowa State that was costly. Against Pitt, he had what looked like a completion that would've moved the chains for the Hawkeyes ruled incomplete.

'As a receiver, I'm going to tell you I caught it,' VandeBerg said.

The theme here with these two Iowa receivers is redemption. In the first half, VandeBerg outjumped a Pitt defender and high-pointed a pass from Jake Rudock for a 44-yard gain that eventually led to a touchdown. In the second half, Powell made a one-handed grab on a 62-yard bomb from C.J. Beathard.

'When I made my bad play, my coaches and teammates were there for me all the way through,' Powell said. 'They told me I'd have another opportunity to make a catch.'

Everyone Iowa has clamored for defense-stretch deep passes. Iowa tried three against Pitt and went 2 of 3. The QB has to make the throw and see the opportunity, but he also has to trust the wide receiver to make the play.

'We're showing the quarterbacks that we can make plays so we can get more opportunities,' VandeBerg said. 'If we continue to make plays like that, I know the QB is going to be more comfortable if he sees one-on-one coverage, 'I feel comfortable with my guy winning that.''

2) Big Ten's best short-yardage back — The Big Ten Network had an interesting poll on last night's Big Ten Live. It asked viewers to cast their opinions on the conferences top running back. The winner was Nebraska's Ameer Abdullah, who might be the conference's best all-around back. He and Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon are neck-and-neck there. Iowa's Mark Weisman finished second in the short-yardage voting.

At 6-0, 238 pounds, Weisman is made for the short-yardage. He's one of the reasons why Kirk Ferentz decided to go for it on fourth down three times last week at Pitt. (Crazy stat there: Iowa has converted three fourth-down attempts in each of its last two games. In Kirk Ferentz' previous 189 games, the Hawkeyes had three games with three fourth-down conversions.)

Against Pitt, the Hawkeyes converted 10 of 17 plays that were either 2-and-5 or third-and-5. Weisman went 5 of 9 there, converting a fourth-and-1, scoring a TD on a third-and-2 and scoring on a 1-yard run on second-and-1 to give Iowa the lead in the fourth quarter.

3) Hawkeyes clearly in the cross hairs — Purdue coach Darrell Hazell's weekly news conference included several references to Iowa's 38-14 victory in West Lafayette, Ind., last season. Iowa has been through this before. Way back, Northwestern coach Gary Barnett targeted Iowa as a team to emulate and eventually beat and pass in the Big Ten standings. The Wildcats ended a 21-game losing streak against Iowa and played in the 1995 Rose Bowl. When he took over at Michigan State, Mark Dantonio mentioned Iowa in the same vein. A program to emulate and a program you wanted to compete with.

And now Purdue.

According to the Lafayette (Ind.) Journal & Courier, Purdue's scout team wore Iowa decals on its helmet this week in practice. Hazell said secondary coach Taver Johnson brought the idea to him last week.

'It's a reminder how important the opponent is,' Hazell told the Journal & Courier. 'We have a lot of respect for Iowa and the things that they do and have done. It's a reminder to our guys how good we have to be on Saturday.'

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