Game Report: Iowa 27, Pittsburgh 24

OPENING SALVO

Iowa kicker Marshall Koehn's 57-yard field goal as time expired provided the margin of victory in the Hawkeyes' 27-24 win against Pitt at Kinnick Stadium. But neither the mob scene on the football field, nor the instantaneous rush of social media euphoria happens without a head's up play by Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard.

With Iowa facing third-and-10 at the Pitt 47 and only 8 seconds left in regulation, Iowa sent its three wide receivers and tight end out on passing routes and kept running back Jordan Canzeri in to block. Beathard initially wanted to throw over the middle, but he quickly tucked it in and sprinted to his left. Beathard dove to the 39, called timeout with two seconds left and gave Iowa a chance.

'As you can see C.J.'s able to make plays on his feet, and that's something I guess we lacked in the past,' Iowa wide receiver Tevaun Smith said. 'Now it's definitely working in our favor.'

'We felt like with two timeouts, we can get the ball to the 40 and give Marshall a shot at the field goal,' Beathard said.

Koehn lined up at the left hash mark and just before his attempt, Pitt Coach Pat Narduzzi called timeout. Koehn kicked the ball anyway.

'We heard it, and we planned on taking the kick,' Koehn said. 'We talked about it on the sideline like me and Dillon (Kidd) and (Tyler) Kluver talked about it. We said we were going to practice it no matter what. We knew they had a timeout. We heard it, we kicked it and it was short, but I felt like I was dialed in. It was a good snap, a good hold and then we executed on the second one.'

The kick will live on, as similar game-winning field goals did for Daniel Murray against Penn State in 2008 and Rob Houghtlin against Michigan in 1985. Beathard's run is a footnote to Koehn's boot, but without it, the moment is less magic and more fate.

REPORT CARD

A — The marketing campaign for 'New Kirk' is off to a rousing start.

— Marc Morehouse

A-minus — C.J. Beathard knew to down himself at the Pitt 39 with: 02 left. He's a football savant.

— Mike Hlas

A — Marshall was Sugar-Koehn for Iowa and Nova-Koehn for Pitt.

— Scott Dochterman

BY THE NUMBERS

3 — Iowa opens the season with three consecutive victories for the first time since 2009

57 — Yardage on Marshall Koehn's game-winning field goal

55 — Rushing yards by Pittsburgh in 27 carries

2 — Interceptions by Iowa cornerback Desmond King

131 — Receiving yards by Pitt WR Tyler Boyd

GAME BALL

Former Iowa safety Brett Greenwood. A four-year starter, Greenwood led the Big Ten in interceptions as a senior in 2010. In 2011, Greenwood suffered cardiac arrest because of heart arrhythmia in 2011 while training for the NFL. He was in a medically induced coma for 27 days.

He progressed enough to be named Iowa's honorary team captain. He walked on to the field with help from former Iowa teammate Pat Angerer and strength coach Chris Doyle. The team followed behind him in the traditional Swarm but walked until Greenwood reached midfield.

After the game, Greenwood held the game ball in his wheelchair. Nobody deserved it more.

KING'S CORNER

Iowa cornerback Desmond King intercepted passes on each of Pittsburgh's first two drives. Both times he covered all-ACC wide receiver Tyler Boyd.

On his first interception, King was locked in one-on-one coverage against Boyd along the Pitt sideline. King blanketed Boyd on a fly route and pulled it down.

Pitt drove to Iowa's 5-yard on its next possession and quarterback Nathan Peterman again looked to Boyd in the back of the end zone. King secured another interception, his third this season and sixth of his career.

'I was reading the quarterback,' King said. 'As soon as he snapped the ball he snapped his head straight to 23 (Boyd). We knew once he looked at him, they're going to go to him. That's their playmaker, and they're going to get him the ball.

'I just knew that I had an opportunity to go get the ball. Once I saw it, I just attacked the ball.'

BOYD'S A BALLER

Boyd did win plenty of match-ups against Iowa's defense. He caught 10 passes for 131 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown strike from Peterman with 52 seconds left in regulation. In two games against Iowa, Boyd has caught 20 passes for 284 yards.

'Yes, I think he's a very good receiver,' King said matter of factly.

Boyd also returned a kickoff for 20 yards. On the game's final play, Boyd stood in the end zone waiting to see if Koehn's kick would fall short. Pitt planned a return if it did.

'It was a long field goal, 50-some yards,' Narduzzi said. 'We called a timeout, and (Koehn) swung through it, which is what we wanted him to do when we called timeout and he looked short. So we said, 'Shoot, let's go see if we can get something out of this.' But he kicked it pretty good.'

INJURY TIME

Neither RB LeShun Daniels (sprained ankle) nor DE Drew Ott (dislocated elbow) started for Iowa on Saturday, but both competed in reserve roles for Iowa. Daniels carried the ball nine times for 17 yards, while Ott didn't register a tackle. Canzeri started at running back, while red-shirt freshman Parker Hesse opened at defensive end.

Daniels said once he worked in practice Wednesday he figured he could play against Pittsburgh.

'I went through a little bit of practice, individual stuff and was feeling pretty good,' he said. 'Obviously I'm still not moving how I'd want to, but it's good enough for me to play.'

HARD HITTERS

Saturday's battle was among the hardest-hitting games in recent memory at Kinnick Stadium. Both Beathard and Canzeri said they'll spend the next few days in the training room after facing the Panthers.

'I'm sore. I'll be real sore (Sunday), that's for sure,' Beathard said. 'My hip is hurting pretty bad. I just got to get treatment on it and work with the trainers.'

'Every single year we play them, it's a hard-fought game,' Canzeri said. 'So we expected that and we should expect nothing less from every single team that we face that they're going to give their all.'

NEW GAME PLAN

Pitt's stout run defense caused Iowa to develop a different game plan this week. Instead of using a balanced approach, the Hawkeyes elected to spread out the Panthers and pass more often.

Beathard had career highs in attempts (40), completions (27) and yards (258). The Hawkeyes ran 29 times for 105 yards.

'We felt like going into it they were going to do a good job of stopping the run,' Beathard said. 'Our game plan was we were going to try to throw the ball a little bit more, and that's what we did. We did a decent job of it at times. We could be better there.'

On Iowa's first touchdown drive, Beathard connected with Tevaun Smith on a 51-yard strike down the right sideline. Smith was in one-on-one coverage, and Beathard's throw allowed Smith to make a play on the ball.

'That play is supposed to go to me,' Smith said. 'There are other options, but I'm the first option and I know he can throw the ball deep. So it seemed like the ball was in the air forever.'

 

 

For a more detailed breakdown of this game, click here.

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com