Game Report: Iowa 29, Illinois 20

OPENING SALVO

When the game was on the line, Iowa put the game on the (offensive) line.

Holding a 23-20 lead with 10:13 left in the game, the Hawkeyes went old school. The Hawkeyes ran running back Jordan Canzeri on 11 straight plays and moved from their 25 to the Illinois 16. The drive culminated in a field goal to go up 26-20, but more importantly took almost 7 minutes off the clock.

It was a philosophical decision made by Iowa before the series, guard Jordan Walsh said.

'We've got to grind the clock down,” Walsh said about the discussion before taking the ball. 'Jordan basically did the rest for us. ‘All right, inside zone, inside zone, left, right, outside zone, left right. Just keep going.'”

'We were trying to grind the clock down there,” Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard said. 'The line was doing an awesome job, and we were getting first down, first down, first down and they were opening up holes for him. I'm sure (Canzeri) was getting tired, but we said, ‘Keep pushing, keep taking care of the ball and we get a few first downs here and we win the game.'”

Iowa rushed for 278 yards overall and 58 yards on that drive.

BY THE NUMBERS

1 - Rushing touchdowns allowed by Iowa this year

7 - Consecutive wins by Iowa with C.J. Beathard as the starting quarterback

43 - Carries by Iowa RB Jordan Canzeri, a new school record

46 - Yards rushing by Illinois

271 - Total yards by Canzeri on Saturday

REPORT CARD

B-plus - CANZERI-N-ATOR.

- Marc Morehouse

B-plus - Jordan rules.

- Mike Hlas

B-plus - New Kirk's victories look a lot like Old Kirk's victories.

- Scott Dochterman

GAME BALL

Iowa RB Jordan Canzeri rushed for 256 yards on a school-record 43 carries and galloped 75 yards for a third-quarter touchdown. Canzeri's yardage was the third most in school history, behind only Tavian Banks (314, 1997) and Ed Podolak (286, 1968).

'I don't really ask how many carries or rush yards I have at the end of the game, but I knew I had a good amount,” Canzeri said. 'I didn't know I had that.”

Canzeri scored two touchdowns Saturday and remains tied with Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott for the Big Ten lead with 10. Elliott also scored twice on Saturday.

'It's really good to see him shoulder the load (Saturday), and he stepped up big,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. 'He wanted to. There's no question about that.”

JUST FOR KICKS

Iowa kicker Marshall Koehn missed his first extra-point attempt Saturday, but he made up for it by converting all three field-goal attempts.

It was the third straight week Koehn had missed short kicks (two extra points, a 27-yard field goal), but Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said he had no concerns about his kicker's confidence.

'I'm not saying it wasn't good, but it was close,” Ferentz said. 'So I don't know if that carried over (last week). But when we had to have it, he came up big. He came up tremendous in that second half.”

KILLER INJURIES

Iowa defensive end Drew Ott (knee) and right tackle Ike Boettger (lower leg) left the game in the second half with significant injuries. Ferentz said he wouldn't know the extent of either injury until Sunday, but Ott is feared out with a torn ACL.

Left tackle Boone Myers (neck) and running back LeShun Daniels (ankle) didn't dress for the game. It was Myers' second consecutive missed game, while Daniels has been hampered since the Iowa State game.

'(Myers is) climbing the ladder, so it would be really good if we could get him back,” Ferentz said. 'Hopefully we'll have Ike back, but I don't know that yet, either. If not we'll figure something out and we'll be ready to go.”

Akrum Wadley and Derrick Mitchell briefly spelled Canzeri at running back but neither registered a carry. Mitchell did catch one pass for four yards.

'We're just kind of treading water and that's not good enough, so we're starting to take a little different approach right now, and we'll see what this week brings,” Ferentz said about Daniels. 'But we just made the decision this week to try to let's see if we can't start climbing the ladder a little bit more.”

Walsh left the game in the first half with a shoulder injury but returned after halftime. Beathard entered his postgame media session with bags of ice taped to both legs but said he'll be fine.

ROOKIE STEPS UP

Iowa true freshman wide receiver Jerminic Smith caught four passes for 118 yards in his second game as a starter. His first catch as a Hawkeye was 46 yards up the right sideline. His second was an acrobatic catch for 49 yards on third-and-13. Beathard threw across his body and Smith came down with the ball. Two plays later, Smith provided a key downfield block to help spring Canzeri to a 17-yard touchdown reception.

Beathard was impressed with Smith's 49-yard reception.

'It's kind of a spur-of-the-moment type deal,” Beathard said. 'The pocket kind of broke down, I was flushed right, and he had a step on the defender down there and he made a great play.”

Smith who is replacing injured starter Tevaun Smith, had a big drop on third-and-5 at the Illinois 16, but it didn't deter from his overall performance.

'He's carrying himself really well, and I think he's taking the coaching that he's getting really well,” Ferentz said.

UP NEXT

No. 23 Iowa (6-0, 2-0 Big Ten) travels to No. 14 Northwestern (5-1, 1-1) next week. The home team has won the last five games in the 77-game series. The Hawkeyes claimed last year's meeting 48-7 at Kinnick Stadium. The Wildcats lost 38-0 at No. 21 Michigan on Saturday.

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