How Beathard, Hawkeyes got their mojo back

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Here's how quickly judgment was rendered Saturday after C.J. Beathard threw a really bad pass really, really late that ended up picked and returned for a touchdown.

Seconds later, the ESPN Big Ten blog Twitter account dropped this bomb: 'C.J. Beathard apparently is not the infallible savior for Iowa.”

That's a harsh and instantaneous takedown of the sophomore quarterback who wasn't even a quarter into his first start. At the time, no one was going to argue otherwise. Iowa's offense was putrid in the first quarter of the Hawkeyes' 24-10 comeback victory at Purdue last weekend.

Third drive of the game, Beathard held the ball a couple of counts too long, lost track of safety Frankie Williams and zipped a pass intended for tight end Ray Hamilton. Williams undercut the route and ran the interception into the end zone for a 7-0 Boilermakers lead.

'I didn't see the backside safety following the tight end,” Beathard said. 'Obviously, I saw it after the play, but you can't go back.”

It wasn't just Beathard in the first quarter (he was a brutal 2 of 7 for 12 yards and the pick six in the quarter). It was full of 'teachable moments” for the Hawkeyes, who rushed six times for 2 yards in the first 15 minutes. On a third-and-3 deep in Iowa's territory, guard Jordan Walsh missed a defensive tackle and stumbled into center Austin Blythe. Running back Mark Weisman was stopped on what should've been a makable third down.

Iowa's fourth drive died after wide receiver Kevonte Martin-Manley had a drop and running back LeShun Daniels, filling in as the third-down back with senior Damon Bullock injured, missed Williams on a blitz. Drive five was halted after a Daniels drop.

When Iowa lined up for its first possession of the second quarter, it trailed 10-0. Was anyone sweating this yet?

'When things don't go your way, you just have to keep pushing and keep plugging away,” offensive tackle Brandon Scherff said. 'The defense kept us in it and we went out and played our football in the second half.”

After the pick six, junior quarterback Jake Rudock, the starter on the sidelines with a hip injury, said to Beathard, 'It's time. OK, let's go.” At least that's what it looked like on the Big Ten Network feed. And, really, Iowa offensive coordinator Greg Davis turned it around with a series of plays that didn't come with a high degree of difficulty.

Yes, Greg Davis, you know, the offensive coordinator who's treated like a chew toy in the Kinnick bleachers and on the internet and, oh my, does he get it on Twitter. He sloooooweddddd ... the gammmmeeeee ... downnnnnnnnn.

'It was a tough start for him, obviously,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said when asked about Beathard's first moments. 'That's really a positive, when he hit some turbulence and bounce back from it. That's a real positive. I thought he handled it well, I thought the team handled it well. Things weren't going real smoothly there in the first quarter.”

Iowa's turnaround drive was tremendously helped by redshirt freshman running back Jonathan Parker's 47-yard kick return (he gained 94 yards on four touches, 23.5 yards).

On third-and-6, Beathard, still searching for something to hold onto, tried to thread a pass to tight end Jake Duzey. Purdue linebacker Sean Robinsin was called for pass interference and that was Iowa's initial first down of the game. After another incomplete pass, Davis called a QB draw. Beathard saw a hole to the left and gained 15 yards for Iowa's first legitimate first down.

'I can't really remember what plays happened chronologically,” Beathard said. 'Maybe the draw. I can't remember when our first big first down was. Whenever that was, that got us going. We needed something,”

Beathard liked that draw play. It kind of cleared his mind. It was a touchpoint of success.

'Anytime, I can run the ball, it's nice,” said Beathard, who ended up 17 of 37 for 245 yards, a TD and an interception.

Davis laid out another makable play for Beathard. Later on the drive, he completed a 1-yard quick pass that Martin-Manley turned into a 13-yard gain and a first-and-goal.

Everyone started to crawl out of it. Daniels threw a block that took out two Purdue defenders on Beathard's run. Walsh walled off a linebacker and helped spring running back Jordan Canzeri for a 9-yard gain to Purdue's 16.

Wait, what? This guy is giving Greg Davis credit? Well, yeah. The QB draw and the 13-yard pass to Martin-Manley gave Beathard a taste of how things are supposed to work. Iowa scored a TD on the drive and it was back in it.

And Beathard was back in it, too. There was beauty in the simplicity.

'Anytime you throw an interception - I've never been a quarterback - I have to think that rattles your confidence a little bit,” Ferentz said. 'He played through that. Good players are going to do that. Bad things happen to good players, too. I was happy to see him play through it and keep going.”

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