Iowa notes: Injury front, looming Kidd family battle

IOWA CITY - Iowa's game with Pittsburgh exacted a physical toll on all players, but the Hawkeyes did not incur any significant injuries, Coach Kirk Ferentz said Tuesday.

'Injury-wise, we came out of the game surprisingly healthy,” Ferentz said. 'It was a physical ballgame. I was curious to see what it was going to look like on Sunday. We had guys nicked up a little bit and sore, but I think we're in much better shape than we were a week ago.”

Running back LeShun Daniels (ankle) and defensive end Drew Ott (dislocated elbow) played sparingly against the Panthers. Both are likely to suit up again this Saturday against North Texas but both are limited in practice and far from 100 percent, Ferentz said. Ott's gruesome injury led some to believe Ferentz should sideline him for this week,

'If he can play effectively, we're going to let him play,” Ferentz said. 'That's what he wants to do. Certainly that's what he wanted to do Saturday. But he really couldn't use that elbow effectively, so it didn't look like Drew out there. With all due respect, the other guy's a good player too.”

They aren't the only players nursing injuries. Quarterback C.J. Beathard told reporters his hip was 'hurting pretty bad” after last week's win against Pittsburgh. He also was drilled in the face on a sack. But all systems go this week.

'I'm a little banged up, a little sore but nothing too serious,” Beathard said. 'I've been able to practice the last couple of days. I'm still healing a little bit, but I'll be fine.”

Kicker Marshall Koehn nursed a sore groin muscle for most of last week and rested during practice.

'It was a little sore but it was nothing like too serious,” he said. 'I was good to go at game time.”

Tight end Jake Duzey (torn patella tendon) dressed Saturday and worked in team portions of last week's practices.

'I doubt he'll go this week, but we're moving closer and we're all pleased to see him get more involved,” Ferentz said.

LONGER KICK

Koehn admitted the euphoria after his game-winning, 57-yard field goal as time expired lasted a little longer than the program's 24-hour rule.

'It's a little sweeter,” said Koehn, who quickly added that he was focused on this week's game against North Texas.

The game-winner provided a culmination of an off-season of practice for long snapper Tyler Kluver and punter/holder Dillon Kidd as well as Koehn. The distance really didn't matter.

'Anytime there's a game-winning kick, your heart's racing a little bit,” Kidd said. 'But the main thing I feel like we focus on in the off-season is putting that body of work together in preparation to where if you're asked to do anything that you feel confident doing so. It's just another kick.

'You've got a guy like Marshall who has a freaking cannon of a leg and it helps, too. He trusts me and I trust the snapper so the operation works pretty fluidly.”

Koehn also had a 64-yard rugby punt in the first quarter that pinned Pitt inside the 5-yard line. Koehn rolled to the right and is a running threat after rushing for 25 yards on two fake field-goal attempts the previous two weeks.

'It's something that we've been practicing every week,” Koehn said. 'We were waiting for an opportunity to do it.”

Ferentz previously has said he dislikes the rugby punt approach. Apparently that has changed.

'Yeah, it's a new me,” he said. 'It's as simple as this.”

NO KIDDING AROUND

It's more than three weeks before Iowa and Northwestern battle in Evanston, but this year's edition will have a little family flavor to it.

Kidd's brother, Garrett, is a fifth-year wide receiver at Northwestern. Garrett Kidd appeared in 13 games during four seasons at Miami (Fla.). He began his career as a walk-on and later earned a scholarship. He graduated in the spring with a Bachelor of Science degree in finance and will study predictive analytics at Northwestern.

'He had some looks from Illinois and Northwestern. It was just finding the best fit and I know academics are a big part for him, and I think he has over a 3.8 GPA,” Dillon said. 'He wanted to find a place that would help him for after football, and Northwestern was a good place to do that, on top of having a great team that throws the ball around.”

Their father, John Kidd, was a first-team All-American punter for Northwestern from 1980-83. He also punted for five NFL teams in a 15-year career. John Kidd stills school records for season (45.6, 1982) and career (41.8) punting average.

Garrett Kidd missed time in camp because of an injury but has played in two games at Northwestern. He has not registered a statistic but was targeted on one route. At Miami he caught two passes for 13 yards, returned a punt for 11 yards and blocked a kick.

'The trash talk has already started,” Dillon Kidd said. 'My dad played at Northwestern. He kind of has his obligation to his alma mater but wants me to play well. So it's going to get interesting here in the next couple of weeks.”

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