Iowa notes: Special teams, timeouts, recruiting

IOWA CITY - Placekicking continues to plague Iowa's special teams the way a dull razor blade scratches a bearded face.

With the team lined up for a game-tying, 44-yard field goal and only 4 minutes, 8 seconds remaining against Iowa State, no kickers immediately ran on the field. Then, two kickers did. Marshall Koehn was closer - or ran faster - and got into position and stroked the kick from the right hash mark.

Obviously, the situation wasn't as smooth as Coach Kirk Ferentz would have liked.

'We had some discussion on that, yeah,” Ferentz said Tuesday. 'Marshall did a great job on that. I'm hoping that's a good thing for his confidence. Hopefully it will be.

'It's like everything. It's clearly cloudy, I guess.”

Last week's directive was for freshman Mick Ellis to kick when the ball is placed inside the opponent's 25-yard line, and for Koehn to kick everything outside the 25. The ball was on the 26.

Throughout training camp punter Dillon Kidd worked mostly as Ellis' holder, so he rushed to the field to take the snap. Ellis waved his arms until Koehn outran Ellis to the field.

'Initially coach had called for that last field goal for Mick to kick it even though it was on the 26,” Kidd said. 'I went out hearing that name called and then it ended up being a little confusion out there and Marshall came out.

'We weren't really sure who was kicking the field goal, but we definitely have confidence in both our kickers. But we needed somebody to come out and kick that ball for us. I'm glad Marshall put it through.”

Timed in or timeout?

Iowa called its final timeout with seven seconds left before ISU's Cole Netten kicked the game-winning field goal. That left just two seconds for Iowa to attempt a desperation series of laterals on the ensuing kickoff.

Ferentz had a chance to call a timeout much earlier in the possession with about 20 seconds remaining. That could have given Iowa's offense a last-ditch chance instead of no opportunity. It also could have given ISU a second shot at a kick if something screwy happened, like against Northern Iowa in 2009.

'We weren't thinking about it,” Ferentz said of using the timeout earlier. 'As they got closer to the field goal, we thought about it. I'm not sure what a big difference that was.

'But it is a consideration. It also gives them more time to operate.”

Iowa also called timeout following ISU's first touchdown on an underthrown fourth-and-goal pass from Sam Richardson to E.J. Bibbs. The ISU tight end had to reach back for the completion and cupped his hands under the ball.

'Typically, at least as I understand it right now, you're probably wasting timeouts when you do,” said Ferentz, when asked if he hoped for an official review. 'Anything close is getting reviewed. Sometimes you take that extra step, I guess.”

Former Pitt commit

Iowa middle linebacker Quinton Alston originally committed to play at Pittsburgh under Dave Wannstedt in 2010. But Wannstedt was fired before Alston signed a letter of intent, which left the door open for Iowa.

'They had some coaching changes and (former assistant) Coach (Darrell) Wilson, he's from New Jersey, too, and I knew him before the recruiting process started,” Alston said. 'I took a visit out to Iowa, I fell in love with the players and the town. I felt like this is the best place for me.”

Alston called the time of his Pitt commitment 'ancient history” but he'll get a chance to renew acquaintances with former high school teammate Adonis Jennings, who is a freshman wide receiver at Pitt. Also their high school coach, Timber Creek's Rob Hinson, will attend the game.

'It's going to be a great opportunity for us to become closer as a team so that's what I'm focusing on right now,” Alston said. 'I'm anxious.”

Recruiting zone

Iowa formerly pulled players from western Pennsylvania like Bob Sanders, Ed Hinkel and Jeremiha Hunter, but the recruiting pipeline was more of a trickle than a flood. Now, the spigot is turned off.

Iowa doesn't roster any players from Pennsylvania, and Ferentz said he has no plans to recruit there, either.

'I kind of lost my interest when Sean Lee went to Penn State,” Ferentz said of the Dallas Cowboys linebacker. 'I don't blame him. I get it. It's really hard for us to get kids out of Pittsburgh or western PA. It hasn't been productive for us. Probably better places for us to spend time.”

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