Iowa tight ends parachute into the highlights

IOWA CITY - George Kittle said he just happened to fall out of a plane. The topic was his 35-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter of Iowa's victory Saturday over Purdue. This will take a minute to get from a to b.

The Boilermakers rushed seven players on a third-and-9 from their 35. Kittle read the safety, let him rush toward the line of scrimmage and then made his move. Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard floated a pass that Kittle ran under and just like that it was 27-13 and Iowa was counting down on a Big Ten West Division title.

OK, now the 'falling out of a plane” part.

'I just got lucky, they were in this blitz that we knew they were going to run and C.J. got us into the right check,” Kittle said. 'I just happened to fall out of a plane. It was nice.”

Fall out of a plane?

'There's no one around,” Kittle said. 'Empty space all around me.”

It was kind of like that for the Hawkeyes tight ends in their 40-20 victory over Purdue. Kittle and senior Henry Krieger Coble combined to catch six passes for 125 yards and two TDs. Krieger Coble caught Iowa's next score, a 22-yard TD that gave Iowa a 33-13 lead with 8:40 left in the game.

Kittle and Krieger Coble are cousins. Kittle thoroughly enjoyed his sky-dive TD, but he absolutely loved seeing his cousin score his first TD of the season in his final game at Kinnick Stadium.

'I just feel great for all of the seniors, especially my family,” Kittle said. 'I can't really describe it. I love my team and of course I love my family. I was running on the field before he even got in the end zone. It was fun.”

You had Kittle plunging through the middle of Purdue's defense on one play. On the next, you have Krieger Coble making that subtle move on a defender to find just enough space in the middle of the field for just enough yards for a first down. You've seen it nearly every game, and there it was again Saturday.

Kittle fell out of a plane. Krieger Coble didn't have any cool description for his route.

'We don't really have a name for it, but it's my job to get open,” Krieger Coble said. 'It's a ‘win' route. What you have to do is try to get open and fortunately we had a few of those today.”

Win route? Maybe that's not as cool as 'fall out of a plane,” but it fit.

During the week, Krieger Coble was in for the practice repetitions on the audible that Kittle broke wide open and then in the game. It was OK, though, they kept that TD in the family.

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