No. 23 Iowa 29, Illinois 20

IOWA CITY - The theme for the day was disbelief.

Iowa's offensive linemen knew senior running back Jordan Canzeri had a lot of carries. They didn't know he had 43, a school record. They thought it was a lot, they didn't know until after the game how many 'a lot” was.

'Jordan had 43 carries?” center Austin Blythe asked. 'Goodness. That's a lot.”

It's a record, passing Sedrick Shaw's 42 carries against Michigan State in 1995.

'I didn't hear that,” sophomore guard Sean Welsh said. 'Yeah, we like to run the ball around here. It's something we like to do. It's not something I'm going to raise an eyebrow at.”

Still, 43. That's a lot a lot.

'I know the last drive he was in there the whole time,” said senior guard Jordan Walsh, who didn't know the number was 43 and whose face kind of showed surprise when told. 'That's great credit to him. He's running around, jumping up on piles, running around and stuff.”

Canzeri rushed 43 times for 256 yards, a career high and third most for an Iowa back in a game, to fuel the No. 23 Hawkeyes' 29-20 victory over Illinois before 66,693 fans Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.

Behind an offensive line that was missing its starting tackles, with true freshman James Daniels replacing sophomore Ike Boettger who left with an injury, the Hawkeyes (6-0, 2-0 Big Ten) sucked the air out of the game with a 13-play, 59-yard drive that was 11 straight Canzeri rushes. The drive ended with Marshall Koehn's 34-yard field goal, giving Iowa a 26-20 lead and draining 6:53 off the clock.

Yes, 11 straight carries. Not only did Canzeri carry the ball 11 straight times during a fourth-quarter drive, he walked to the Iowa sidelines after a timeout before the field goal and pumped his arms up and down to get the crowd going.

'No, I did not,” said Canzeri, who, you know, can't really keep track of carries because he's doing the carrying. 'I knew it was a good amount.”

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz didn't know, either. He was busy coaching. It wasn't chaos or anything, it was just, using Ferentz's phrase, 'Who cares?”

'I'm not being smart here, but I don't count them,” Ferentz said. 'I'm not keeping track. There's no pitch count. I don't believe it in baseball, either. I think it's a bunch of crap. . . . In a game like this, you go with your best players. We had to, the game was on the line.”

No one knew Canzeri had 43 carries. Everyone had their favorite Canzeri run picked out. After the Fighting Illini (4-2, 1-1) pulled within 16-13 on Taylor Zalewski's 40-yard field goal with 2:56 left in the third quarter, Canzeri answered with a 75-yard TD run on the first play of the ensuing drive, pushing Iowa to a little more comfortable 23-13 lead with 2:45 left in the third.

This play was born out of adjustments, Ferentz said. Illinois surprised Iowa with something up front. Ferentz said the staff and players adjusted. Quarterback C.J. Beathard, who conducted his postgame with ice on his left hip and right groin, saw something he liked in the Illini's defensive front and called an audible to a power running play. Blythe reached and turned the tackle. Walsh pulled and took out the middle linebacker. Daniels sealed the end.

Canzeri scored untouched.

'That's what we want to do as an offense,” Blythe said. 'Jordan made us right on a lot of things, hitting the hole where he was supposed to and kept running hard.”

Even after the 75-yarder, the door was still open. Illinois QB Wes Lunt hit wide receiver Geronimo Allison for a 53-yard TD. Illinois drove for another field goal. Iowa kicked another field goal to make it 26-20.

The Illini had first down at its 25 with 3:20 left. They pulled this off just last week against Nebraska from a longer starting field position and with less time.

On first down, running back Ke'Shawn Vaughn was hit by defensive end Parker Hesse and linebacker Josey Jewell. He fumbled and Jewell recovered. That was that. The defense, which really has been the Hawkeyes' spine this season, forced its second turnover.

Iowa will go to No. 14 Northwestern (5-1, 1-1) after having spent a lot of physical capital Saturday in Kinnick.

First and foremost, senior defensive end Drew Ott suffered an ACL injury during a punt in the second half, the Gazette has learned. Ferentz didn't confirm the extent of the injury. Ott had a sack Saturdy to raise his season total to five.

'It's a shame, it's just a tough deal,” Ferentz said. '. . . He's still invested. He's going to do all he can, and hopefully we can get him back. We'll keep our fingers crossed.”

Why was a true freshman in at right tackle? Daniels replaced Boettger, who left the game early in the third quarter with a left ankle injury. Iowa already was down left tackle Boone Myers (neck/shoulder stinger) and running back LeShun Daniels (high-ankle sprain).

And, so, Iowa moves on to the next round with a true freshman in at right tackle and a 190-pound running back with ant strength.

As far as Iowa goes, that's pretty Iowa.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com