Stat Pak: It’s all about QB

Five bullet points from the Pitt result

1. Political moves

-- As the Hawkeyes jogged over to the one black-and-gold corner of a city draped in black and gold, junior quarterback Jake Rudock slowly walked behind. He eventually made it to the celebration, which was a rapid-fire edition of the Iowa fight song.

And then, he slowly made his way up the tunnel and into the locker room. Rudock clearly wasn't walking with all of his lower-body parts in working order. Head coach Kirk Ferentz said after the game Rudock suffered a strain and couldn't play in the second half. It was a hip or knee. Rudock took a monster shot from a pair of Pitt defenders in the first half.

C.J. Beathard entered the game and led three comebacks and May or may not be the starter for next week's Big Ten opener at Purdue.

So, there are politics here that need mitigating.

First, there's the unknown in the immediate. When Ferentz spoke to the media late Saturday afternoon, he said Rudock's injury wasn't devastating, but he also didn't know much more.

Ferentz knows his every move is dissected by the outside world (hi!). The simple exchange of a news conference has become a joust. There's the outside audience and then there are his constituents. You know, the players inside the program.

Rudock is a beacon for what you want out of an athlete and a student. If Ferentz would've marched up to the podium and proclaimed Beathard starter, what kind of message would that have sent to the constituents?

Thanks for everything, Jake. Sorry about your injury, but it's C.J's deal now. K thnx bye.

No serious football coach does that. If there's some ceremony, you know, like a knighting, it would take place anywhere but a podium.

Now, what message would it send to his constituents if Ferentz didn't seriously consider Beathard for starter at Purdue and beyond? For one, it would go against the dictum that Ferentz kind of sort of lives by -- Look at the film.

Two 'look at the film” moments: The 14-yard pass Beathard zipped to WR Damond Powell for a first down on a second-and-10 from Iowa's 27. Beathard got the ball into Powell's number in a nanosecond. It was actually considered a lateral (Powell was credited with a 14-yard rush). That's the kind of throw that starts to mess with a defense's head.

Then, there was the third-and-7 BB that went to TE Ray Hamilton for a 10-yard gain. Two Pitt rushers were coming down on Beathard. He waited until the last second. He stayed locked in and delivered a beautiful ball.

Beathard beat the Pitt defense with his arm, on at leas rather few occasions. You look at the film, that's what is obvious.

Nothing here goes any farther in an answer for 'why no CJB?” He has a deficit somewhere that has kept him from definitely leapfrogging Rudock, who's not a bad QB, either.

Long term? Probably looking at a 'slash” on Monday's depth chart.

2. Timing -

If Ferentz and staff take it all in and conclude Rudock keeps the job - postgame is not the time or place, and Ferentz seemed a million miles from any conclusions - this week still feels right for Beathard.

It has nothing to do with Purdue, which is a team that beat Western Michigan in a shootout (43-34), was handled by Central Michigan (38-17), fought against Notre Dame (30-14) and that hammered FCS opponent Southern Illinois (35-13).

With a bye the following week, it would buy some time for Rudock to fully heal. He was knocked out of games with knee sprains three times last season. He returned two of those, bouncing back after a knee sprain against Wisconsin and then again after spraining the other knee against Nebraska and having three weeks to get right for the Outback Bowl.

Give Rudock two weeks and give Beathard the real look that he most definitely deserves. Two birds, one stone kind of a thing.

3. Run force

-- I'm hopefully going to explore this more during the week, but Iowa's secondary, particularly the corners, were asked to come through in a big way against a ferocious running game.

You saw running back James Conner. He was all of 250 pounds. Pitt's O-line was the dominant unit in the first half. Conner gained 100 yards. QB Chad Voytik launched what was going to be a career day, completing 12 of 14 in the first half. Wide receiver Tyler Boyd had six catches for 71 yards. It was all systems go for Pitt.

The Panthers consistently sealed Iowa's rush defense on the edge in the first half. So, in the second, corners who didn't have a wide receiver to their side rolled up to the line of scrimmage and played run almost exclusively. Corners who had receivers in front of them were much more aggressive in their reads and jumped into run force.

Iowa held Conner to 55 yards in the second half. The Hawkeyes defense made stops and gave its offense a chance.

4. One thing about kicker

-- It's seemed to have settled down. Junior Marshall Koehn has owned the long field goal role, booting a 52-yarder against Pitt.

How rare is a 50-yard field goal for Iowa? That was the longest field goal for the Hawkeyes since Nate Kaeding's 55-yarder against Minnesota in November 2003. Iowa has had just three 50-yard field goals since Kyle Schlicher made one his junior season in 2005 (Mike Meyer had two in his four-year career). They're not Big Foot, but they're close.

And it's time to acknowledge what the former Solon prep is doing on kickoffs. All Koehn does there is lead the nation with 16 of his 19 kickoffs going into the end zone for touchbacks. That's 84.21 percent and best in the nation.

Meanwhile, freshman Mick Ellis has settled into the short FG role, which, so far, has only been PATs.

One week after the kicker was late running on to the field in the fourth quarter for the game-tying FG, special teams coordinator Chris White's group is showing some steel.

5. Fresh Carl, better Carl

-- Senior defensive tackle Carl Davis played roughly half the amount of snaps he usually sees. It wasn't a question of Davis' fitness, he jumped all those hurdles last year. Ferentz said that was the plan against an interior O-line that has a pair of 335-pounders.

You saw a lot of sophomore tackles Faith Ekakitie and Jaleel Johnson. Playing that duo so much in a close game is an investment in the future. It also, perhaps, was a lesson learned from the Iowa State defeat.

During a few series in the second half, six players along Iowa's front seven were subs, with outside linebacker Bo Bower being the only holdover.

THREE STARS

1. QB C.J. Beathard

-- i have constituents, too. It would be disingenuous of me to ignore the first thing on your minds in regard to this football team. Beathard's numbers weren't spectacular, but they were efficient (190.4 pass efficiency to be precise), explosive and exactly what Iowa needed for the victory. (Hey, all e words! I didn't even do that on purpose.)

Iowa's offense moved through the air and made the defense pay for being out of position, even if it was just one step. This is kind of exciting stuff for a offense that needed some room to breathe (the term 'air yards” became a thing for me this week).

2. CB Greg Mabin

-- Really, no one had a cooler day than the sophomore corner. He suffered an ankle injury in practice early in the week and started Saturday on the sidelines. He was in the game by the end of the first quarter. He was really in the game on Pitt's penultimate drive in the fourth quarter. Early in the drive, the 6-2, 190-pounder tipped a pass that strong safety John Lowdermilk nearly picked off. Then, at Iowa's 29 with the game in the balance, Mabin covered Boyd and batted down back-to-back passes to preserve the lead.

3. WR Damond Powell

-- Powell is living proof there is life after a critical mistake. In the first quarter, QB Jake Rudock put some air yards under a ball that beat two Pitt defenders. Powell, who beat his defender off the line of scrimmage all day, split the coverage, had a step and then flipped the ball right into XXXXX's hands for an interception.

It was a brilliant effort. It was just horribly unlucky (and absolutely not on Rudock).

In the third quarter, Powell brushed that off and made a play. This also came after Powell fumbled and stumbled and then recovered a kick return. I tweeted after that 'Time to chalk off Damond Powell.” Powell brushed off the chalk and made a one-handed snag on the 62-yard ba-bomb from Beathard. The play set up Iowa's first TD of the second half, and suddenly the Hawkeyes collective was brushing off the chalk.

Honorable mentions

-- Have to mention Pitt's Tyler Boyd. The 6-2, 190-pound WR caught 10 passes for 153 yards. Conner is a great RB, but I think Boyd is a future NFLer who you'll want on your fantasy team.

Have to mention fullback John Kenny. One of my missions in this space has been to disabuse you of the idea that the fullback can be a yardage weapon. The position isn't a huge part of the offense. Kenny won't change this fact, but for a redshirt freshman who was a full-time linebacker going into week 2, he's grasped the position as though he's been a fullback all along. He knows where to go, he delivers a pop and, when asked, finds his check down spot for the QB.

FILM ROOM

Gap control

- Iowa didn't waste much time getting to the huge amount of defensive substitutions that really was the story of the defense at Pitt. Still, gaps were open in the first half and it was a touchdown away from killing Iowa's chances.

Whether it was the new bodies in the game or fatigue, it was too easy for the Panthers in the first half.

On Pitt's first drive, the Hawkeyes responded to a sudden change, the unlikely interception, and held up. Drive 2 was kind of a mess.

Conner took a handoff right on a second-and-3 at Iowa's 47 and went 22 yards. Linebacker Josey Jewell shot a gap and was crushed by a pulling guard. DE Mike Hardy was stalemated. Fleming was up in run support and kicked out by the fullback. Gair was kicked out by a wide receiver. Middle linebacker Quinton Alston was sucked into the wash.

Next play, outside linebacker Bo Bower missed a chance at a 5-yard tackle for loss on Voytik. Next play, a QB sweep to the left, Hardy was doubled, WLB Reggie Spearman as sealed and the Hawkeyes were outnumbered for a 7-yard gain.

Spearman made a great read on the next play, shed a block from the guard and tackled Conner for a 1-yard gain.

Then, Chris James' TD run: Before the snap, many of the front four had its hands on its hips and was gasping for air. It was a zone-read look. DE Drew Ott and Spearman rushed up field and were out of the play in James' first three strides. They simply overran the speedier back. The secondary was late to react, and it was a 14-yard TD before anyone really knew what happened.

The second half was a different story. Lots of bodies played, lots of growth happened. Iowa will be better for it.

TWO PLAYS

1. Imposing the will

- The huge numbers weren't there, but the running game started to matter for the Hawkeyes.

Junior Jordan Canzeri was the first one in. He wasn't great and might've been feeling the effects from a foot or heel injury against Iowa State. He finished with eight carries for 23 yards. Mark Weisman came to life and had his best game since Nebraska, the season finale in ‘13. He rushed 22 times for 88 yards (his best total in his last six games).

But, really, we're just talking running game so we can reference the blitz pick-up by offensive tackle Brandon Scherff. Check the link below. And thanks to the ingenuous Hawkeyes fan for posting it to YouTube.

2. The third and fourth downs for Pitt

- Iowa's third-down cover-sort-of-blitz package against Pitt (I write 'against Pitt” because I think this will be subject to change) was seven defenders lined up across the line of scrimmage. Five rushed the passer, two dropped back and free safety Jordan Lomax blitzed.

On third down, Mabin high-pointed the ball on Boyd and tipped it away. Sounded like the Pitt crowd wanted a pass interference. There was nothing obvious.

On fourth down, DT Louis Trinca-Pasat got pressure. Lomax and a few others broke through. Mabin just beat Boyd to the spot and tomahawked the ball out of his hands.

NEXT UP

Iowa (3-1, 0-0 Big Ten) at Purdue (2-2, 0-0)

- For your Purdue football needs on Twitter, I suggest @carminjc. That's Mike Carmin, the excellent Purdue football beat writer for the Lafayette (Ind.) Journal and Courier.

- Let's get right to the nitty-gritty. Here are Mike's grades for the Boilers from their victory over Southern Illinois last weekend. Frank assessment. It's what you want.

- Here's a 'What we learned” column. Purdue remains a young team under second-year coach Darrell Hazell. It's coming, but it takes time to build Big Ten-ready O- and D-lines.

THE NUMBERS GAME

Touchdowns in the red zone

Iowa

- 3 of 3

Pitt

- 2 of 4

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. UNI - 4 of 6 (off), 3 of 3 (def); Week 2 vs. BSU - 2 of 6 (off), 1 of 2 (def); Week 3 vs. ISU - 2 of 2 (off), 1 of 2 (def)

The takeaway:

I've completely blown off Iowa's first quarter TD drive. It was an efficient seven-play, 75-yarder that was fueled by a 44-yard hook-up from Rudock to WR Matt VandeBerg.(It was exactly what you wanted to see out of VandeBerg after a big drop vs. ISU.) The score came off a fourth-and-2 situation, a 13-yarder to TE Henry Krieger-Coble, who didn't get matched coming off the line of scrimmage. The drive answered a Pitt drive to take a 7-0 lead and stemmed momentum for the Hawkeyes.

3 and outs (forced by defense)

Iowa

- 2

Pitt

- 0

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. UNI - 3 (off), 3 (def); Week 2 vs. BSU - 5 (def), 3 (off); Week 3 vs. ISU - 2 (def), 3 (off)

The takeaway

: Iowa's defense anchored and got a big stop at the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth. It also stopped Pitt's last gasp on downs with Gair's interception. Iowa' offense had some 5-and-outs, but this is 3-and-out. So, you know, those don't count.

Second half adjustments

Iowa

- 183 yards, 5.90 yards per play (31 plays)

Pitt

- 173 yards, 5.40 yards per play (32 plays)

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. UNI - 190 yards, 5.93 yards per play (32 offensive plays), 199 yards, 5.68 yards per play (35 plays on defense); Week 2 vs. BSU - 247 yards, 5.61 yards per play (44 plays on offense), 128 yards, 3.55 yards per play (30 plays on defense); Week 3 vs. ISU - 102 yards, 3.64 yards per play (28 plays on offense), 190 yards, 5.27 yards per play (36 plays on defense)

The takeaway

: These aren't numbers that will set the world on fire, fire, fire, but compared to Iowa's first half, offensively and defensively, they are a work of art. Remember, Iowa ran just five plays in the second quarter. 'That was the shortest first half that I can remember,” Scherff said.

20-plus plays

Iowa

- 2

Pitt

- 7

Tracking the Hawkeyes:

Week 1 vs. UNI - 3 (off), 7 (allowed); Week 2 vs. BSU - 1 (off), 1 (def); Week 3 vs. ISU - 1 (off), 3 (def)

The takeaway

: The numbers weren't great here for Iowa last week. This week, they're brutal, but, hey, they won, right? Pitt hit Iowa with big plays on the ground (Conner had three rushes of 20-plus yards) and the air (four 20-plus pass plays). Pitt has two high-end playmakers in Boyd and Conner. Iowa's two biggies were in the air and ended up eventually as touchdown drives.

The Iowa/Greg Davis definition of explosive (this is a holdover stat from last year, it's 12-plus runs and 16-plus passes)

: 4 (UNI 6, BSU 6, ISU 1)

Magic points (scores inside of two minutes)

Iowa

- 0

Pitt

- 3

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. UNI - 3 (off), 0 (allowed); Week 2 vs. BSU - 7 (off), 0 (allowed) Week 3 vs. ISU - 0 (off), 3 (allowed)

The takeaway

: Iowa ended up with a semi-stop when it held Pitt to a field goal with two seconds left before halftime. The Panthers drove to Iowa's 15, but ran out of time. Iowa dodged a bullet.

Short yardage (converted second-5 and third-5)

Iowa

- 10 of 17

Pitt

- 8 of 15

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. UNI - 9 of 15 (off), 5 of 10 (def); Week 2 vs. BSU - 9 of 13 (off), 5 of 7 (def); Week 3 vs. ISU: 14 of 19 (off), 10 of 14 (def)

The takeaway:

Much better performance for the defense. It looks as though around 50 percent can work for a defense. In passes on short-yard plays, Iowa converted 2 of 4 including Rudock's 13-yard TD to Krieger-Coble. Iowa also punched in two short TDs, with Weisman scoring from 10 (on a third-and-2) and 1 (second-and-goal) yards.

Disruption numbers (number of TFLs/sacks, QB hurries, passes defended and turnovers divided by total number of opponent plays)

Iowa

- 3.0 TFL/sacks (2.0), 4 PBU, 4 QBH, 1 interception = 12 divided into 72 = 16.7 percent

Pitt

- 1 TFL, 1 INT, 4 QBH = 15 divided into 53 = 11.3 percent

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. UNI - 14.2 percent (off), 29 percent (def); Week 2 vs. BSU - 18 percent (def), 18 percent (vs. off); Week 3 vs. ISU - 17 percent (def), 22 percent (vs. off)

The takeaway:

The Iowa secondary really came through in the fourth quarter. Ott had a sack and two QBH. Mabin led Iowa with three pass breakups. That's a super-low number of plays for Iowa's offense (fewest since running just 50 in a 41-31 win over Northwestern in 2011). But that also was a super-clean performance. You could look at it as Iowa not running many plays or as Iowa keeping disruption at a minimum. It's up to you.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@sourcemedia.net