Iowa rushed 29 times for 105 yards Sept. 19.
By Charlie Green
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Iowa’s thrilling 27-24 victory over Pittsburgh on Sept. 19 ended with a 57-yard boot from kicker Marshall Koehn. It was fitting that Iowa fans had to wait until the last second to know the game’s outcome, because they had to be patient for their team to get to that position in the first place.
The Hawks struggled to run the ball immensely in the first half, totaling just 24 yards on 13 carries, one on a 9-yard scamper from quarterback C.J. Beathard in the game’s early stages.
Aside from that run on a broken pass play, the team averaged 0.8 yards per carry in the first half. The Hawks had attempted 26 passes by halftime, more than they did against both Illinois State (24) and Iowa State (25) over the course of those games.
Beathard paced the offense in the first half with 174 yards through the air, but the team didn’t waver from the Hawks’ run-first mentality in the second half.
Understanding that Beathard throwing close to 50 passes would allow the Panthers to drop more back in coverage, Iowa’s offense ground out yards on the ground as the third quarter began. They added 16 carries in the half, bringing the average yards per rush up to 3.6 for the game.
Running back Jordan Canzeri pounded the ball between the tackles, hitting the line hard and occasionally squeaking past it and hitting second level with force. He finished with 49 yards on 12 carries and more importantly, 2 touchdowns, one coming on a valiant second effort at the 1-yard line to barely push the ball into the end zone.
The Hawks finished with 105 yards. Beathard chipped in 39 net yards, largely after seeing nothing downfield on pass plays and taking off. LeShun Daniels Jr. added 19 on 9 touches.
The numbers are anything but flashy, but the carries seemed to yield more and more yards as the game went on as Pittsburg’s defense wore down. They were tough yards, but they helped move Iowa downfield and keep the Panthers honest when the Hawks called Beathard’s number.
On 21 carries, Canzeri and Daniels combined to average 3.2 yards a carry. They had 46 yards in the second half — and every one of them counted.
“They’re a tough team; every single year we play them, they’re tough,” Canzeri said. “We knew coming in with the changes to their coaching staff, and having the Michigan State coordinator [Pat Narduzzi] they were going to load the box and be ready for us when we run.”
Beathard’s composure, arm strength and ability to escape played a role, run defense and Desmond King’s 2 interceptions were huge, but the stat sheet might not show the effect Iowa’s rushing attack had on the outcome.
The offensive line and the backs ultimately won the battle in the trenches. By the final drive, when 44 seconds remained on the clock, Pittsburgh’s defensive front looked gassed. Beathard escaped three times for 27 yards; his final 8-yard rush set the stage for Koehn’s heroics.
“We just had to continue to push,” Canzeri said.” “Even though we kept getting stopped, we weren’t finished.”
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