The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

Koehn puts exclamation point on Iowa win

Koehn+puts+exclamation+point+on+Iowa+win

 

Marshall Koehn hit a last-second 57-yard field goal to give Iowa a 27-24 win over Pittsburgh on Sept. 19.

By Danny Payne
[email protected]

When Iowa had the ball at its own 30-yard line with 52 seconds remaining, quarterback C.J. Beathard knew he had to move the Hawks to around Pittsburgh’s 40. If that happened, it would give Marshall Koehn enough room to make a game-winning field goal.

Beathard made sure he did just that, and it paid off. Koehn blasted a 57-yard atttempt through the uprights as the clock expired. Iowa won 27-24. Chaos ensued.

“I wasn’t letting anybody touch me,” Koehn said of the celebration following his score. “I know I knocked over about three or four cheerleaders, and I heard a couple were on the bottom of the dog pile. I didn’t get touched other than a couple chest bumps.”

The coincidence of the situation is undeniable. Iowa (now 3-0 for the first time since 2009) fans remember head coach Kirk Ferentz’s decision to ice Iowa State kicker Cole Netten in Kinnick Stadium last season. Netten missed his first try, which didn’t count, but he made it when it mattered.

Pittsburgh (2-1) head coach Pat Narduzzi was in the same situation Sept. 19. He called a time-out, Koehn missed the attempt, but then nailed his second chance.

“I kicked myself in the butt at the end,” Narduzzi said. “All the coaches said, ‘Coach, he pulled off on it.’ They said he didn’t follow through on it because he heard the whistle. It’s what everybody does, you have a time-out sitting on that board, you’re going to use it and try to freeze them a little bit.

“He’s got ice in his veins I guess.”

Koehn isn’t the only one with ice in his veins. Beathard’s poise was obvious leading his team to the 39-yard line, where Koehn lined up for the attempt. Following the game, Ferentz said his team’s two-minute drill was horrible in practice all week. On game day, it wasn’t.

The junior quarterback managed the clock extremely effectively and rattled off rushes of 12, 7, and 8 yards to bring his team into field-goal range. He added a pass of 4 yards to tight end Henry Krieger Coble. Beathard would have been perfect on the drive had not wide receiver Tevaun Smith (3 catches, 73 yards) been forced out of bounds around the Panthers’ 35-yard line.

Beathard finished 27-of-40 for 258 yards and an interception. He also rushed eight times for 53 yards and a touchdown.

The numbers on the last drive don’t jump off the page, but the Franklin, Tennessee, native’s poise made the drive. Although he only made his second-start ever at Kinnick, Beathard looked like a four-year starter, particularly on his final rush, which ended with three seconds left on the clock before a time-out.

“We had one time-out left, I knew that beforehand,” Beathard said. “The play was to get a quick pass and get down, call a time-out, and it wasn’t there. I felt like with eight seconds — I was actually looking at the clock while I was running — with three seconds I tried to get down, and I called a time-out right after that, and it worked out pretty well.”

Follow @dannyapayne on Twitter for news, updates, and analysis about the Iowa football team.

More to Discover