When Iowa started throwing over the middle, the whole offense opened up against Pitt.

By Charlie Green
[email protected]

It took Iowa’s offense awhile to get going on the evening of Sept. 19, but one slight adjustment changed the game: Hawkeye quarterback C.J. Beathard began throwing the ball in the middle of the field.

“I think it’s just a good game plan, good call by the coaches and good job by the receivers getting open,” Beathard said following Iowa’s 27-24 victory. “And it was a good job by the line allowing me to throw those balls over the middle; when they’re there you need to hit them.”

The change may have come in the second quarter, after Pittsburgh linebacker Matt Galambos came untouched through the line on a delayed blitz. Beathard, eyes downfield, didn’t see him coming and took a big hit — a common occurrence in the first half.

“You don’t really want to hear as an offensive lineman that your quarterback is getting hit,” center Austin Blythe said. “And I think that’s where we need to take another step forward as an offensive line and improve quite a bit.

“He was hit way too much tonight, and we need to work on that.”

The Panthers recovered what looked like a fumble at Iowa’s 1-yard line — but after a review, Beathard was ruled down at the 14. A few plays later, the drive was over.

The summary? Three plays for minus-6 yards, and the Hawks punted. Iowa’s offensive line was losing, and Pittsburgh’s first-year head coach Pat Narduzzi (the former defensive coordinator at Michigan State) was overpowering the Hawks with his physical front seven.

But adjustments soon followed. The offense went from primarily going to out routes at the sidelines and various screens to attacking the middle of the field.

Beathard got the tight ends involved more than they have been this season (they had 7 catches, as opposed to 2 in the previous two games).

The Panthers subsequently eased off of the aggression from their linebackers, giving Beathard more time in the pocket and the running game more room to work with — ever so slight as it may have been.

All it took was one simple adjustment, and Iowa’s offense opened up.

Beathard and Company drove 74 yards on 12 plays the next time they had the ball, eating up six minutes of clock and hiking their lead to 17-7. Beathard went 5-of-7 for 55 yards, picking apart the Panthers where they were most vulnerable.

From that point on, Pittsburgh’s defense never dominated the line of scrimmage the same way. Running back Jordan Canzeri got to the second level, Beathard had more time to throw, and gradually, the Hawks’ more balanced approach wore the Panthers down.

“I just want to give both teams credit for the way they fought and the way they bounced back through the ups and downs of the ball game, but it was just a hard-fought win,” head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “We are really, really proud of our football team and just really pleased with the outcome.”

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