Iowa is leading Illinois State, 17-0, at halftime.

By Danny Payne
[email protected]

What did I just watch? I blacked out.

I kid, I kid.

Seriously, Iowa looked really, really, really good in that half. Granted, Iowa is playing an Football Championship Subdivision opponent, but it’s the type of domination you’d like to see. A few notes are listed below for your pleasure.

• C.J. Beathard is the right quarterback for this team. This half, he went 11-for-19 for 167 yards. His release is light years quicker than a certain starting quarterback, which allows Iowa to do more things. Case in point: A quick slant to Tevaun Smith on fourth down to set up a touchdown on Iowa’s first drive and a bubble screen to do the same on Iowa’s 99-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter.
• Drew Ott, along with Greg Mabin, came to play today, the former in particular. Ott looks like a man possessed, and he has 2 sacks. Put modestly, Ott has built a house, two condos, and a hotel in Illinois State’s backfield today.
• Kirk Ferentz wants you to take last season and shove it. His team looks dramatically different, and he even tried a fake field goal. Marshall Koehn took a direct snap but came up just short.
• Also: That last drive was new Iowa. A screen for a huge gain to Canzeri set up the points. In years past, Ferentz might kneel that ball.
• Guys who need work: Ben Niemann, Miles Taylor. They haven’t been terrible, but they need to make a few adjustments.
• Good job at the end of the half stalling a good push from Illinois State. The Redbirds were threatening, and Iowa woke up from a lull to complete the shutout in the opening half. Iowa blocked a field goal with 37 seconds left in the half.
• Attendance is 59,450. Not great.
• All told, that’s a damn good half for the Hawks. Here are the stats: