The Iowa football team routed Illinois State on Sept. 5, 31-14.
By Danny Payne
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That was just what the doctor prescribed.
By way of a 31-14 win over Illinois State, the Hawkeyes picked up their first win of the year after a rough off-season that players simply wanted to end. And they did so in a very convincing fashion.
“We’re a physical team,” quarterback C.J. Beathard said. “That’s part of our philosophy; we like to establish it up front, and we got to do it today.”
Just as Beathard said, Iowa punched its opponent in the mouth early, opening with a pair of drives that lasted a combined 13:01, chewing up 185 yards and 25 plays. The first, which spanned 81 yards, ended in a 6-yard draw from Beathard.
After Illinois State quarterback Tre Roberson pooch punted and pinned Iowa at its own 1-yard line, the Hawkeyes marched 99 yards to the end zone and capped off the drive with a Jordan Canzeri (118 all purpose yards, two scores) touchdown.
“It’s a momentum booster,” said running back LeShun Daniels Jr., who finished with 26 carries for 123 yards. “You always talk about sustaining long drives. We practice coming out, practicing 99 yard drives. When we actually came out and did it, we were jacked up on the sideline.”
Yes, it was only 14 points, but it might as well have been 100 with the way Iowa was playing. Beathard — who finished 15-of-24 with 211 yards and a touchdown — couldn’t miss his targets early on, and the new-look Iowa offense clearly benefited from the first-year starter’s style of play.
On both of those drives, Beathard’s arm proved to be key. On fourth and 2 from the Illinois State 14, the junior hit receiver Tevaun Smith (3 catches, 24 yards) on a quick slant in traffic, setting up the Beathard draw two plays later.
Had someone with a slower release than Beathard tossed that ball, the Redbird defender likely would have had time to stick an arm in on Smith and break up the play.
Beathard’s big throw on the other long drive came on second-and-1 from the opponent’s 22. He hit receiver Matt VandeBerg, who finished with 59 yards and a touchdown, on a screen pass — something, for whatever reason, Iowa has struggled with in recent years — for 17 yards.
Similar to the previous drive, Iowa punched it in two plays later from five yards out.
“Those were big conversions right there, especially the fourth down,” Beathard said. “You don’t complete that, the drive’s over. We were in field-goal range, and it was the correct call for the coaches to rely on me to throw the ball … we converted, and Tevaun made a great play.”
With that offensive outburst — as well as Drew Ott owning real estate in Illinois State’s backfield, among other strong defensive play — Iowa made a statement that last season is over.
After taking care of business Sept. 5, Iowa State is next, and there’s nothing in the rear-view mirror but Illinois State.
“The guys played hard,” head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “I thought we were more aggressive in areas than we’ve been, some other areas, and particularly on the perimeter offensively and defensively.”
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