Halftime: Iowa 17, Pittsburgh 7

September 19, 2015

Hawkeye quarterback C.J. Beathard gets a pass off under pressure from Pittsburgh’s Rori Biair on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015. Beathard was only sacked once during the game. The Hawkeyes defeated the Pittsburgh Panthers 27-24 on a last second field goal. (The Daily Iowan/Sergio Flores)

At halftime in Kinnick Stadium, Iowa is leading Pittsburgh, 17-7.

By Danny Payne
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Well, this is fun. The night game has a great atmosphere, the crowd is good, and I’m enjoying myself. Here are some observations about the first half:

Pitt’s defense is bringing the HEAT. This is a stereotypical Pat Narduzzi defense. C.J. Beathard has been hurried on a fair number of plays, and he also received medical attention on his left hip/leg area. It’s fair to say he’ll have lots of bumps and bruises after this one.
The same goes for Jordan Canzeri. He’s taken a beating as well.
Desmond King can ball. The junior had two picks in the first quarter. On the first, he won a jump ball over future first-round draft pick Tyler Boyd. The second, King picked off Nate Peterman in the end zone.
This is awesome. Rod Oden was King’s high-school coach.

Somebody tell Pat Narduzzi to stop trying that kid, he didnt seriously recruit while at MSU. 2 INTs for Buddah in… http://t.co/UmyeCYSgX3

— Coach Rod Oden (@CoachRodOden) September 20, 2015

Beathard had a very nice deep ball to Tevaun Smith for a gain of 51 yards that led to an Iowa touchdown.
Offensively, Pitt doesn’t look very good. It looks to have gone with Nate Peterman at quarterback instead of Chad Voytik.
Drew Ott and LeShun Daniels Jr. have both played, although it’s been sparingly.
If you haven’t heard, Brett Greenwood was honored before the game. Lots of tears happened. You can watch the video below.

.@HawkeyeFootball fans already knew this, but Brett Greenwood is the man. What a great moment. http://t.co/QtwfWaUYLO

— Brent Yarina (@BTNBrentYarina) September 20, 2015

Iowa hasn’t been able to get much going in the running game. Outside of a 9-yard touchdown run for Beathard, the Hawks have 15 yards on 12 carries. The Panthers are forcing Beathard to make plays through the air, which he’s done a nice job of so far.
James Daniels played a good number of snaps at left guard in the first half, particularly the first quarter. Not sure if that’s an injury thing or a matchup thing. Keep an eye on it.
Below are the stats. We’ll have more as the game goes on, so be sure to follow us @dipregame, @dannyapayne, and @CharlsGreen.