The Iowa football team has outscored opponents 44-0 in the final two minutes of the first half this season.
By Danny Payne
If you happen to be at Kinnick Stadium for Iowa’s contest with Purdue Saturday, don’t leave your seat to get a jump on the bathroom line or a break from the forecasted snow. If you do, there’s a good chance you’ll miss the Hawkeyes putting points on the board.
On the final drive of the first half, No. 5 Iowa has scored four times in its six Big Ten games. That number would be higher had Marshall Koehn hit a 34-yard field goal against Northwestern with 37 seconds remaining in the half. Even more, the Hawkeyes scored on their second-to-last drive against Wisconsin in October.
“It’s a good morale booster,” offensive lineman Sean Welsh said. “By no means does it mean we can be comfortable and content with that, but it also gives us a good feeling going into half, and I think it’s encouraging to the offense and the team.”
And oh, what a difference those points have made. Iowa has outscored its opponents 44-0 in the last two minutes of the first half this season. This statistic carries even more weight given the Hawkeyes’ third quarter struggles. The Hawks have managed only 51 points immediately following halftime this season, compared with 57 in the first, 130 in the second, and 98 in the fourth quarters.
So what has the difference been this season? Why has Iowa’s offense been so good right before the intermission?
It starts with, you guessed it, C.J. Beathard. When Iowa has scored on the final drive of the half in conference play, the junior quarterback has gone 9-of-16 for 124 yards, including three carries for 41 yards and a rushing touchdown.
The numbers aren’t eye-popping, but the Franklin, Tennessee, native’s composure, along with what has been exquisite play calling — a high volume of quick screens, short routes, and quick runs — from offensive coordinator Greg Davis and Company, have given good results in one of football’s toughest situations.
“They rifle [plays] in pretty fast. We’ve practiced it a lot, so we know the type of tempo that we need when we’re doing it,” running back LeShun Daniels Jr. said. “We’ve done it so much that’ it’s just second nature now. We see a play being brought in and we just go.”
Those four conference-scoring drives have averaged 2:33, when Iowa’s conference scoring drives have gone for an average of 3:06. That ability to play at a quick tempo should be encouraging for Hawkeye fans.
For what it’s worth, it’s also an improvement for the Hawks over last year. Iowa only managed 78 second-quarter points in 2014.
It’s just a part of the formula that has put Iowa to its best start in school history and something they’re hoping continues.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s an offensive lineman, a tight end, receiver, me, we know if there’s two minutes left in the half, we want to go get points on the board,” Beathard said. “Fortunately, we’ve been able to do that the last couple weeks right before the half, go down, get points. That’s been good for us.”