Iowans second drive of the game, Beathard executed a play-action to perfection  finding George Kittle streaking behind the defenders towards the end zone for a 21 yard score, but Marshall Koehn missed the PAT.

The fighting Illini answer right back with a TD on the ensuing drive by Keshaun Vaughn to put them up 7-6.

About the next 15 minutes remained scoreless until Beathard found Jordan Canzeri on a screen pass to the left and with a row a blockers, he took it up the sideline for the 17 yard score. Putting the Hawks back on top 13-7.

Iowa added a late Field Goal to lead at half 16-7.

The Fighting Illini scored the first 6 points of the 2nd half on a pair of Field-Goals of 37 and 40 yards by Taylor Zalewski to pull within 3 at 16-13.

Momentum was swinging a bit in Illini favor as Iowa offense hadn’t been able to move much offensively after putting up 298 yards in the first half. The first play from the line of scrimmage for Iowa after Illinois 2nd Field-Goal, C.J. Beathard audibled into a HB counter for Canzeri with a pulling Right Guard. Canzeri found a nice cutback lane and found a couple extra gears going untouched on his way to the 75 yard Touchdown. To increase Iowa’s lead 23-13 Ferentz said ” CJ has his head in the game, doing well physically but really doing a good job mentality too.  He gives us another option with great communication with the staff.”

To read more on Jordan Canzeri’s career day, check out an article by my colleague Dylan Anderson, http://krui.fm/2015/10/10/canzeris-record-breaking-performance-propels-iowa-to-victory/

Another player that stepped up today was true Freshman Jerminic Smith who caught his first pass as a Hawkeye and really seemed to be on the same page with Beathard, easily breaking free from defenders. He also  made a couple nice blocks on runs by Canzeri, which Ferentz pointed out in his post game report.

The Fighting Illini ran multiple tricks plays with a couple flea flickers which had been marginally successful. It was a 3rd and 1 for them at Iowa’s 40 to start the fourth quarter, they took a chance and tried a reverse pass with their best player Wide Receiver  Geronimo Allison and the Hawks defense wasn’t fooled, Allison throwing it right to Greg Maybin who easily intercepted it.

Illinois did add a touchdown on their next possession to cut the deficit 23-20 but that’s as close as it would get as Iowa added two more Field-Goals by Koehn to seal the game 29-20.

Enough can’t be said about Iowa’s 4th quarter defense after last week in Wisconsin and then this week forcing 3 turnovers( 1 on downs) in 4 possessions.

Stars of the game

-Jordan Canzeri 43 rushing attempts 256 yards with a receiving and rushing TD

-C.J. Beathard 15-31 200 yards 2 TDs to go with 33 rushing yards

-Josey Jewell lead the way with 12 tackles and 1 huge fumble recovery on defense

Jerminic Smith had 4 receptions for 118 yards.

Injury Report

The victory was somewhat dampened by the news that broke about Senior DT Drew Ott tearing his ACL in his right knee on a punt rush, but Ott will continue to be a leader on the sidelines like he did after coming out on crutches.

HB Leshun Daniels is still “treading water” but is starting to climb the latter to his return, same thing with  OL Brandon Myers

OL Jordan Walsh hurt his shoulder in the first half but returned in the 2nd half.

Tevaun Smith didn’t play today, doubt he’ll be back before the bye week Oct. 24th.

Tune in next week as Iowa travels to Northwestern right here on KRUI 89.7 FM at 11 AM!

The post Defense bends but does not break, as Hawks win 29-20 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The Iowa Hawkeye defense was in a bend but not break mentality throughout the game, and when it came down to it they made the plays when they had to and escaped Madison with the Heartland Trophy and a 10-6 win over the Wisconsin Badgers.

It is only the fourth time the Badgers have lost at Camp Randall Stadium since Iowa also defeated Wisconsin in Madison in 2009. The defenses for both Iowa and Wisconsin set up the offense in this hard-nosed, physical Big Ten battle. 13 of the game’s 16 points were scored off of turnovers.

Standout Hawkeye cornerback Desmond King stole the show as he has numerous times throughout his Iowa career with two interceptions of Wisconsin senior quarterback Joel Stave.

His first interception midway through the second quarter set up the only touchdown of the game, a one-yard touchdown pass from CJ Beathard to tight end George Kittle.

“I’m just trying to create turnovers and set up touchdowns for our offense,” King said after the game.

King now leads the country with five interceptions through five games this season. The Iowa school record is eight interceptions in a single season, which is held by Nile Kinnick in 1939 and Lou King in 1981.

“He (King) played solid last year, but he’s clearly on a different level this year,” coach Kirk Ferentz said.

Along with King, senior defensive end Drew Ott had himself a game. He did not play extensively the last two games after suffering an elbow injury against Iowa State, but after his performance against Wisconsin that included a sack, two and a half tackles for loss, and a forced fumble Ferentz declared Ott “healthy” in his press conference.

Ott’s forced fumble and concurrent fumble recovery by Nate Meier set up Marshall Koehn’s lone field goal make of the game.

As Wisconsin was driving down the field in the waning minutes of the game, Ott was one of the driving forces in Wisconsin turning the ball over on downs with under a minute to go in the game.

“I just told my teammates that if they don’t score, they don’t win,” Ott said.

The defense responded when it had to, and the believers are starting to hop on the 5-0 Iowa bandwagon.

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After the sudden death of former Hawkeye safety Tyler Sash on Tuesday, Kirk Ferentz and the Hawkeyes have been dealing with not only preparing for a game against their biggest rival but also mourning the loss of one of the greatest players to put on an Iowa Hawkeye uniform.

“It’s tough to deal with things like this, but the support of former players and fans have been outstanding for not only us but Tyler’s family,” Ferentz said.

After the Hawkeye’s 31-17 victory inside Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday, Ferentz was just glad they escape Ames with a big victory.

“We had some very difficult circumstances this week, and our guys battled.”

Junior quarterback CJ Beathard, who is only starting his third game in an Iowa uniform, had himself quite the game through the air and on the ground. He completed 15 of his 25 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns on the day.

He also had 10 rushes for 114 yards on the ground, one of two 100-yard rushers for Iowa. Beathard saw good pressure from the Iowa State defensive line most of the game, and he used his legs to make something out of nothing and give Iowa a needed lift on the ground with runs of 44 and 57 yards on the day.

“Coach (Greg) Davis called a few quarterback draws and the offensive line gave me some nice holes,” Beathard said.

“I was dying after those runs though,” Beathard joked.

Beathard’s favorite target on Saturday was receiver Matt Vandeberg. Vandeberg seemed to take the role of security blanket for Beathard, especially on third down. He caught a team high nine catches for 114 yards and a touchdown on a fumble recovery, including a big 48-yard catch on a 3^rd and 21 for the Hawkeyes.

Despite the win, however, Iowa did have two key players get hurt and miss the majority of the game. Senior defensive lineman Drew Ott left the game in the first quarter with a wrist injury. Ott did go to the locker room for further examination, and was back on the sidelines in the second half wearing a sling and no pads.

Also, senior running back LeShun Daniels Jr. did not play in the second half after suffering an ankle injury. Coach Ferentz said he would know more about both players and their availability for next week’s game against Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Without Ott on the defensive line, Iowa struggled at first with getting pressure on Iowa State quarterback Sam Richardson. However, they did sack the Cyclone quarterback four times. The defense also held the Iowa State offense to 67 yards on 31 plays an no points in the second half.

Nate Meier and Josey Jewell led Iowa defensively with seven total tackles apiece. Desmond King had an interception and a 50-yard punt return to overshadow his rough start to the day on special teams. The Hawkeye defense also had six tackles for loss and three quarterback hurries.

“If we want to be competitive in November like we want to, we have to win games like these and I thought our guys did an awesome job closing things out,” Coach Ferentz said.

Iowa moves to 2-0 on the season, and they will be action next Saturday at Kinnick Stadium under the lights against the Pitt Panthers. We will have the game on KRUI and krui.fm. Kickoff is set for 7:00 P.M.

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For the Hawkeyes, the most urgent question of them all is who will be the placekicker. Marshall Koehn has gone 2-5 to start the season, and freshman Mick Ellis missed his only attempt in last Saturday’s win over Ball State. The fact that head coach Kirk Ferentz would not name a clear cut favorite for kicking duties makes things a little murkier than they already were. Koehn will likely get another shot this weekend, but do not be surprised if Ellis, who lost his redshirt last weekend, gets the call if Koehn once again falters.

Another big question for Iowa is when the running game will finally start to make some noise on the field. The leading rusher for the Hawkeyes after two weeks is quarterback Jake Rudock, who has 11 rushes for 35 yards on the season. The running back group of Mark Weisman, Jordan Canzeri, LeShun Daniels Jr., Damon Bullock, and Jonathan Parker have combined for 181 yards on 62 carries, which divides out to just under three yards a carry. They need to start showing up in a big way and not forcing Jake Rudock to chuck the ball 93 times in two games to overcome late deficits.

The final big question surrounding the Hawkeyes is the health of two of their most important players, Brandon Scherff and Drew Ott. It was reported by multiple sources on Tuesday that Scherff underwent surgery on his right knee and would likely miss two to three weeks.

Coach Ferentz would not confirm in his weekly conference call that Scherff had surgery, instead calling him day-to-day. If Scherff were to miss those two to three weeks, he would miss this weekend against Iowa State, the following weekend against Pittsburgh on the road, and potentially the Big Ten opener September 27^th against Purdue in West Lafayette. Iowa should be able to survive without Scherff for that time frame as Ike Boettger stepped in admirably against Ball State and looks a capable replacement for Scherff should he have to miss any time.

Ott, on the other hand, appears to come away virtually unscathed after his involvement in an accident early Monday morning in Iowa City. Ott was on his moped when a car turned in front of him and collided with the defensive lineman. He suffered what is being called “road rash” after being examined at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Kirk Ferentz also called Ott day-to-day and barring any setbacks should be ready to go for Saturday’s tilt with the Cyclones.

Iowa State comes into Iowa City looking for their identity. After a 34-14 loss at the hands of FCS powerhouse North Dakota State in Week 1, the Cyclones entertained the Wildcats of Kansas State last Saturday only to see them blow a 28-13 and fall to the ranked Wildcats by a score of 32-28. Iowa State ranks near the bottom in rushing yards per game, passing yards per game, and points scored per game.

Quarterback Sam Richardson is leading the charge through the air as well as on the ground for the Cyclones. He has been one of the few bright spots for a team that has disappointed to begin their 2014-2015 campaign. Injuries and personal issues have stripped the team of some key players. Wide receiver Quenton Bundrage tore his ACL in the opener against NDSU and starting right tackle Jacob Gannon quit the team for “personal reasons” days before their game against Kansas State.

The Cyclones do have some playmakers, however. Freshman wide receiver Allen Lazard out of Urbandale, Iowa, as well as Jarvis West will be asked to shoulder more of the load through the air for coach Paul Rhoads. Aaron Wimberly, who has accumulated 23 carries for 75 yards and 2 touchdowns over the first two weeks, leads the ground attack.

The Cyclones may not look as good on paper as the Hawkeyes, but when there is a rivalry like Iowa and Iowa State stats do not mean as much. Both teams will be amped up and ready to get this game started.

This Cy-Hawk game is sure to be one of the most exciting games in recent memory and Kinnick Stadium will be the go to place Saturday afternoon at 2:30. We will have the game live on 89.7 KRUI and also online at krui.fm with pregame starting around 2:15.

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