The Hawkeyes have a real shot to start the season 4-0, but you can’t get to 4-0 unless you get to 3-0 and Pitt, with new coach Pat Narduzzi stand in the way.
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ROSS: Last season it was a pretty commonly held belief among Iowa fans that one of them would be gone by the 2015 season; most observers were leaning toward Beathard being the one to head elsewhere, since he was on the second line of the depth chart and he (via his father) made some rumblings during bowl preparation that the situation past year wasn’t very satisfying.
Pitt edged Youngstown State in a 45-37 shootout, in which the defense had some lapses on big touchdown plays.
CONNECTIONS: Ferentz, who grew up in the Pittsburgh area and was a graduate assistant for the Panthers in 1980, sees parallels between Pitt and many of Iowa’s Big Ten rivalries.
Kinnick Stadium, meanwhile, likely will be rocking for its first night game since 2012.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network.
The Iowa Hawkeyes are coming from a 31-17 win over Iowa State in Week 2. Wide receiver Matt VandeBerg had nine receptions for 114 yards, running back Jordan Canzeri finished with 124 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries and quarterback C.J. Beathard completed 15 of 25 passes for 212 yards and touchdowns. Daniels hurt his right ankle against Iowa State, so they may be missing their leading rusher.
Narduzzi also backed off an earlier claim that reigning ACC Player of the Year James Conner is out for the season. The only player that really does scare me is WR Tyler Boyd who had 153 yards receiving against Iowa previous year. They won at Akron a week ago, but the atmosphere was dampened by a persistent and heavy rain, as well as the Zips’ anemic offense.
Pittsburgh running back Qadree Ollison rushed for 207 yards on 16 totes while replacing injured starter James Conner. I think it will be a close game for a half, but Iowa will pull away in the second half by grinding out some long drives and wearing down the Pitt defense.
Narduzzi declined to name a starting QB for Saturday’s game against the Hawkeyes, saying he’ll wait until kickoff before choosing between Chad Voytik and Nate Peterman. Pitt will be the biggest challenge Iowa’s rush defense has faced by far. But with the ball at the Pittsburgh 29, Voytik threw to Boyd on both third and fourth down. But Iowa plays Pitt and Wisconsin in the next three weeks – we’ll know much more about how good Iowa’s run defense truly is after after those games. “I think eventually you’d like to have that, yeah”. Hopefully that trends continues and we’ll see Iowa executing at a high level under the lights. Pressure could lead to turnovers.
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I think the defense makes Pitt one-dimensional and absorbs some blows from their rushing attack. Tomorrow night will be a true test and give us a better idea of how tough Pitt will be this season.
