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Rebuilding Hawkeyes looking for answers

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Though Iowa figured to be tested by Iowa State last week, most thought the Hawkeyes would be far enough along to beat a team fresh off a 1-point win over an FCS opponent.

They weren’t.

Iowa’s deficiencies were on full display during Saturday’s heartbreaking triple-overtime loss in Ames, and the Hawkeyes won’t have much time to get those hot spots fixed.

Iowa (1-1) hosts Pittsburgh (2-0), one of the favorites for the Big East title, on Saturday.

“If we’re not learning, if we’re moving forward, then it’s shame on us,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “We need to be a much better football team in a lot of areas on Saturday if we’re going to, first of all, have a chance to win this game and secondly, to get where we’re trying to get.”

The Hawkeyes defense, which is still breaking in six new starters, had no answer for Cyclones quarterback Steele Jantz, who threw for 279 yards and four touchdowns without getting picked off.

Though Jantz finished with just 42 yards rushing on 16 carries, he was only sacked once and consistently used his feet to keep plays alive against a defensive line that couldn’t catch him.

Iowa State gained 473 yards, converted 13 of 20 chances on third down, punted just twice and won despite losing three fumbles and missing two field goals. The Cyclones closed the game with four straight TD drives, when even one stop by the Hawkeyes would have probably clinched a win.

“There’s not much fun about losing. There’s not much fun about leaving the door open. When you do that, typically you lose,” Ferentz said.

Before the season started, Ferentz pointed out that Iowa’s special teams looked as though they’d improved from a year ago.

Instead, Iowa State gained 159 yards on five Iowa kickoffs, and the Hawkeyes let Shontrelle Johnson return the kickoff to Iowa State’s 41-yard line after Marcus Coker’s 1-yard TD run put Iowa ahead 24-17 with 5:50 left.

Just over four minutes later, the Cyclones were back in the end zone to force overtime.

“I’m concerned about our kickoff team right now, mainly because we’ve been riding a roller coaster it seems like forever,” Ferentz said. “With the work that we have to do defensively, to think that we can let somebody start with the ball on the 40, 45, 50 (yard line) or the other side of the 50 week in and week out, that’s just not very realistic.”

Though Iowa’s offense sputtered at times against the Cyclones, it appears to be ahead of a defense ranked 116th in the nation in stopping opponents on third down.

James Vandenberg was an efficient 16-of-28 passing for 207 yards and two touchdowns. Vandenberg missed on a few passes to top target Marvin McNutt and saw his receivers drop a few more, but junior Keenan Davis and redshirt freshman Kevonte Martin Manley each had touchdown receptions.

“There’s things all along the way, from the first quarter to the third quarter, that we could have done that maybe would have changed that. But it came down to them making the plays and us coming up just a little bit short.”

Running back Marcus Coker had his third fumble in two games, but he bounced back from a miserable opener with 140 yards rushing on 35 carries.

Iowa clearly didn’t have faith in giving the ball to anyone but Coker after promising freshman Mika’il McCall went down with a broken ankle on Sept. 3. But Ferentz knows that reserves Jason White or freshman Damon Bullock — back at running back after a brief stint at receiver — are going to have to spell Coker soon.

“It’s just one of those things where we’re going to have to jump in the water a little bit,” Ferentz said.

The good news for Iowa is that Pitt isn’t coming off a great week either.

The Panthers struggled to get past Maine 35-29 at home last week. The FCS Black Bears threw for 334 yards and had Pitt fans booing their own team at times.

Pitt’s offense used to look a lot like the pro-style attack the Hawkeyes favor, but the Panthers are still adjusting to coach Todd Graham’s spread system.

“The first two opponents aren’t anything like the opponent that’s coming up. Going into the Iowa game, I think our guys know that. I think they know what they’re in for,” Graham said.