College football version of Big Ten/ACC Challenge on tap in Week 3

Sep 20, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes defensive back Greg Mabin (13) breaks up a pass intended for Pittsburgh Panthers wide receiver Tyler Boyd (23) during the fourth quarter at Heinz Field. The Hawkeyes won 24-20. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Pittsburgh at Iowa

Last year at Heinze Field CJ Beathard came off the bench in relief of Jake Rudock and completed 8 of 9 passes to lead the Hawkeyes to a 24-20 win. Rudock now throws passes at Michigan. CJ Beathard is the man in Iowa City.

Despite playing some in the past, this is now truly Beathard’s team and last week’s win over Iowa State 31-17 was signficant in establishing confidence and identity. The Cyclones should be pretty bad again this year, but Iowa somehow struggles with its cross-state rivals (5-5 going into last week). Kirk Ferentz’s teams have typically stubbed its toe in the first game or two in recent years. So the win to get to 2-0 meant more than what it seems on the surface.

Beathard played a solid game at Iowa State with three TD’s and no picks. His perfectly placed 25-yard touchdown pass to Riley McCarron off a play action bootleg sealed the win. Jordan Canzeri took over for the injured Leshun Daniels with 124 yards rushing against the Cyclones. Ferentz is calling injuries to Daniels and All-Big Ten DE Drew Ott (8 Sacks, 12 TFL in 2014) “fairly significant” and their status “questionable at best.”

Pitt is without ACC Player of the Year James Conner after he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opener. Freshmen Qadree Ollison and Darrin Hall split carries last week vs Akron. Ollison took over for Conner in Week One and ripped off 207 yards on only 16 carries vs Youngstown State. His performance was a bit more pedestrian at Akron with no carries of more than 11 yards (21-81). Hall had 52 yards on 15 attempts and a score.

The bigger development from the Akron game comes at quarterback. Chad Voytik started all last year as a freshman and showed significant progress down the stretch. Last week, head coach Pat Narduzzi gave most of the playing time to Tennessee transfer Nate Peterman who led three touchdown drives. Voytik was pulled despite completing all six of his attempts. Narduzzi is non-committal on who will start at Iowa.

There’s no question who is the best wide receiver on the team and in this game. Tyler Boyd sees a disproportionate number of targets so it’s an easy guess about who will capture the attention of the Iowa secondary.

Despite the question marks surrounding Daniels’ and Ott’s health, I like the Hawkeyes at home. Pitt’s offense is less than scary despite the presence of Boyd.

Line: Iowa by 5

Hawkeyes 20-17