Pitt ground game to collide with stout Iowa run defense

The Pitt football game on Saturday will be a study in contrasts.  

Pitt (3-0, 1-0 ACC) plays Iowa (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten) at Heinz Field in a matchup between two teams with opposite strengths that could end up attracting a close final score.

On one side, Pitt head coach Paul Chryst has a unique weapon in running back James Conner. Conner has slipped into the national college football spotlight, ranking first among players from Power 5 conference teams in rushing yards (544). Conner, a sophomore from Erie, Pa., is first among Power 5 players in carries (81) and also leads the nation in touchdowns (8).

Meanwhile, Iowa’s defense has allowed just 65.7 rushing yards per game through its first several games — good for seventh-best in Division I.

“They’re very good versus the run,” Chryst said during a teleconference Wednesday. “They’ve got a well-designed scheme, and their players know it really well, and I think they’ve got good players.”

The Hawkeyes have not allowed a rushing touchdown on the young season, and they have yielded just one red zone touchdown in their opponents’ seven red zone trips. In addition, they allow just 15 first downs per game.

“They’re physical. I think they’re good in the back end, I think our offense will be challenged in a big way,” Chryst added.

The Hawkeyes are coming off a last-second loss to rival Iowa State, their third loss to the mediocre Cyclones in four tries, and many upset Hawkeyes diehards are screaming for Iowa to rebuild its program, starting with a coaching change. Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, who attended Upper St. Clair High School south of Pittsburgh, is in his 16th year at Iowa, and he could be there a while if the university’s higher-ups choose not to eat millions of dollars. He signed a 10-year contract extension after the 2009 season worth $35 million.

If ever there were a time for his defense to prove its worth, it would be after Saturday’s noon kickoff against the Panthers.  

“Our challenges are probably the result of trying to put some things together,” Ferentz, who served as a graduate assistant coach at Pitt in 1980, said during a teleconference Tuesday. Ferentz cited youth turnover as one of the problems his slighted Hawkeyes offense has faced this season.

Senior Mark Weisman leads the way in Iowa’s backfield, but Weisman hasn’t shown yet that he’s a consistent threat in 2014. Neither Weisman, nor any of Iowa’s reserve running backs has amassed 100 yards on the ground through the team’s first three games, nor have any gained 50 yards in a single game.

Handing the ball off for the Hawkeyes is junior quarterback Jake Rudock. Rudock is in the middle of a decent season, completing nearly 70 percent of his passes in Ferentz’ and offensive coordinator Greg Davis’ dink-and-dunk passing-game offense. Rudock has rarely passed the ball more than 12 yards downfield this season.

Rudock does have the ability to take the ball himself when his four receivers are covered, although Ferentz said he doesn’t have a lot of designed running routes for his quarterback, who has scrambled for 92 yards.

The game could result in the Panthers’ first 4-0 start to a season in Chryst’s tenure, but he’s not getting caught up in the excitement. Each of Iowa’s three games this season have come down to the final possession, and Chryst can only hope the game is more lopsided.

“It would be a good feeling knowing that the only way to get there is by taking care of business this week,” Chryst said. “In the season is not time to reflect. Each week is a new week, a new challenge, a new opportunity. That’s really enough for our players, enough for me on my plate, so that’s what you focus on.”

Hidden stat:

Ferentz uses a two-placekicker system, and the combination has been a bad one.

Marshall Koehn and Mick Ellis both attempt field goals for the Hawkeyes, and they have only kicked three of seven through the uprights this season.

Koehn is 0 for 3 from the 30-39 yard range.

“Our field goal kicking was a huge issue two weeks ago,” Ferentz said of his team’s 17-13 win over Ball State. “What you’re looking at is two guys who haven’t played [much].”

Neither kicker has seen action before this season.