Iowa, known for its conservative run-first offense, has opened up its playbook a bit on the road against Pitt.
After taking a couple shots down field and even scoring on a fourth down play-action pass in the first half, the Hawkeyes went deep again on their fourth play of the third quarter.
On a first-and-10 from the 20, backup quarterback C.J. Beathard took a deep drop and fired a strike downfield toward senior wideout Damond Powell. The pass was slightly overthrown, but Powell managed to corral it in smoothly with one hand for a 63-yard gain down to the Pitt 17-yard line.
It is definitely one of the better catches we’ve seen in a few weeks and the fact that Powell hauled the pass in so nonchalantly makes it even more impressive.
The big gain set up a Mark Weisman 10-yard touchdown run three plays later to narrow the Hawkeyes’ deficit to 17-14.
Pitt currently leads 20-17 late in the third quarter.
For more Iowa news, visit HawkeyeReport.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
