IOWA CITY — At times Saturday, Iowa quarterback Deacon Hill resembled Ricky Vaughn from Major League — prior to Vaughn's eye exam. The Hawkeye gunslinger, starting in relief of injured quarterback Cade McNamara, began the afternoon 1/10 for 13 yards and an interception — and many of those misses were not particularly close.
"First half, I was a little jittery," Hill said after the 20-14 win over Purdue. "I think it was just kind of everything that comes with being a starter, your first game."
That came as news to tight end Erick All, who has made a seamless transition from McNamara's primary receiver to Hill's primary receiver.
"I'm surprised [Hill] was jittery earlier, because he didn't show it a bit," All said Saturday. "He never seems too high or too low. He's always just someone you can rely on to bring the team together and calm us down, stuff like that."
Hill eventually finished at 6/21, 110 yards, a touchdown and just the one pick — still enough to make most offensive coordinators wave some sage around the QB room, but critically, also enough for the win.
"[Hill] hung in there," head coach Kirk Ferentz said, praising his quarterback's composure after the rough start. "Kept doing a good job, and the last one he threw down our right side, it looked pretty good to me."
That throw, a 22-yard touchdown to All that pushed Iowa's lead to 20-7, was one of All's (and Iowa's) easiest catches of the game:
In the latest instance of a stat that could only exist at Iowa these days, All ended up with five of the team's six receptions Saturday.
"Heck yeah, I love [being the primary receiver], it's fun," All said after the game. "Whether it's six catches or it's 20, whatever, it's fun just getting out there and playing the game and winning."
The other reception went to running back Kaleb Johnson on a 13-yard swing pass, so Iowa's wide receivers put up a goose egg in production — not that Hill didn't try to involve them, going 0/7 on throws to wideouts Seth Anderson, Diante Vines and Nico Ragaini. Hill's one interception of the day came on a throw to Anderson, as the ball arrived in traffic and ricocheted off Anderson's face mask, leading to a pick and return by Boilermaker safety Dillon Thieneman.
"Got to make the makeable plays, and we didn't always do that," Ferentz said.
Once Hill got in a rhythm, though, he flashed the sort of capability that got Iowa interested in him as a transfer this offseason, a better trend for the rest of the season. Key to Hill settling down was the presence of left tackle Mason Richman, a surprise addition to the week's injury report as questionable.
"Having [Richman] on the backside, I can trust that side is going to be locked down," Hill said. "I have all the faith in the world in him, and it's definitely a blessing to have him out there."
Ferentz said after the game that Richman's status was even direr than "questionable" Friday.
"I didn't think he would play," Ferentz said. "Credit to him. I didn't think it looked too [promising] when I went to bed last night, but he moved around a little bit and did okay."
Richman also contributed to an Iowa rushing attack that finished with 212 yards on 31 carries (excluding the -31 yards from a shotgun snap that went over Hill's head, a sack and a pair of kneeldowns).
So perhaps, the lesson here is that the key to Hill's success is what happens when he's not asked to throw.
"If you can run the ball, it gives you such a better chance to be effective, and the last touchdown was set up by a good run," Ferentz said of the 3rd-and-2 play-action pass. "I don't know what we would have called from 3rd-and-5 in that spot."
"Glad we didn't have to go to that," Ferentz concluded.
