Jake Rudock (file photo)

Jake Rudock (file photo)

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says quarterback Jake Rudock is listed as day to day as the Hawks prepare for their Big Ten opener at Purdue. Rudock was injured late in the first half of Saturday’s game at Pitt and sophomore C.J. Beathard helped lead a second half rally in a 24-20 win.

“We’ll play whoever is ready to go, it’s not that big a deal to us, we’ll rally behind who is out there. We are not going to put Jake out there if he is not able to play the way he has to,” Ferentz says. “C.J. will be ready to go if that’s the way it turns out.”

Ferentz says Rudock has a “soft tissue” injury and he will be with the trainers today and they will see how he goes. He says Ruddock feels better today than he did yesterday and getting the test results was a positive.

Ferentz considers both quarterbacks to be starters.”The good news I said Saturday and I really mean this, we have two guys we have a lot of confidence in. Maybe I’ve been around that situation before, it just doesn’t

C.J. Beathard  (file photo)

C.J. Beathard (file photo)

pop out off the top of my head. But maybe in ’81, Pete Gales and Gordie Bohannon were both really capable. But, you know, we’ll just play it by ear. The good news is, at least, we’re not going way into the bullpen here to come up with something,” Ferentz says

Ferentz says the Hawks can win with either quarterback. “They’re different guys totally. Their personalities are different, they look different, just about go right down the row,” he says. “But that’s the neat thing about football. You’ve got a lot of diverse backgrounds, personalities, ages, all that stuff. But it’s about they both share a real common bond in terms of they’re here to help the team be a better football team, and they’re great teammates with each other and that is certainly something you would expect or hope for.”

Iowa enters Big Ten play with a record of 3-1 and while the Hawks stumbled through the first three games Ferentz feels they made progress at Pitt.

“Probably collectively the second half that’s kind of more what we are looking or, so but we haven’t done it consistently the way we want, we’ve got a lot of growth here still to make. And that’s exciting because we can get a lot better,” Ferentz says.

Purdue is 2-2 and while little is expected of the Boilermakers this season Ferentz says they will be a tough challenge as that’s the way conference play always ends up, it is unpredictable. All four of Iowa’s games have been decided by one possession and Ferentz expects nothing different in conference.