Iowa State (2-0) at UConn (1-1); Friday, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
     Line: UConn by 4 1/2
     Series Record: UConn leads 1-0
     Last Meeting: UConn won 37-20 in 2002
     WHAT’S AT STAKE
     Iowa State is coming a huge triple-overtime win over rival Iowa,
but that won’t mean much if they can’t beat a Connecticut team in
rebuilding mode. The Huskies need to get things moving forward
again after falling to Vanderbilt 24-21 last week.
     KEY MATCHUP
     UConn’s defense vs. Iowa State QB Steele Jantz. Jantz gave the
Hawkeyes fits last week, throwing for 279 yards and four TDs and
doing nearly as much damage with his feet. But the Huskies have a
veteran defense, with nine starters back, and are allowing just 12
points a game.
     PLAYERS TO WATCH
     Iowa State: RB Shontrelle Johnson. Johnson had 108 yards last
week after a shaky opener and could be the consistent ground threat
Iowa State’s been looking for.
     UConn: QBs Scott McCummings, Johnny McEntee and Mike Nebrich.
The Huskies might play all three of them. Can they find one that
can beat a Big 12 opponent?
     FACTS & FIGURES
     UConn’s win over Iowa State nine years ago was its first over a
bowl-bound opponent in the FCS…The Cyclones will wear white pants
and white jerseys for the first time in five years…Huskies coach
Paul Pasqualoni leads all coaches with 62 wins in Big East
play…Jantz was the Big 12’s Offensive Player of the Week for his
efforts in beating the Hawkeyes.

     Pitt (2-0) at Iowa (1-1); Saturday, 11 a.m. (ESPN2)
     Line: Iowa by 3
     Series Record: Pitt leads 3-1
     Last Meeting: Pitt won 21-20 in 2008
     WHAT’S AT STAKE
     Pitt’s 2-0 record isn’t as pretty as it looks. The Panthers
struggled with FCS Maine last week, but a road win over a quality
Big Ten opponent would give them a head of steam with Notre Dame
visiting next week. The Hawkeyes need to bounce back from a tough
loss at Iowa State and prove they can win at Kinnick Stadium
against one of the annual favorites in the Big East.
     KEY MATCHUP
     Iowa’s defensive line vs. Pitt RB Ray Graham: Graham leads the
nation in rushing yards, and the Hawkeyes had all kinds of trouble
with Iowa State’s running game a week ago. If Iowa can’t shore up a
rebuilt front four, it could be a big day for Graham.
     PLAYERS TO WATCH
     Iowa: WR Marvin McNutt. The Cyclones did a good job of keeping
the explosive McNutt under wraps. But McNutt is dangerous in the
open field and could give Iowa the big plays it’ll need in what
should be a close game.
     Pitt: QB Tino Sunseri. He’s had his issues adjusting to coach
Todd Graham’s new spread offense, and the Hawkeyes will be the best
defense he’s seen yet.
     FACTS & FIGURES
     Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz is a western Pennsylvania native and was
a graduate assistant at Pitt in 1980, when it finished 11-1…This
will mark the first trip to Iowa is 60 years for the Panthers, who
lost 34-17 in Iowa City in 1951…Pitt is 81-113-9 against Big Ten
opponents, while the Hawkeyes are 5-4 against the Big
East…Saturday’s game is one of five featuring Big Ten teams
against non-conference BCS opponents.

Class 3-A, District 1
Creston @ Atlantic
Glenwood @ Lewis Central
Winterset @ Red Oak
Carroll @ Harlan

Class 3-A, District 2
Denison @ Storm Lake

Class 2-A, District 2
SCAL-RCL @ Kuemper Catholic
East Sac County @ Missouri Valley

Class 2-A, District 8
Clarinda @ Pella Christian
PCM @ Shenandoah

Class 1-A, District 1
IKM-Manning @ Lawton-Bronson

Class 1-A, District 7
West Central Valley @ Wayne
Mount Ayr @ Nodaway Valley
Panorama @ Des Moines Christian

Class 1-A, District 8
Audubon @ Clarinda Academy
Griswold @ Underwood
Treynor @ Logan-Magnolia
St. Albert @ Tri-Center

Class A, District 7
Riverside @ Guthrie Center (ND)

Class A, District 8
Martensdale-St. Marys @ Bedford (ND)
Earlham @ A-H-S-T (ND)
SE Warren @ Corning (ND)
Van Meter @ Exira/EHK (ND)

8-Man, District 6
Adair-Casey @ CAM
Mormon Trail @ Murray
Ankeny Christian @ East Union
Lenox @ Lamoni

8-Man District 7
Coon Rapids-Bayard @ Woodbine
Boyer Valley @ Ar-We-Va
Charter Oak-Ute @ East Greene

8-Man, Disrtict 8
Sidney @ East Mills
Stanton @ Nishnabotna
Villisca @ South Page
Essex @ Fremont-Mills

Western Iowa:

• (3-0) Tri-Center, Neola 25-25-25, Audubon 17-10-16
• (3-0) Underwood 25-25-25, A-H-S-T, Avoca 14-15-16
• (3-0) Treynor beat Griswold (game scores not available)

Rolling Hills:

• (3-1) Adair-Casey 17-25-25-25, East Greene 25-19-21-20
• (3-1) Exira-EHK 25-25-12-25, Ankeny Christian Academy 21-15-25-11
• (3-0) Glidden-Ralston 25-25-25, CAM, Anita 19-21-19
• (3-0) Iowa Christian Academy 25-25-25, Walnut 18-20-23

Others:

• (3-0) Earlham 25-25-25, Lenox 9-6-10
• (3-0) Essex 25-30-26, East Mills 14-28-24
• (3-0) Fremont-Mills 25-25-25, Clarinda Academy 7-14-12
• (3-0) Maple Valley-Anthon Oto 25-25-25, Logan-Magnolia 19-20-15
• (3-0) Siouxland Community Christian 25-25-25, West Harrison 21-22-16
• (3-0) Stanton 25-25-25, Villisca 20-18-19

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Former Iowa basketball recruit James Speed, whose career was cut short when he went blind, has died of complications from liver cancer. The University of Iowa says Speed died Wednesday in Las Vegas, where he lived since the mid-1970s. He was 61. Speed was a Hawkeye recruit in 1970, when he lost his sight in both eyes due to a sinus infection before he played a game for Iowa. Speed, who grew up in Shreveport, La., was a 6-7 forward who played junior college basketball in El Centro, Calif. After losing his sight, Speed worked as a basketball coach and most recently in real estate.

Iowa basketball coach Fran McCaffrey got a big commitment Wednesday evening when seven-foot-one-inch center Adam Woodbury verbally commited to the Hawkeyes.  The Sioux City East senior had narrowed his choices to Iowa and North Carolina.  Woodbury is a four star recruit who is in the top 50 of all the major recruiting services lists.  Woodbury averaged 18.5 points and 12.4 rebounds last season.  He also had scholarship offers from Nebraska, Ohio State, Stanford, Wisconsin and a number of other schools.  In June, Woodbury was named the MVP of the NBA Players Association’s Top 100 camp in Charlottesville, Virginia.  He is Iowa’s fourth recruit for that class, joining 6-2 Mike Gesell of South Sioux City, 6-3 Patrick Ingram of Indianapolis and 6-9 Kyle Meyer of Alpharetta, Georgia.  Woodbury said he was impressed with McCaffrey and looks forward to being a part of the Hawkeyes resurgence.

w/ Jim Field

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PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pirates clinched their 19th consecutive losing season, a record for a major league franchise in North America, losing to the Cardinals 3-2 as Yadier Molina hit a tiebreaking, two-run double.  A year after going a big league-worst 57-105, the Pirates were 51-44 and led the NL Central by a half-game before play on July 20.  But they have gone 16-38 since, and at 67-82 are ensured of  another sub.-500 record.  St. Louis, which has 13 games left, has won seven of eight and remained 4 1-2 games behind Atlanta in the NL wild-card race. The Cardinals moved 5 1-2 games back of Milwaukee in the NL Central.  Edwin Jackson (5-2) allowed two runs and eight hits in 7 1-3 innings and improved to 4-0 in his career against Pittsburgh. Three relievers combined to hold Pittsburgh scoreless over the final 2 1-3 innings. Jason Motte pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save in 10 chances.  Morton (9-10) lost his fourth straight start, giving up three runs, six hits and three walks in seven innings.

     ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) – Tight end Scott Chandler still recalls hopping in his car and making the 14-hour drive from Iowa to Buffalo after his flight was canceled in May.  There was no way he was going to miss a chance to bond with his new teammates, who were holding player-organized workouts during the NFL lockout.  The road trip is paying off substantially after Chandler scored twice in a season-opening 41-7 win at Kansas City last weekend.  The touchdowns were his first since 2006, when he was a senior at Iowa. And after four seasons of bouncing around the NFL, Chandler might have finally found a home in Buffalo with a team benefiting from his 6-foot-7 presence in its passing attack.  The Bills prepare for their home opener against Oakland on Sunday.