Observations on the win over Iowa, 27-14
The Wolverines gave Jim Harbaugh his first win today at Kinnick Stadium! Michigan was 4 for 4 in the red zone for 20 points; Iowa scored 14 points in three second half red zone trips. Michigan gained 327 net yards with 172 on the ground, and were 5 of 12 in 3rd and 4th down conversions with 24 first downs, but only had 6 first downs in the second half. Blake Corum ran 29 times for 133 yards for a TD, and caught 2 passes for 9 yards. Donovan Edwards ran 5 times for 29 yards, and caught 4 passes for 21 yards and a TD. J.J. McCarthy hit 18 of 24 passes for 155 yards and a TD; he hit 7 different receivers, and ran 5 times for -14 yards after a trip and a fumble recovere by Edwards at the 3 yard line. Ronnie Bell ran twice for 26 yards including a 16 yard TD; he also caught 2 passes for 16 yards. Luke Schoonmaker caught 4 passes for 45 yards. Roman Wilson caught 4 passes for 28 yards. Andrel Anthony caught one pass for 29 yards. The Hawkeyes got back in the game after holding our offense to three consecutive "3 and outs" in the second half. Michigan's 7 minute time of possession advantage resulted in 11 more offensive plays. Seth Benson had 14 tackles, and Jack Campbell added 11 stops for the Hawkeyes.
5 errors that J.J. McCarthy made as a game manager that led to offensive issues included: 1)Trip for a 5 yard loss when Zak Zinter pulled left 2)Delay of game penalty 3)2nd Delay of game penalty where Michigan called a time-out to prevent its call 4)Overthrow of wide-open Roman Wilson for a sure TD 5)Fumble that led to Donovan Edwards recovery at the 3 yard line which then led to a punt for an Iowa drive that was initiated at our 40 leading to their first score
The Hawkeyes gained 281 yards with only 35 on the ground, and was 4 of 13 in 3rd and 4th down conversions with 16 first downs including 11 in the second half. Spencer Petras hit 21 of 31 passes for 246 yards, but was sacked 4 times for -31 yards. Kaleb Johnson ran 12 times for 32 yards and a TD. Sam Laporta caught 5 passes for 24 yards. Luke Lachey caught 4 passes for 84 yards and a TD. Nico Ragaini caught 4 passes for 55 yards. Rod Moore came up with two big red zone tackles in a row to stop the Hawkeyes late in the 4th quarter to end the Iowa threat to make it a one score game. Junior Colson had 7 tackles to lead the defense; Michael Barrett had 5 stops, and Mike Morris had two sacks. In addition to 4 sacks, the Wolverines got 5 quarterack hits on Petras. Neither team had a turnover. Defense forced Iowa into 5 punts.
Special Teams were solid with two field goals by Moody plus great kickoff coverage holding Iowa to a 13 yard kickoff return! Robbins punted 4 times with 3 downed inside the 20. A.J. Henning had 3 punt returns for 15 yards. Mike Sainristil made two special teams tackles on punt and kickoff returns. Penalties really hurt Iowa in the game especially at critical moments for their offense.
Bring on the Hoosiers! Go Blue!
