Observations on the first half with Iowa, 28-10

Michigan's offense converts 21 points off three red zones; Iowa gains 10 points off two red zone opportunities. No turnovers for either team.

Offense looks great! Devin Gardner is 11 of 14 for 204 yards, 2 TDs and another 2 TDs in 4 carries for 3 yards. Denard Robinson gets a start at tailback, and gains 72 yards in 7 carries. Roy Roundtree has 5 catches for 83 yards and a TD, and Jeremy Gallon had 3 receptions for 87 yards. Fitzgerald Touissaint gained 31 yards in three carries, but it looks like he may have broken his ankle. Vincent Smith overcame a bad first half with two penalties for blocks in the back, and got an 18 yard TD catch just before the half. We are 7 of 8 in 3rd and 4th down conversions, 13 first downs, 331 total yards with 127 on the ground.

Defense looks bad! We did hold Iowa to two three and outs, but allowed them 153 yards, 73 on the ground along with a one minute time of possession advantage. C.J. Fiedorowitz has 7 catches for 62 yards. Jordan Kovacs has 5 tackles plus a sack to lead the defense, and took a questionable roughing the quarterback call. Kenny Demens, Jake Ryan and James Ross have 4 tackles each. Jake Ryan forced a fumble, and Jibreel Black batted down a pass. Joe Bolden has 3 tackles, 2 for loss.

Special Teams did fine. Matt Wile had 2 touchbacks in 5 kickoffs. Brendan Gibbons hit 4 extra points. Dennis Norfleet had a 14 yard kickoff return, and Jeremy Gallon took a risk with a punt return, then made a poor decision on not fielding a punt that was downed at the 13 as a result giving up about 20 yards.

Iowa has beat us three years and a row, and has 11 seasons in a row of bowl eligible teams; hopefully, Michigan will end both thes Hawkeye streaks with a great second half. Go Blue!