Michigan 10, Iowa 3
It's a win.
Let's start there. Savor it. Michigan beat a ranked team. They even covered the spread.
You'd like more details? Well, that's unfortunate.
This was ¡El Assico! 2: This Time in Blue. Neither team cracked 270 yards of total offense. Of the game's 26 real drives, there were:
- 15 punts
- four interceptions
- a lost fumble
- two made field goals
- two missed field goals
- a single, solitary touchdown
- Iowa's eight-play, 12-yard drive to end the game.
The defense, obviously, emerged as the game's heroes. The Hawkeyes, a team that still utilizes a fullback, mustered only three yards per non-sack carry. That's an important distinction to make, as Don Brown's group hounded Nate Stanley for eight sacks that, by the NCAA's tally, took Iowa's rushing output from 66 yards down to one. Kwity Paye (2.5 sacks), Jordan Glasgow (2), and Cam McGrone (1.5) were frequent uninvited guests in Iowa's backfield, and Khaleke Hudson sealed the win with a blitz that forced a desperation left-handed throw from Stanley on fourth down—Daxton Hill chased down the receiver near the line of scrimmage.
The touchdown. [Fuller]
After a rocky start for both teams, Michigan briefly looked poised for a blowout. Aidan Hutchinson handed the offense a quick field goal drive with a forced fumble, and after another defensive stop, Josh Gattis opened things up a bit. Shea Patterson hit Nico Collins down the middle for 51 yards to open the drive and picked up another first down with a crisp throw to Mike Sainristil to set up a short Zach Charbonnet touchdown. At the end of the first quarter, the Wolverines held a 10-0 lead and 101-57 edge in total yardage.
Then the game got trapped in the proverbial muck. Both quarterbacks were erratic; Stanley tossed three interceptions after going 140 attempts without one, while Patterson averaged 3.8 yards per attempt outside of the Collins bomb. Neither team could establish a reliable running game. The wind was the game's most impactful player for large swaths of the second half.
You can choose your favorite moment of absurdity, from Iowa calling a timeout to set up a fade to Oliver Martin, to Gattis dialing up a direct snap to Charbonnet from a covered receiver formation, to Kirk Ferentz taking an intentional delay of game before a 28-yard punt fair caught at the 14, to Stanley throwing a perfect fly route to Lavert Hill, to Donovan Peoples-Jones eating a nine-yard loss on a botched trick play, to Michigan unintentionally taking a delay of game before a punt that netted 25 yards, to Iowa punting from their own 49 on a drive that had reached the Michigan 25, to Stanley's final yakety-sax throw that looked for a moment like it might inconceivably work out. That probably doesn't cover all of it but I can't take responsibility for the damage that game did to my brain.
Ultimately, Michigan's defensive aptitude prevailed, or Iowa's offensive ineptitude lost out, or however you'd like to interpret that game, which we're all glad is over.
[Hit THE JUMP for the box score, if you dare.]
October 5th, 2019 at 4:29 PM ^
I'm less of a human having watched that game...that being said, a win is a win!
October 5th, 2019 at 5:55 PM ^
That was Big Ten football the way I remember it.
October 5th, 2019 at 7:03 PM ^
Bummer. I almost feel bad for you.
October 5th, 2019 at 9:29 PM ^
This was the type of game I enjoy watching when it's not Michigan. The Nebraska v. Northwestern game was very similar and I thought it was great (except the end, I was hoping Northwestern would prevail).
Tight defensive games are awesome except when you're a fan of one team and have higher expectations for the offense. If it was a tight game because Iowa genuinely had a great defense I would have loved it. But when I see our QB spend the game not passing the ball to various open receivers it gets frustrating.
October 7th, 2019 at 12:18 PM ^
That wasn't a tight defensive battle. That was a battle of two horrible offenses.
October 7th, 2019 at 11:30 AM ^
But it was nice to finally play Iowa
October 5th, 2019 at 4:30 PM ^
That game put the "ass" in El Assico.
October 5th, 2019 at 5:44 PM ^
The ass was already there.
It put the turd in that ass.
October 6th, 2019 at 8:14 AM ^
The turd was already there. It released the turd, leaving the sweet smell of victory.
October 5th, 2019 at 6:05 PM ^
That game put the junk in the trunk of badunkadunk. Or something...
October 5th, 2019 at 4:33 PM ^
How much more Big Ten?
None more Big Ten.
October 5th, 2019 at 4:51 PM ^
The Michigan defense produced a rushing Rutger. Iowa’s offense inflicted one on themselves.
October 5th, 2019 at 4:33 PM ^
Anyone got Jedd Fisch’s cell number? Jesus, Gattis, you’ve got to be the best bullshit artist on the planet to land a job as a D1 OC.
October 5th, 2019 at 5:14 PM ^
Uh Charlie Weiss did better, he got a F'ing head coaching job at I guess Power 5 ish schools twice and is probably still getting paid for it.
October 5th, 2019 at 5:22 PM ^
Jedd Fisch wasn’t that good.
October 5th, 2019 at 5:59 PM ^
Jedd made a pretty clever offense out of a transfer QB who'd only been around a few months. It started slow, but once everyone settled in it was pretty good. Most creative offense in Harbaugh's 5 years for sure.
I still dream fondly of the double fake screen to TE up the seam against BYU. Or that fullback counter vs Northwestern(?). Just a lot more creativity that year
October 6th, 2019 at 1:52 AM ^
Elite comment
October 6th, 2019 at 10:35 AM ^
That is the play I keep recalling as well. That was creativity with the intent to inflict confusion and harm on the enemy. Haven’t seen anything like that in a good long time.
October 6th, 2019 at 3:45 PM ^
Good shit Jedd!
October 6th, 2019 at 5:23 PM ^
Did more with less...a lot more...a lot less.
October 7th, 2019 at 12:24 PM ^
Neither are you
October 5th, 2019 at 6:26 PM ^
Run up the gut, fade to sideline, blah blah blah. We've seen this before. Like the last 40 years.
October 5th, 2019 at 9:08 PM ^
I blame the guy who hired Gattis.
October 6th, 2019 at 2:18 PM ^
Gattis obviously believes the bullshit he is sharting. Over his head and doesn’t realize it, thinks the players just need to learn the system better.
October 7th, 2019 at 12:22 PM ^
I'm willing to invest in the very short mythology of Jedd Fisch as the illusory panacea to all that's gone south for the offense since the Ruddock-to-NFL bowl game. But, Drevno; Pep and now Gattis, that scapegoat pile is getting mighty high.
October 5th, 2019 at 4:35 PM ^
Mediocre. A crime with this talent. Good win, but the future isn’t bright.
2013 all over again.
October 5th, 2019 at 4:51 PM ^
At least we hung with OSU in 2013 with Gardner at QB. I would kill for him taking the helm on offense right now.
October 5th, 2019 at 5:12 PM ^
Poor Gardner. So misused. I used to think that it was a tragedy that he didn't get to play under Harbaugh, but... I don't think that anymore.
October 5th, 2019 at 6:01 PM ^
It's more of a tragedy he didn't play for another school. I don't know what Michigan coach would use him effectively.
He'd probably have been great under Mullen or at Ohio State or someone like that :(
October 5th, 2019 at 7:24 PM ^
Gardner was still learning how to read the middle linebacker in year five. He played in games for 5 years with four spring games. Not once did I hear a) nice touch, b) finds the open receiver, c) nice fade or rainbow, d) lead the receiver, e) hit the receiver in stride, f) saw the blitz and made the adjustment. In other words, Devin was a WIDE RECEIVER and no one on the whole planet or in the history of the universe was going to make him a good QB. Strong arm, great athlete, and by all accounts a great human being. Devin Funchess got sawed in half too often and bolted to the NFL. Jeremy Gallon would be wide open and still have to dive for the ball. What play in what game makes you think he could play QB well against upper level Big 10 defenses?
October 5th, 2019 at 8:31 PM ^
What? He was the #1 QB in his high school class and he passed for like 450 and TDs against #3 OSU in 2013. He obviously could be a great QB. Making a WR for one or two seasons doesn't help your development
October 5th, 2019 at 10:03 PM ^
Unfortunately we can say the same about our current roster. If DPJ, Charbonnet, McCaffrey, Nico, etc etc were playing for another certain school, they would likely be much closer to achieving their potential. This roster has so much talent that just isn’t maximized.
October 5th, 2019 at 5:37 PM ^
Gardner had the same problem as Patterson. He couldn’t read defenses or make quick decisions. Gardner may be a smart person (no evidence about Patterson), but was not a smart football player.
October 5th, 2019 at 9:36 PM ^
I remember Gardner not getting half the time Patterson gets to get the ball out of his hands (and I just used "get" three times in that sentence). It would have taken Tom Brady to win behind that offensive line.
October 5th, 2019 at 11:21 PM ^
He also regressed in a similar manner. 2012/early 2013 Gardner was an excellent QB, and the wheels fell off after that near-masterful performance against ND.
Shea was no Heisman hopeful, but he was a serviceable QB for us last year. It seems like the wheels have come off yet again.
What gives?
October 5th, 2019 at 5:23 PM ^
Well, then you should cheer for your home state Gophers then.
October 5th, 2019 at 5:34 PM ^
Because the team is having a tough year? That's a pretty lousy reason to change teams. Do you change your convictions for such flimsy reasons?
October 5th, 2019 at 5:37 PM ^
Old Salvatore always good for an asinine comment
October 5th, 2019 at 6:27 PM ^
Kinda wonder what AJ Henning thought about Bo's offense.
October 5th, 2019 at 8:40 PM ^
Agreed. If anyone thinks 10 pts from this offense is gonna win against PSU, ND, OSU or Sparty, they're gonna be so disappointed. We are getting scammed this year.
October 5th, 2019 at 9:00 PM ^
Patterson is not the answer at QB. This offense needs a qb that can run a zone read and also stand in the pocket and go through a progression. Shea is not doing the job. Would really like to see if Dylan can make this offense click
October 6th, 2019 at 9:03 PM ^
Me too but am afraid it'll be Milton by default, because McCaffrey continues to play recklessly,and won't last more than four games in the Big Ten.
October 7th, 2019 at 10:02 AM ^
I'd even take Milton over a shell shocked Patterson at this point.
October 8th, 2019 at 12:13 PM ^
I mentioned this in a recent conversation and watched someone's head virtually explode...
I am not going to be surprised if DCaf goes from Shea's back-up to Joe's back-up. (sure, I get that he'll enter the transfer portal if that happens)
There is something about this situation that gives me the feeling that Milton is just not QUITE the guy yet but he will be... and, in some way, that is one of the factors contributing to Patterson not ceding significant snaps to Dylan. DCaf is only the next man up until Joe develops just a little more.
October 5th, 2019 at 4:35 PM ^
The offense was painful to watch. I’m no football genius, but seems to me that once again, Gattis called an inexplicable game.
I kept saying, “WTF” when the offense was on the field.
October 5th, 2019 at 4:44 PM ^
I don't know if it was all on Gattis or Shea reverting back to the Shea we saw the previous three games before Rutgers. I cringed each time our time went on offense after the TD drive.
October 5th, 2019 at 5:01 PM ^
I for one think this is more Harbaugh not wanting to show to much before PSU/ND. That would be stupid but would not surprise me in the least. Keep a bunch of stuff under wraps till you really need it.
October 5th, 2019 at 5:10 PM ^
That’s ridiculous. This theory gets floated out at some point every season and it’s never actually true.
October 5th, 2019 at 6:01 PM ^
Still waiting for Jabrill to throw a pass
October 5th, 2019 at 6:16 PM ^
No it is more about Jim not letting Gattis do his job 100%, I do not think he has completely stepped away from the being involved in the offense.
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