Iowa 5/6 against Michigan
Yet there seems to be very little outrage about this despite some controversial finishes and bitter defeats. One could argue that the loss to Iowa in 16 ruined the entire season considering Speights injury. The last two losses to Iowa are by a combined 4 points and both were on the road including a game winning field goal (16).
Ferentz is an excellent coach and the identity of Iowa is crystal clear. In all of the 5 recent losses to Iowa, I would say Michigan made far more self inflicted mistakes and got thoroughly out coached in each. Despite the recruiting gap between these teams Iowa has gotten the better of UM football as of late.
Ironically, Saturday's game will feature one of Ferentz's most talented teams and they match up VERY well with the Wolverines. The possibility of being 6/7 against the Hawkeyes is a real one. As a resident of Iowa (Iowa Alum) I watch them pretty regularly and I am not confident in Michigan's chances. Being in The Big House helps. How confident are you?
October 1st, 2019 at 10:08 AM ^
Uhhh Why are you on this board if you're not a Michigan fan? Take a hike bud. Michigan in a close one and the College football world wakes up again.
October 1st, 2019 at 10:13 AM ^
Relax I'm a Michigan fan. Believe it or not, some people move and attend universities elsewhere. The Michigan fan in me goes wherever I go.
October 1st, 2019 at 10:33 AM ^
No need to reply to every dingbat on this board. You’d get carpal tunnel syndrome trying.
October 1st, 2019 at 10:57 AM ^
Good for you. My nephew got a full ride scholarship to Notre Dame but is a Michigan fan first. He attends ND football games with an ND shirt on over a Michigan shirt. After all, he doesn't want to get beaten up.
October 1st, 2019 at 11:33 AM ^
You ever meet a non-athlete from ND? He's not getting beat up.
October 1st, 2019 at 12:45 PM ^
I went to a college in Columbus and wore my Michigan shirt to class. Of course, that was in the 90's so there wasn't much they could say to me.
October 1st, 2019 at 1:47 PM ^
Probably didn't hurt that they weren't osu students either.
October 1st, 2019 at 2:46 PM ^
That's true. Probably would've got my ass kicked on osu campus.
October 1st, 2019 at 10:45 AM ^
Wow, he asks an honest question and you instantly got triggered. Relax. Who cares if fans other than Michigan come to this blog. Do you not care about opposing viewpoints? I’d rather get all the info I can get instead of a constant stream of homers wearing maize and blue glasses.
October 1st, 2019 at 10:55 AM ^
Where did he say he's not a Michigan fan? Relax dude.
October 1st, 2019 at 11:01 AM ^
Lol, I didn’t go to college in Michigan, I don’t even live in Michigan anymore. I am still a huge fan, and very concerned about this trend with Iowa. I live in Iowa, so this week is 3rd or 4th most important game for me. OSU, MSU, the ND being 1-3.
October 1st, 2019 at 11:17 AM ^
Don’t be an asshole.
October 1st, 2019 at 11:56 AM ^
I doubt a close Michigan home win against Iowa will move the needle much in the “college football world.”
October 1st, 2019 at 4:14 PM ^
They are 14 right now and undefeated. I think it would be a huge win. Will be tough to get but then can be had outside of Kinnick. We’re tough to beat in the Big House. Should be a good game.
October 1st, 2019 at 10:35 PM ^
It wouldn't vault us into the top 10 or anything, but a win over a top 15 team would certainly quiet down some of the critics (both outside our walls and within).
October 1st, 2019 at 10:08 AM ^
Dude, I don't ever recall playing Iowa.
October 1st, 2019 at 10:09 AM ^
About as confident as crossing I696 at night, blindfolded.
October 1st, 2019 at 10:09 AM ^
I'm fairly confident.
Iowa has played the 113th, 97th, 24th, and 115th team in SP+. #24, Iowa State, sits at 2-2 and Iowa was outgained nearly 2:1 on a per-play basis in that game, and needed some El Assico magic to prevent ISU from a potential game-winning FG kick. The advanced box score following that game predicts an Iowa victory 3% of the time.
Now if this were at Kinnick, I would not be confident at all. Harbaugh's teams have so far done pretty well at home, 2015 OSU notwithstanding.
Edit:
I was curious about Iowa's road record since Harbaugh arrived in Ann Arbor, too. They went 2-0 against ranked teams on the road in 2015 (won @ No. 19 Wisconsin 10-6 and @ No. 20 Northwestern 40-10). 2015 was their 12-2 season in which they appeared in the B1G title game.
In 2016 they lost @ No. 20 Penn State, 14-41.
In 2017, they lost @ No. 6 Wisconsin, 14-38.
In 2018, they lost @ No. 17 Penn State, 24-30
It's difficult to win on the road, and the fact that it's a home game is a primary factor in my confidence. If you want me to talk about two weeks in Happy Valley, well...
October 1st, 2019 at 10:18 AM ^
And 2019 Army.
October 1st, 2019 at 12:13 PM ^
and 2017 MSU
October 1st, 2019 at 2:12 PM ^
and my axe
October 1st, 2019 at 10:22 AM ^
Uh..... I don't think Wisconsin played a very hard schedule leading up to our game either. We are at home this time though.
October 1st, 2019 at 12:07 PM ^
True, but there's a difference between playing a team with "just guys" as its RBs, and then playing a team that has a Heisman-contending future first round pick at RB, and is also arguably the best all-around RB the school has ever had.
That doesn't count for everything in the differences between Wisconsin and Iowa. But it damn sure does count for something.
October 1st, 2019 at 1:08 PM ^
Wisconsin is also a better team than Iowa.
October 1st, 2019 at 12:11 PM ^
I'm with you. For some reason I just think that Michigan, with the clear edge in talent, takes the bull by the horns and wins, maybe even somewhat comfortably, on Saturday. People tend to forget that the other team also wants to win, too, and often does win for lots of reasons. But I like us Saturday.
October 1st, 2019 at 2:22 PM ^
Does Michigan have a clear edge in talent though? If you weight the talent by most important/highest leverage positions on the field, you could argue it might be Iowa.
They have a likely top 10 pick at DE and potential first round draft picks at BOTH offensive tackle positions. Iowa certainly has more talent at those critical positions which outweighs a lot of deficiencies elsewhere. This is how Wisconsin always outperforms their recruiting profiles. Talent on the lines matters a lot more than talent at other positions (save QB, of course, and Iowa probably has a better one of those than Michigan too).
Luckily I don't think Alaric Jackson is playing tomorrow so the position weighted edge probably does go to Michigan and at home I like Michigan but this whole "we have more talent" thing is misguided (that's what everyone said about Wisconsin).
October 1st, 2019 at 3:01 PM ^
Alaric Jackson isn't considered to be a 1st round pick by the NFL. It's Wirfs who are a near lock to get drafted at 1st round. He's a better athlete, stronger and can dominate at POA. I've heard top 10 is the ceiling for Wirfs but OT is a pretty strong class with elite prospects.
October 2nd, 2019 at 7:53 AM ^
I'm playing off a hunch that things start to come together here. Let's see how it plays out.
October 1st, 2019 at 6:05 PM ^
Soul fire, you’re taking this way too deep. We have two common opponents, MTSU and Rutgers. Iowa did way better against both.
October 1st, 2019 at 8:46 PM ^
Iowa did better against Rutgers?? What??
October 1st, 2019 at 10:10 AM ^
4 of those 6 were on the road and one of the ones that was not was a RR coached team that couldn’t stop anyone.
Michigan has won 6 of the last 8 at The Big House including the most recent way back in 2012: 42-17.
farmersonly.com
October 1st, 2019 at 10:21 AM ^
The OP definitely cherry picked the numbers as you pointed out, but there is some truth to his statement. With that being said, the one consistency of Harbaugh thus far is beating all opponents not named OSU and MSU at home. Not only beating them, but usually dominating the game (Army and Air Force the only exception). Our boys are consistently geared up for home games, and I’m not remotely worried about this one. I see us winning by 10+ points.
Side note: no need to slight the backbone of the American economy (i.e. farmers)... as if being a farmer is some kind of lesser profession...
October 1st, 2019 at 11:05 AM ^
Point of order, bankers are the backbone of the American economy.
October 1st, 2019 at 11:10 AM ^
not if they're not eating.
October 1st, 2019 at 11:20 AM ^
As long as Colombia keeps sending the coke, we don't need to eat!
October 1st, 2019 at 11:51 AM ^
peruvian marching powder comes from folks farming your coca leaves.
October 1st, 2019 at 12:00 PM ^
That's a fair point. Guess I'll be increasing my Farm Aid donation this year.
October 1st, 2019 at 11:21 AM ^
Not to worry. Our betters have Soylent Green ready just in case.
October 2nd, 2019 at 10:49 AM ^
"Soylent Green is PEOPLE!"
October 1st, 2019 at 11:46 AM ^
Teachers are the backbone of a democracy. Democracy is the backbone of American capitalism. Capitalism is the backbone of the economy.
October 1st, 2019 at 11:54 AM ^
we don't need none of that fancy book learnin'!
actually, home education, sometimes referred to as the hebraic method of teaching, is responsible for the rise in western civilization from which democracy and capitalism come from. some famously homeschooled guys you might recognize include:
October 1st, 2019 at 12:01 PM ^
I would homeschool my kids but I am far more confident in the abilities of an early-30-something hipster CMU grad thank you very much.
October 1st, 2019 at 12:08 PM ^
funny.
we have been blessed with homeschooling our kids, but as they get older we start letting them take some classes at the local high school so they can play sports. it has so far worked out well, and not in the least part because our local school (and the folks that run it) is/are pretty neat.
October 1st, 2019 at 12:26 PM ^
Honestly if I had to do it over again I would. Actually if I had to do it all over again I would not have considered what everybody else was doing at all with reference to what I was going to do.
October 2nd, 2019 at 2:43 PM ^
Logged in just to downvote.
Not really true but I want you to know HOW VEHEMENTLY I disagree! No farmers, no food. No bankers, barter!
October 1st, 2019 at 11:09 AM ^
umich19 just became an instant favorite with his farmers comment....
October 1st, 2019 at 1:42 PM ^
Same here, nothing like growing up working on the family farm(s).
October 1st, 2019 at 11:06 AM ^
How is that the AD has been OK with 4 of the last 6 match ups being in Iowa City??
October 1st, 2019 at 10:11 AM ^
I'm confident because it's at home. If Michigan gets to 5-1, the season is alive again. Go Blue.
October 1st, 2019 at 10:52 AM ^
Michigan finds a running game and we win. Michigan can't find a way to run the ball and we lose.