Iowa Snowflakes: The Opponent
I think I'm gonna make this a thing? Should it be a thing?
Well, Iowa was. . . Iowa. The interceptions were fluky, but they still won the turnover battle, their special teams is elite (though we got the better of them!), and their defense is sound. Took some misdirection to get that crucial early lead. Give 'em even a half decent offense and they'd have been more of a game than Ohio State! Anyway, I don't think we got a down Iowa. Or an Iowa playing out of their minds. We got a very Iowa Iowa. And while they managed to turn the second quarter into a sludgefart, as I predicted, overall Michigan was a very bad matchup for them.
However, I will thank them for not headhunting our players -- BECAUSE FOOTBALL AIN'T OVER YET BABY! Players got a little chippy only a couple times, and it seems Michigan was at least half of it. I'm very, very glad we played Iowa instead of Wisconsin. They didn't even seem to hold as much, although the times they did hold, holy crap it was so blatant not even B1G refs could ignore it.
December 5th, 2021 at 11:25 AM ^
We got a very Iowa Iowa.
Well put. This was the most thoroughly Iowan, Iowa-like, Iowanistic, Iowanomous Iowa performance they could Iowa in the B10 Title Iowa.
December 5th, 2021 at 11:38 AM ^
Iowas saying exactly this to a buddy last night.
"Forget it, Jake. It's Iowa, man..."
December 5th, 2021 at 11:50 AM ^
It was Iowasexual. I don’t even know what that means.
December 5th, 2021 at 12:03 PM ^
This game is what happens when Kirk Ferentz enters himself, being a ripe Vessel. /Malkovitch
December 5th, 2021 at 3:07 PM ^
Nobody knows what it means, that's why it's provocative!
December 5th, 2021 at 11:36 AM ^
Complain about Ferentz all you want. Dude does a pretty fair amount with not too much raw material, at least compared to the other top teams in the conference. And yes, B10 West, but that's where he plays. After coming in to reorganize and having a couple of rough seasons post-Fry, he's only had one more losing season, and this is the 7th year his teams have won 10 or more games. Two utterly crappy seasons to start and he's won 60+% of his games. He was completely outmatched in this game for reasons all the previews noted, and they hung around for a half. Good effort by them.
December 5th, 2021 at 11:48 AM ^
He always seems to win on fluky luck, but as Alex pointed out, it’s way too consistent to be luck. Defense, turnovers and special teams are how they win, and they are very good at it.
But FFS, Kirk. . . it’s not a crime to learn modern offense! Also your gunpowder mixture needs more saltpeter. You barely knocked out that lizard (or was that on purpose?)
December 5th, 2021 at 12:00 PM ^
Watching Iowa is like watching a jacked up high school team play
December 5th, 2021 at 12:06 PM ^
The problem with a modern offense, is that you need access to the pieces to build that modern offense. Speed/athleticism aren’t prevalent in the footprint of their recruiting grounds, big corn-fed dudes are. You build with that you can get.
Wisconsin is much the same way, offensive linemen grow on trees there. their offensive identity has been built around that for a long time now because those schools don’t have the access to the kinds of recruits it would take to have a successful “modern” offense.
December 5th, 2021 at 11:39 AM ^
Some fine punts. I'll tellya what.
December 5th, 2021 at 11:45 AM ^
Gotta be honest, Iowa won the field position game
December 5th, 2021 at 11:52 AM ^
They made it a field position game, for a while. That was a remarkable achievement in a 21st century title game.
Unfortunately for them, the goal is to win, not punt, and 21st century ball is about possessions. But for a while, they made 1970s football relevant again.
December 5th, 2021 at 11:59 AM ^
Annoying well coached over-rated team I don't want to play again for a long time
December 5th, 2021 at 12:01 PM ^
Uh, well, that’s fair.
But like I said, half the B1W are dirty headhunters so for the health of the players I’ll gladly take Iowa over, say, Wisconsin or Minnesota.
December 5th, 2021 at 12:09 PM ^
Neither of those teams are dirty. Wisconsin plays a real physical brand of football.
December 5th, 2021 at 12:07 PM ^
UM plays next year at Kinnick.
December 5th, 2021 at 12:06 PM ^
Iowa left some points on the board. They had some good drives that ended with 3 points because they couldn’t finish. Change a couple plays and the score is a little more respectable. If Iowa’s offense was even mediocre, this game would have been more interesting.
December 5th, 2021 at 12:41 PM ^
Yeah, sort. Michigan plays bend don’t break. And a lot of teams, including OSU, have fritzed out in the red zone against Michigan.
December 5th, 2021 at 12:38 PM ^
Iowa had a good gameplan but UM was just better. That defense was good enough to win a title and they just have to figure out their offense.