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 6:46 PM ^
My God, with the comments on here, you would think that we lost. And stop bitching about the offence and start praising the defense. Would you take 10-3 wins the rest of the year, or just complain?
October 6th, 2019 at 9:53 AM ^
We didn’t lose the iowa game.
But it was obvious we’re losing multiple games in the near future.
October 5th, 2019 at 6:57 PM ^
The good news: It looks like Don Brown has finally accepted that he can't just out athlete teams. He is really mixing it up well this year and if he continues doing so, this defense will be very tough by the end of the year. Brown may be in the process of proving quite a few of us wrong.
The bad news: I'm confident our defense would have scored more points than our offense, had we just punted the ball back on 1st down.
Hopeful news: As bad as this offense looks, it's not as inept as those RR teams and there are pieces there. DCaf will get snaps next game and maybe take over the job. Harbaugh won't throw a QB under the bus, but based on his past, he will make a QB change.
October 5th, 2019 at 7:06 PM ^
Had a hard time reading this with all the bleach I put in my eyes. Ssdfjkyffb.
October 5th, 2019 at 7:08 PM ^
on that last play, when Stanley tossed that left-handed "pass" to his back, who actually had some open field in front of him - how many had a split-second flash back to the MSU blocked punt fiasco a few years ago?... just me?
October 5th, 2019 at 8:11 PM ^
I was thinking they were about to get a first down until the closer (Dax Hill?) came in. I guess the ball was in the air too long but it was scary for a moment.
October 5th, 2019 at 9:47 PM ^
Yeah Dax Hill was knocked down and still got back to make a shoestring tackle
October 5th, 2019 at 7:22 PM ^
I'll take an ugly win. Great game for the DBs. Dwumfour played well. Danna filled in admirably for Paye. McGrone looks like a future star.
I don't know what to say about the offense.
October 5th, 2019 at 7:56 PM ^
I've never been this pissed off about a offensive fail in my life.
Michigan good defense and shithole offense will NOT BEAT OSU.
The bigger problem is I'm not seeing O side "improooovment" baby.
October 5th, 2019 at 8:16 PM ^
Truth be told, I don't know if we learned much of anything from this...Michigan-Iowa games are almost always ugly games going back to the famous Schembechler-Fry battles...even the 1997 game with Iowa, while a great comeback, had some intermediate periods of ugly...that's how Michigan and Iowa usually roll when they play each other.
October 5th, 2019 at 8:19 PM ^
I was hoping to see Milton.aybe this offense runs better. Patterson is struggling with it.
October 5th, 2019 at 8:25 PM ^
Josh Gattis needs to be fired tomorrow. I'm sorry. I know there will be pushback from people who fear making a change, but honestly it doesn't get worse than what you saw against Wisconsin and Iowa. What would be the difference if Harbaugh called plays? Would we score 6, 3, or 0 points against Iowa? 10 points is ridiculously bad on its own. This offense is complete garbage.
What's sad is that there are SO MANY people with successful track records as OCs who are doing well right now, guys like Phil Longo and Graham Harrell. There was a spate of offensive-minded guys who were hired as HCs at small schools who would probably rather be the OC at Michigan, guys like Jake Spavital and Chip Lindsey. These guys actually know what they are doing. Now we are wasting another year with the offensive talent that we have because Harbaugh gave the job to Some Guy Who Was In The Same Room As Nick Saban.
F off, Harbaugh. Maybe it sounds ridiculous or presumptuous, but yes, we would have made superior coaching hires if we took a poll of MGoBlog readers. Instead we have this clown blindly throwing darts on a map and picking people haphazardly. The guy's head isn't in the game. He gets $7 million a year or whatever it is to do stupid crap like this and never faces any consequences for it and it holds our program hostage.
October 5th, 2019 at 8:27 PM ^
I loved this game
October 5th, 2019 at 8:42 PM ^
This was the first time in years I sat in the bowl and it was a pretty miserable experience. The crowd was completely out of the game and the ones that were into were really the epitome of the program "establish the run, ball control, etc" like it's 1994.
The band is non-existent now. I thought Brian was overreacting to the commercials and music over the speakers but it really does seem like they've completely taken away the college football/Michigan atmosphere and replaced it with bland NFL corporate cheering
October 5th, 2019 at 9:02 PM ^
It's different, for sure, and takes some getting used to. Some of the changes are inevitable, some don't seem to be well thought out. Nothing should drown out our team taking the field in the second half, in the 70s that moment was the star, today it's an afterthought. Why waste an opportunity for the team to feel the effect of stadium energy.
If you think the crowd was out of this game, you'd have been more disappointed at the Army game. Crowd showed up more today and good thing, with all the Hawkeyes on our side opposite the press box.
October 5th, 2019 at 9:25 PM ^
Dude. The crowd was ‘more into’ this game than any I remember over the last five years (barring the big rival games). On the band, I have noticed they’ve been going with more piped in music.
October 5th, 2019 at 11:07 PM ^
We must have been at two different games. The crowd was the loudest it has been all season. The place absolutely rocked when Woodson was introduced and he appeared to be having a lot more fun than sitting on the Fox set during the wisky shellacking. Yes, some of the hype stuff is exactly that but the band’s performances have been great. One thing which troubles me is the student attendance: the student section appeared to be 1/4 empty against a ranked opponent?
October 6th, 2019 at 10:25 AM ^
I was at the game and thoroughly enjoyed it and specifically thought that this is a game where being there was far preferable to watching it on TV.
October 5th, 2019 at 9:31 PM ^
Halftime recap during the MSU / Ohio game: "We know who Shea Patterson is, and he should thank that defense."
Everyone seems to see this, except for Harbaugh and a few sycophants here.
October 5th, 2019 at 9:45 PM ^
McGrone and Dax Hill's speed have completely changed this defense. 2 weeks after getting demolished in Madison, we're complaining about a win against a top 15 team.
October 6th, 2019 at 9:47 AM ^
pretty fortunate coincidence that just this week they finally practiced hard enough to see the field.
#meritocracy
October 6th, 2019 at 7:21 PM ^
Iowa is not a top 15 team
October 5th, 2019 at 9:57 PM ^
the much-hyped MSU defense looks overwhelmed by OSU
October 6th, 2019 at 9:02 AM ^
They don't have the depth to keep up with good offenses and their offense is average at best. At no point in the game were they a threat.
OSU did exactly what a team with really good skill guys should do. Run them side to side, get guys open in space and wear out an aggressive defense. OSU was in cruise control the entire 2nd half. They could have score 60 if they wanted.
The good thing for MSU is that there are not many good offenses in the BIG 10 or smart enough coaches to make them work.
October 5th, 2019 at 10:11 PM ^
While I'm not impressed with Gattis, Shea is stinken up the joint. We need to start a new QB against our next opponent to get them ready. Shea will not get drafted by the NFL. Next man up.
October 5th, 2019 at 10:20 PM ^
Offense sucks.
Defense is the bomb.
We win.
October 5th, 2019 at 10:18 PM ^
Bump Elliott was rocking in his wheelchair yelling Now That's football!
October 5th, 2019 at 10:20 PM ^
Why is it that after every game we say "we're glad it's over"? Yet again, a superb defensive performance by Michigan was upstaged by shitty offense. And to boot we saw uncharacteristically poor special teams. Is this program ever going to get everyone rowing in the same direction?
October 5th, 2019 at 10:32 PM ^
Watching Michigan is a chore now. It’s not fun - it’s aggravating and annoying and tiresome.
Watching good programs like Oklahoma and OSU just makes you sad and listless about what could be but never will be.
I just can’t commit 4 hours a Saturday anymore - Harbaugh isn’t even close to decent enough to win a title. Ryan Day is goin how to embarrass him in his first year as a head coach and the Harbaugh defenders will just say “well....just wait until next year!”
There are 4-5 teams worth a shit year-in and year-our and UM ain’t one of them - soooooo what’s the point here? To lose 3-5 games a year and puff our chests that we aren’t paying the kids under the table like 99% of the other schools are?
Who the fuck cares about any of this if we aren’t actually competing for and winning titles?
Yawn.
My money and time and energy will be spent elsewhere on Saturdays going forward. This isn’t fun anymore - it’s a chore and it’s boring and if I wanted to watch high school level football I would just go watch the local high school team. Harbaugh is pathetic.
October 5th, 2019 at 10:37 PM ^
We win
October 6th, 2019 at 2:12 AM ^
logged in to downvote
October 5th, 2019 at 10:37 PM ^
Great Defense today.... All the "Fire Brown" ass hats will be calling for Gattis' firing. A win is a win, against a ranked conference opponent.
Onward, Go Blue.
October 6th, 2019 at 12:58 AM ^
Shea has shown his true colors. I think he is extremely limited, and I think he has been the main handicap to this offense.
I welcome the day that I eat my words because I know he has the talent to make every play... if only he could progress through his reads
October 6th, 2019 at 1:18 AM ^
Was far from a shootout.
But in the end it’s a win.
October 6th, 2019 at 7:37 AM ^
I love having your game recaps this season!
One of the great sentences in MGoBlog lore:
"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."
October 6th, 2019 at 7:47 AM ^
ESPN+ had a great in depth article after the Wisc game about what exactly was wrong with Michigan. They didn't really place blame on Gattis, but rather the mix of what he's trying to do with what they have. They interviewed some big ten assistant coaches who were obviously anonymous. More specifically, they said the following was the main problem
- Patterson is not good at making reads and the offense is predicated on it
- Harbaugh doesn't want him running, which again, the offense is predicated on it
- Their receivers, while big and athletic, don't fit the scheme which requires faster, quicker receivers.
- The receivers just can't get open
- Offensive line has been bad
In short, instead of really adjusting the offense to the talent, he's trying to cram the talent into the offense. It's similar to what RR did his first year when he had Threet running the zone read.
October 6th, 2019 at 10:17 AM ^
Perfectly well said!
But, remember the storm that was brewing last season about the offense, Pep, Harbaugh’s stubbornness, Body Blows, etc. Fan perception is a real factor in this day and age, you heard it mentioned several times in the broadcast yesterday — Harbaugh said he doesn’t listen, but I think he, like everyone else, can’t block out the incessant 24/7 noise coming from all angles.
So, he made a change to a “modern offense.” But, now those VERY SAME voice are the loudest against the result. I’m not saying the results are anything but horrible, but it goes back to, “be careful what you wish for.”
Shea is the problem, not the offense. Take any number of QB’s from around the nation and plug them in and Gattis would be lauded as a genius and next up for a HC job — like many feared before he called a single play. Shea is the problem, Dylan can’t stop getting hurt, and Joe Milton, although far more impressive than before, might not be ready.
At this point, I’d rather they just go with Milton and let him get better by playing football. At least the defense would be forced to respect the deep ball.
October 6th, 2019 at 2:20 PM ^
This makes total sense. Everyone is dumping on Patterson, but why are our receivers never open, and why can't our interior OL get any push? (I know they can't pull because they're too slow.)
Harbaugh is doing a disservice to Gattis by letting him run an offense that can't be run with this personnel.
October 6th, 2019 at 8:38 AM ^
The low scoring defensive struggle is reminiscent of games in the old days. However, Bo never would have attempted so many passes back then.
Its a solid win. Go Blue!
October 6th, 2019 at 9:28 AM ^
I watched this game as if I had never heard of Mgoblog.com. No emo bitch ass BPONE, no worrying about certain players playing LB just a WalmartWolverine enjoying the game like I used to and I loved it. Just win baby!
October 6th, 2019 at 9:28 AM ^
I watched this game as if I had never heard of Mgoblog.com. No emo bitch ass BPONE, no worrying about certain players playing LB just a WalmartWolverine enjoying the game like I used to and I loved it. Just win baby!
October 6th, 2019 at 9:33 AM ^
Had Stanley not saved a 20 yard sack on the last play, the teams’ combined offensive ineptitude would have eclipsed the 2014 M00N game with Northwestern. As it was, yesterday’s total yardage of 528 was just 8 yards more than the 520 total yards which Michigan and Northwestern ran up during the 2014 classic.
But we won both games, so we’ve got that going for us!
October 6th, 2019 at 10:01 AM ^
A good amount of credit belongs to Iowa. Shea is not a superstar, and some of the play calling by a first time OC seems self-destructively gimmicky, but it's time for us homers to admit that Harbaugh has yet to put together a good offensive program. He's on his third radical shift in offensive philosophy. I'm optimistic, but it's unsurprising that the team is not an offensive dynamo this year. It may be later this year or next year, but the responsibility is Harbaugh. I still love him and his program though.
October 6th, 2019 at 12:40 PM ^
Shea is good enough to get things going. After the big play to Nico, Iowa went 2 high safeties. We just didn't stick with the short, intermediate passing and forced the run too much. Our run blocking is mediocre in this new offense, which is the biggest regression from last year. Not explosive on the ground. OL looks passive with that crappy zone blocking pad level. I just don't like the run play designs that are needed to support like 3 RPOs per game.
And no threat of a run game is killing the passing attack. Averaging ~4 yards a carry isn't going to cut it and placing the offense in a competitive hole. I think Josh is still tinkering to find the identity of this team, but it is not yet a spread read option team. 4 years of practicing something else is difficult to overcome in one year. The OL is struggling to make the transition in the run game. Our longest RB play from scrimmage was 44 yards in game one, but since then? 14 yards is our longest RB carry other than that. We need to develop a better run game plan to get some chunks and make those safeties play football.
October 6th, 2019 at 2:20 PM ^
Good morning.
I wanted to review the college quarterbacks' ratings to see if what I see with my eyes jives with the metrics. I believe that do. Shea is the 85th ranked QB, right ahead of Brandon Peters at 86. This is a concern for several reasons:
1. The new offense was supposed to play to Shea's strengths, instead is has exposed his weaknesses. The read option offense requires that you be a good runner and be able to read and throw quickly and accurately. Shea does none of these things well. I was watching the Kansas State offense sputter yesterday and they have the identical problem. Their QB Skylar Thompson was supposed to thrive in the offense. But he like Shea is at best, an average runner. Neither is a real running "threat". And neither is an above average passer. What you end up with a a below average QB and an offense that does not move.
Think about Justin Fields coming around the edge and being one on one with Jordan Glasgow at LB. He has to get 4 yards for the first down. How often does he get the first down. I would say 8 out of 10 times, Fields jukes or speeds around him. Now put Shea in the same situation. Shea may make it 3 out of 10.
Shea is not even an average passer. His elbow drops and he slings the ball resulting in errant throws. He does not have elite arm strength, an 80 mile an hour fastball was good in High School but you need 90 in college and 95 in the pros.
This offense is highly dependent on the QB's skills and when you have one who is neither an elite runner nor elite passer, the offense dies as we continue to see.
2. Jim Harbaugh is NOT a great QB coach or he is not coaching the QBs. Think about the talent he has brought to Ann Arbor. John Okorn - Division 2 talent. Brandon Peters - never developed. Shea - senior ranked 85th in the country and three others on scholarship who cannot beat him out. There are freshmen and sophomore QBs all over the country having great success. If our backups cannot perform better then Shea, we have a real problem.
3. Talent evaluation on offense overall is an issue. When you note that Oliver Martin is about to break out and he ends up #5 on the depth chart at Iowa, it makes me think that our talent is really not superior to other teams. Are the WR and RB really elite? Nothing on the field tells me that anyone but Nico is an elite talent.
4. More coaching moves must happen. We need an experienced QB, WR and RB coaches. We do not develop are talent at these positions and something must change immediately.
5. Is Jim Harbaugh burned out? This seems about the time he gets restless. I suspect the Miami Dolphins would like him. I just cannot imagine "hypercompetitive" Jim Harbaugh allowing this mess of an offense to continue. He pulled the plug on Alex Smith and got them to the Superbowl. What is he seeing in Shea? I suspect the same thing he saw in Okorn.
October 6th, 2019 at 3:14 PM ^
Having watched this game a 2nd time I am now of the opinion Shae has a shoulder injury, he had a couple throws in this game which are mechanically what you would do if you had a shoulder injury.
Believe Michigan is protecting him some.
October 6th, 2019 at 10:16 PM ^
Speed in space or LOST in space?
October 6th, 2019 at 10:38 PM ^
Very clever. I hope it doesn't get stolen by a TV celeb.
October 7th, 2019 at 8:44 AM ^
It has been entertaining reading all the future College Football Hall of Fame coaches tossing their evaluations about the team with all of their years of football experience - the Vet Doc was particularly a laugh suggesting it is talent eval and coaching. The only question to be asked is this - if Justin Fields, Tua or Jalen Hurts was the Michigan QB - what would the results be? 4-0 and about 48-52 PPG is probably conservative. Anyone that was listening heard Gattis say he was concerned about how much golf Patterson was playing instead of football. When the captains were announced and Shea wasn't selected - that was a big red flag - a senior QB not selected as a leader? I also watch video of Jalen Hurts in a massive workouts after every game and hear Justin Fields and Tua are workout monster with their teammates after practice on the side. Shea is not doing those things. Shea may be hurt - that is a real possibility but in College Football the QB position decides Championships - Period. His play has been flat out bad and the offensive results are exactly matching his play. Reply after replay showing wide open receivers, bad zone reads, a QB that runs out of good pockets, locks in on one receiver and does not check out of bad plays is the issue. And when people mention developing talent - that is on the kids - their want and desires to be great is what makes them great. Coaches can only try to put them in a position to succeed.
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