Photos by: Aaron J. Thornton
For the second time this young season, Michigan fans witnessed a game decided on the final play. Unfortunately, unlike the first game, this time the ending was not in favor of the Maize and Blue.
The No. 18-ranked Michigan Wolverines appeared to have the No. 17 Iowa Hawkeyes right where they wanted them, leading 19-14 with just over two minutes remaining. Michigan punted the ball back to Iowa and pinned the Hawkeyes at their own 9-yard line.
With one of the nation’s top tier defenses on the field, few expected Iowa to drive 91 yards for the touchdown it needed to win the game.
But that’s exactly what happened.
Michigan seemed to have the Hawkeyes right where they wanted them. Following a false start penalty, Iowa faced a 3rd & 12 from their own 40-yard line. After the next play, an incomplete pass, Iowa looked to be heading into a 4th & 12 with 28 seconds left.
Instead, Michigan gave Iowa new life.
Wolverine defensive back Zeke Berry was flagged for unnecessary roughness, giving Iowa 15 yards and an automatic first down. The costly penalty bailed out the Hawkeyes, keeping the game-winning drive alive.
A couple plays later, with 11 seconds left, Iowa quarterback Hank Brown connected with Addison Ostrenga for a 29-yard completion that moved the Hawkeyes to the Michigan 16-yard line.
As the clock continued to run, Iowa raced to the line of scrimmage to down the ball but a Michigan defender was down with an injury, forcing the clock to stop with two seconds remaining. That’s all the time Iowa needed to set up a play call for their final play.
After the TV timeout, Brown took the snap and found receiver Reece Vander Zee in the corner of the end zone as time expired, giving the Hawkeyes a stunning 20-19 walk-off victory. The win marked Iowa’s first over Michigan in 10 years.
Michigan entered the game favored to win by 5.5 points at home. Looking at the stats, it was a game Michigan should have won as they dominated Iowa in just about every statistical category.
– Total Yards: Michigan 429, Iowa 285
– Passing Yards: Michigan 276, Iowa 227
– Rushing Yards: Michigan 153, Iowa 58
– First Downs: Michigan 21, Iowa 16
– Time of Possession: Michigan 34:29, Iowa 25:31
But in a game decided by a single point, two categories ultimately proved costly for the Wolverines: turnovers and penalties. And Iowa won both.
Michigan committed the game’s only turnover, an interception, while Iowa protected the football throughout the afternoon. The Wolverines also committed eight penalties compared with five by the Hawkeyes.
The positive for the Wolverines is that their offense broke out of its shell and played well. “I thought our offense had their best game,” Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham said afterwards.
Quarterback Bryce Underwood completed 17 of 28 passes for a career-high 276 yards adding two touchdowns. Michigan’s two leading receivers both eclipsed 100 yards. J.J. Buchanan recorded 130 receiving yards, while Andrew Marsh finished with 106. And Michigan’s running backs had fairly solid games with Jordan Marshall gaining 59 rush yards and freshman Savion Hiter with 53 yards on the ground.
Despite the offensive breakthrough, Whittingham was quick to point to the penalties that once again hurt his team. “We were penalized too much again today. It was excessive, and we have to do something about it. We have to continue to clean it up,” Whittingham said. Michigan’s eight penalties resulted in 75 yards, including the costly 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty during Iowa’s game winning drive. By comparison, the Hawkeyes were penalized five times for 34 yards.
In the end, the message from the Head Coach was simple, “We left this one get away from us because we had it. Now we have to get back up and go right back to work on the next opponent and learn from the mistakes”.
Michigan (3-1) will be back in action next Saturday going on the road for their first away contest to take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers (3-1) in Minneapolis. Iowa (4-0) will look to stay undefeated in a tough home game against the Ohio State Buckeyes (3-1) in Iowa City.