Michigan football: 4 key things to watch for against Iowa
By Jacob Shames
Deja vu all over again
What makes the Hawkeyes such a challenge for Michigan is not merely that they are a very good football team, but that they are a good football team in the exact same mold of the most recent good football team the Wolverines faced.
Michigan football surely would rather not revisit its fateful trip to Wisconsin ever again. But that’s exactly what it will have to do this week if it hopes to come out with a victory. Iowa methodically rolls over teams in the same fashion as the Badgers: a lockdown defense, a balanced offense (248 passing yards per game, 217 rushing) and an average time-of-possession, at 36 minutes, that ranks third in the country, just behind Wisconsin.
Iowa’s not a team known for superstars, and it doesn’t have one this year either. But despite the lack of a Jonathan Taylor, the Hawkeyes have three dependable ball-carriers. Senior Mekhi Sargent is the leader with 54 carries this year, but Tyler Goodson and Toren Young have also toted the rock considerably. All three average over 5.5 yards per carry.
Iowa has six receivers that have at least eight catches, led by Ihmir Smith-Marsette‘s 15 grabs for 254 yards. Stanley, the senior quarterback with 965 yards, eight touchdowns, zero interceptions and a 155.5 passer rating to his name, has taken just five sacks behind a meaty offensive line.
Just as the Badgers sought to play Badger football, the Hawkeyes will seek to play Hawkeye football. When it’s successful, which is often, it’s usually soul-crushingly so.
For Michigan to ensure that won’t be the case, it needs to impose its own will with a complete performance: from its defensive line, to its linebacking corps, to its secondary. Which leads into…