5 questions for Michigan Football against Iowa
The most important thing in the world of college football is winning. This is extremely obvious, but teams like Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Sparty, Oregon, etc haven’t been able to say that every single week.
Those programs have all lost one or more games, exposing flaws in their offensive or defensive schemes and game plans, and Michigan football was one of those teams last week against Maryland, but the most important thing was MICHIGAN WON.
The way a large section of the fanbase acts after every single close game that Michigan plays like the sky is falling is something I’ll never quite understand. It happens every single year when one or two non-ranked opponents give Michigan football some trouble.
Were there some things to clean up against Maryland? No doubt. No game is ever perfect. Were there some things to be mildly concerned about? Maybe. Is it time to full-on panic right now? Heck no.
Michigan football faces Iowa on the road at Kinnick this Saturday, in an environment, they haven’t won in since 2005. Here are five questions Michigan football faces heading into the game on Saturday.
Will Michigan be able to run the football against Iowa?
Last week, Blake Corum had a game for the ages against Maryland, with 30 carries for 243 yards and two TDs. I don’t expect him to get nearly that many carries in one game the rest of the season.
Iowa is going to load the box against Michigan, it’s pretty much guaranteed, with their linebackers playing close to the line of scrimmage, so it will be interesting to see if Michigan can get a run game established at all against the Hawkeyes.
In the Big Ten Championship game against Iowa last season, aside from that long 67-yard touchdown run by Blake Corum, the offensive line and wide receivers/tight ends didn’t create enough push in the run game, as Michigan’s running backs were swallowed up by Iowa’s really good linebackers Jack Campbell and John Waggoner time and time again.
Michigan’s wide receivers and tight ends will need to do a much better job blocking on the perimeter because Blake Corum loves to bounce outside and seal off any opposing linebackers coming down to penetrate the gap.
Let’s hope Michigan can get some semblance of a ground game. It doesn’t have to be amazing. Just generate enough of a ground game to keep Iowa honest.