Staff Roundtable: Can Michigan Football handle the Hawkeyes?
By Josh LaFond
What would your game plan be offensively and defensively this week?
Cameron: Personally, my game plan would be to attack Iowa’s secondary, crazy as that may sound. Yes, I know the thing about how Iowa’s defense gets a lot of turnovers and it leads to momentum swings and such, but I don’t think Michigan will be able to run the ball that well against Iowa. That’s my main reason for saying this. I think Iowa will load the box against Michigan, keeping their linebackers close to the line of scrimmage, and they will force JJ to dink and dunk his way down the field. When I say attack down the field, I mean vertically. Deep passes. I don’t mean attack Iowa between the hashes. That could lead to tips, overthrows, everything that Jim Harbaugh said Michigan can’t do against the Hawkeyes. I want to see JJ hit on some of his deep passes that he missed last week. I think the receivers are also hungry to make up for their poor games against Maryland’s secondary. Michigan has way too much speed for Iowa to contain on the outside. Let these receivers feast (vertically, not between the hashes). Iowa’s offense is not built to keep up in a shootout, so that would be my gameplan on offense, personally. On defense, it’s simple: stop the run. If Michigan stops the run, everything else should fall into place. Iowa is a run-first team just like Michigan, but the biggest difference is, if that fails, they don’t have the firepower to go pass-heavy and win a football game that way. You stop the run, you shutdown Iowa’s good tight end Sam LaPorta, and Michigan wins the game handily. Oh, and some sacks on the quarterback wouldn’t hurt either. Need some more of those.
Brady: I think getting JJ comfortable early should be the biggest focus on offense. In his first away game as a starter, I think getting JJ into a rhythm early will be huge for his confidence. I’d also like to see Michigan get creative in how they use Blake Corum. I don’t see us running for big yards in between the tackles this week, so Harbaugh and company are going to have to find a way to get him the ball in space. On defense, the key is Spencer Petras. Make Petras throw and beat us with his arm. This guy has 524 passing yards, one touchdown, and a QBR of 11.6. I think pressuring Petras and forcing him to make tough throws will be key to forcing turnovers.
Josh: On offense, play smart, not conservative. Don’t be afraid to use JJ’s legs and arm talent, but if the game is in the balance and the run game is working lean on them instead of forcing a pass play just because you want to call it.
On defense, make Spencer Petras beat you through the air. Make him do it because he can’t. The Iowa run game isn’t as explosive as the last few years either. And that’s probably the reason why the Hawkeye defense has outscored their offense nearly 2-1 this year.
Chris: I’d be a little more conservative. Running the football is going to get important. J.J. McCarthy can’t try to do too much and the staff needs to help him. At the same time, he’s a 5-star QB. You need to let him play like it.