Michigan football passed its first road test with flying colors and here are five things we learned about the Wolverines in their win over Iowa.
When the 2022 Michigan football schedule first came out, the game against Iowa was one we all had circled. We knew it was going to be a huge challenge, but for the most part, the Wolverines made the Hawkeyes and Kinnick Stadium look pretty tame.
There were a few scary moments in the fourth quarter. When Iowa got the ball back down 20-7, you could feel that if the Hawkeyes scored a second touchdown, they might just be able to pull off a miracle (three touchdowns in one quarter).
But it didn’t happen. Mike Morris and Eyabi Okei shut the door on that with sacks on the final drive. At least the final drive that mattered in the outcome of the game for the defense.
Iowa added a garbage-time touchdown, but once Blake Corum scampered into the end zone to make it 27-7, it was all she wrote. Michigan football is 5-0 and here are five things we learned from the win over the Hawkeyes.
J.J. McCarthy can handle a tough defense and environment
Everyone knows that Iowa thrives on turnovers, which is why it was great to see J.J. McCarthy make sure there were none. He fumbled a ball and it led to a punt, but that was the only blemish.
McCarthy only threw for 155 yards but his QBR was 78.8. He threw a huge touchdown pass to Donovan Edwards after buying time with his legs and completed 18-of-24 passes and I don’t remember more than 1-2 that were in the any sort of danger.
Yes, he missed another deep ball to Roman Wilson which would have been a touchdown and an early dagger. He needs to connect on that pass if this offense is going to reach its ceiling. You also can’t let teams hang around.
But against a really tough defense (No. 1 in the nation in scoring) McCarthy led Michigan to 27 points and he did exactly what he needed to do to win.
I loved it and the best is yet to come.
The offensive line made a statement
One of the concerns coming into the Iowa game was how Michigan football was going to play upfront, especially on the offensive line.
The Wolverines ran the ball really well against Maryland obviously, but Iowa and its defense which was allowing just 2.2 yards per rushing attempt is a different animal.
Well, on the opening drive, with Trevor Keegan back in the starting lineup, Michigan football made a statement. Really, the entire offensive line did. The first drive was 12 plays and 75 yards for a touchdown and most of the work was done on the ground.
There were a couple of times when Iowa stopped Blake Corum in short yardage, but the running game was really effective. Corum rushed for 133 yards on 29 carries. The Wolverines managed 171 as a team and 4.1 yards per attempt.
To me, that shows that this running game and offensive line is every bit as good as last year’s. If you can run on Iowa, you can run on anyone and after a few bumps along the way, the offensive line is right where we expected them to be.
Blake Corum can do it all
While Michigan football got Donovan Edwards back, this game plan was all about Corum. For the second straight game, he carried the load offensively. He got 30 carries against Maryland last week and 29 in the win over Iowa.
There was one run over 20 yards so Corum did it mostly grinding between the tackles. Fans have wondered if Corum could be effective in short-yardage situations and he proved that he can on Saturday against one of the toughest defenses in college football.
Corum is explosive and anytime he touches the ball, he can score a touchdown. But you have to be able to grind out wins too and the Wolverines have proven they can do it with Corum two weeks in a row.
Edwards will start to get more carries. It was his first game back and he touched the ball nine times total, including five rushes for 29 yards. Yet, Corum is the bread-and-butter of this offense and it wouldn’t be shocking to see his Heisman candidacy rise in the coming weeks and months.
The pass rush is just fine
For all the talk about the pass rush, through two Big Ten games, Michigan football has seven total sacks. If they keep up that pace, the Wolverines will be close to 40 by season’s end.
There were times when Spencer Petras had too much time to throw and he made Michigan football pay. The one drive in the third quarter was a really good one by the Hawkeyes.
But the Wolverines made sure one good drive didn’t turn into two. Mike Morris got a sack and a QB hit that forced an incompletion on back-to-back plays. Then, Eyabi Okie got a sack and the game was over.
Jim Harbaugh said Okie was going to get more playing time and man, what an addition he was. His sack was incredible. He held onto Petras through like two guys and just wouldn’t let go. Once Derrick Moore gets up to speed too, the Wolverines will have four solid edge rushers.
Jaylen Harrell, Moore, Braiden McGregor, Okie, and Morris should be more than enough. The fact that Mazi Smith and Mason Graham got pressure inside was also good to see. And the more the guys on the edge perform well, the more Michigan football can use Morris as an interior pass rusher. He excels in that role and it’s not easy to throw over his 6-foot-6 frame.
All in all, I’m feeling just fine with the pass rush.
Jesse Minter is legit
Lots of Michigan football fans questioned the hire of Jesse Minter as the replacement for Mike Macdonald. There was chatter about his defensive rankings at Vanderbilt and blah, blah, blah.
Well, we don’t hear much about that now do we?
That’s because Minter was another home-run hire by Jim Harbaugh. The defense is ranked sixth in the nation in scoring defense so far and is allowing just 252 yards per game. Michigan is also surrendering just 11 points per game.
The run defense has been really good and it held up against the Hawkeyes too. Michigan ran for 172 and Iowa ran for 35. That’s why the Wolverines won the game.
Jim Harbaugh talked about “blue collar” football after the win and that’s what Michigan played. But Minter deserves some credit. His defense allowed one scoring drive when the game was competitive and got huge stops when it mattered.
I love his ability to adjust during the game and before long, people will start recognizing him as one of the elite defensive minds in college football.