Grading Michigan Football and its win over Iowa

Defense: B+

If you look just at the numbers, Michigan football was outstanding on defense. The Wolverines allowed just 14 total points and it registered four sacks. There weren’t any turnovers though and the Iowa pass offense had way too much success for my taste.

I think people saying Iowa has the worse offense ever are overexaggerating a little. Spencer Petras has struggled but has also played better in previous weeks and probably threw the ball better against U-M than any other team.

That doesn’t give me the warm and fuzzies. The defensive backs didn’t play as well as they could have. Petras completed 21-of-31 passes for 246 yards and without the sacks on the second-to-last drive, the outcome could have been different.

That’s a lesson and sometimes, once a quarterback gets comfortable, it’s hard to knock him out of that, which is why the pass rush needs to get home earlier.

Still, the run defense was better than expected, allowing just 35 yards and that’s where the game was won — the rushing battle.