3 things learned from Michigan's maddening loss to Iowa

Michigan's loss to Iowa was maddening.

There really is no other way to describe it. The Wolverines lost a game they should have won. Michigan football also wasted one of the best performances of Bryce Underwood's young career.

This is one that fans will look back on for a long time. It wasn't as bad as the Kordell Stewart Hail Mary, or "Trouble with the Snap" but it wasn't that far off.

Unless the Wolverines win seven of eight, they won't sniff the College Football Playoff. What's frustrating is that you can see how good this team can be. It rolled up over 400 yards on Iowa. The defense has looked great at times, and the run game even got going.

The pieces are there for a strong season, but it's gut check time after a brutal loss. Michigan can learn from it and recover, or it can go the other way.

Those are questions that will be answered in the future. For now, let's look back at what we learned from the 20-19 loss to Iowa.

Bryce Underwood has improved

Outside of the one interception, Underwood was flawless. He was patient, accurate, and decisive with the football. It's hard to know what happened on the interception. It was either a bad throw or the wrong route.

Still, Underwood completed 17 of 28 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns. When Iowa took the lead in the fourth quarter, Underwood drove Michigan right down the field to take it back.

It was terribly frustrating to see the coaches take the ball out of his hands on the final third-and-five. If you drop him back to throw, it also opens the possibility of a scramble for a first down. Instead, Michigan didn't trust its quarterback, even when he was dealing.

And yes, Underwood threw an interception. He was also coming off a touchdown drive, so it's hard to understand the idea of playing not to lose.

If Michigan football fans want to take something positive out of the loss, it's Underwood. If you can throw for nearly 300 against Iowa, that's a really good sign moving forward.

Bryce accounted for 312 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. That should have been good enough. He has room to improve, and he should not have jumped on the 4th-and-1, but the narrative around him has drastically shifted in three weeks.

The kid can play. That provides very real hope for the future.

Coaching is one of Michigan's biggest problems

The coaches didn't instruct Zeke Berry to push an Iowa player when he was out of bounds. It wasn't flagrant. The flag should not have been thrown, but at the same time, don't give the official a reason to throw a flag, especially when you have 4th-and-12.

Things should never have reached that point, though. Michigan coaches played not to lose. It wasn't just Jason Beck, either.

Jay Hill went to more of a prevent defense instead of bringing the pressure that worked all game. The Wolverines allowed Iowa to go 91 yards in two minutes. It was way too easy, too.

Michigan started giving up completions, and Hank Brown got comfortable. The final defensive call was hard to explain. Playing press coverage with a spy instead of having more players near the end zone, with their eyes on the quarterback, was a strange choice. I wouldn't expect Underwood to have a spy on him in that situation. This wasn't Vince Young and USC.

Outside of the play-calling, Michigan's team is somehow more undisciplined than it was under Sherrone Moore. The Wolverines were penalized eight times and every one was crucial, like the illegal formation that wiped away a critical first down on the second-to-last drive.

Whittingham was supposed to be the adult in the room. Maybe it's taking longer than expected to rid the Wolverines of habits learned under Sherrone Moore, but the mistakes have to end.

The running game will be just fine

Another huge positive is that Michigan rushed for 153 yards in this game. Iowa was allowing 2.2 yards per attempt coming in. Jordan Marshall had 11 carries for 59 yards and looked like himself for the first time. Savion Hiter had a solid game, too.

If you can run on Iowa, you can run on anyone. Michigan also gave up just one sack. Andrew Sprague should come back, which would allow Blake Frazier to go back to left tackle, while bumping Evan Link inside.

The offensive line allowed one sack. It was genuinely good all day, but it will be overlooked by the fact that a few errors snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

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