It wasn’t the dominant start-to-finish performance that was on display in Indianapolis, Ind., last December when Michigan routed Iowa, 42-3, to win the Big Ten Championship game.
In that contest, the Wolverines racked up 461 yards of total offense, including 211 rushing yards on 34 carries with four rushing touchdowns. The Wolverines also shocked Iowa with a trick play that saw running back Donovan Edwards throw a 75-yard touchdown pass to Roman Wilson.
In this edition, Michigan couldn’t find the same amount of offense, finishing with 327 yards of total offense. The message was clear, though. Iowa still has a long ways to go to be a legitimate factor in both the Big Ten West and to win a Big Ten championship. The Wolverines came right out and set the tone, driving 75 yards on 11 plays for a 16-yard touchdown run from Ronnie Bell.
Then, after an eight-play drive that ended with a Michigan punt, the Wolverines came back with 13-play and 12-play drives that tacked on a 44 and 35-yard field goals from Jake Moody. Michigan led 13-0 at halftime and after the Wolverines followed up an Iowa three-and-out to start the second half with a 10-play, 67-yard drive that ended with a 12-yard touchdown pass from J.J. McCarthy to Donovan Edwards, it felt like too big of a hill for Iowa to climb.
Credit the Hawkeyes. They did manage to piece together a seven-play, 44-yard drive that was capped off by a 2-yard Kaleb Johnson touchdown run. On the scoring drive, Iowa also overcame a questionable personal foul call on center Logan Jones that wiped out a 16-yard gain from Petras to wide receiver Nico Ragaini to the Michigan 2-yard line.
Then, after the Hawkeyes’ defense added a subsequent three-and-out stop, hope started to creep in. It looked like Iowa was about to make things interesting. The Hawkeyes drove down to the Michigan 14-yard line and it was highlighted by a nice throw from Petras to tight end Luke Lachey for 34 yards.
But, if the back half of 2021 and the start to 2022 have taught us anything, hope quickly fades with this offense. Iowa stalled out and turned it over on downs. The final play was a 4th-and-2 pass to tight end Sam LaPorta that wasn’t even thrown past the sticks.
Herein lies the problem with Iowa clear as day once again: it just doesn’t generate enough offense to hang with and beat a defending Big Ten champion or what appears to once again be a contending team in Michigan if its defense isn’t lights out. Against Michigan, the Hawkeye defense wasn’t lights out.
Iowa’s defense failed to come away with a turnover and didn’t come close to registering the pair of defensive touchdowns it did a week ago versus Rutgers. Blake Corum also managed to run for 133 yards on 29 carries and Iowa let Michigan set the tone by scoring on four of its first five drives.
Maybe that’s an indication that while Iowa’s defense is certainly one of the Big Ten’s stingier units, it still can’t be counted on to completely shut down an offense with the talent that say either a Michigan or Ohio State possesses.
And, really, it probably shouldn’t have to. Iowa’s defense has to get some credit for forcing a punt and stiffening up for a pair of field goal tries in the first half and then stringing together three consecutive three-and-outs in the second half. What Iowa did defensively against Michigan was good enough to win if the offense held up its end of the equation. Counting on that just isn’t realistic, though.
Excluding the one-play drive that sent the game into halftime, on Iowa’s first five possessions, the Hawkeyes ran 25 plays for 80 yards and punted on each of those five possessions. It’s simply not good enough to beat anybody good.
And so the question becomes, who is Iowa good enough to beat with this level of offensive ineptitude? One thing is clear. Iowa isn’t contending for any Big Ten championship this season. Even with a defense that is one of the league’s better units. And that’s a shame.
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