Dating back to a 24-23 win in 2008 over Penn State, Iowa has made a history of dispatching of top-5 foes inside Kinnick Stadium. The Hawkeyes have gone 5-1 in their past six games in Iowa City against top-5 ranked teams in the Associated Press Poll.
That stretch includes last season’s 23-20 win over the Nittany Lions. Of course, then-No. 2 Michigan fell in Kinnick back in 2016, 14-13. Keith Duncan delivered a game-winning, 33-yard field goal as time expired to send the Hawkeyes into the victory circle in that contest.
Along the way, Iowa also picked up a 37-6 win over then-No. 5 Michigan State in 2010 and the famous 55-24 rout of Ohio State during the 2017 season. The lone setback was No. 4 Penn State topping Iowa, 21-19, earlier in that 2017 season.
Suffice it to say, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh is more than familiar with the terrors that Kinnick Stadium and Iowa City can provide. Michigan heads to Kinnick ranked as the nation’s No. 4 team in both the AP Poll and the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll.
Harbaugh is doing his best to make sure his Wolverines are on guard in terms of what they’re in for.
“As they say, where top-five teams go to die. I think the biggest thing is just how good the team is,” Harbaugh said when asked what makes Kinnick Stadium a tough place to play.
Meanwhile, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz was asked why his program has historically risen up to the challenge and made a habit of downing top-5 opponents inside the environment at Kinnick Stadium.
“Well, the environment is easy. You know, our fans do a great job, and certainly it’s gotten even better now with the north end zone. That’s helped a great deal as well, but I think the important thing for our team to understand is that the fans can only do so much, and that they’ve been great and we appreciate that, but we’d better be playing on the field.
“I think the challenge, the games you referenced and this one hopefully will be like that, our players need to understand like each and every play—it’s like an NFL playoff game—each and every play, something can happen. So if you’re not at your absolute best of kind of talent and ability they have—and I cited their kicking game. That’s a good example. They’re going to make field position a challenge for us, and then they’ve got return guys that if you’re not really good in coverage, they can hurt you real fast.
“It’s kind of like that at every position, offensively, defensively. They’ve recruited really well. They’re a big, strong, athletic team, so if you’re not on your game each and every play, just big things can happen against you. The games you’ve referenced, our guys have had a good understanding of that and they’ve had a good appreciation for that, so, you know, can we close that gap between now and 11 o’clock? That’s the challenge that we got,” Ferentz said.
In addition to its success over top-5 opponents, Iowa has just been really stingy against Michigan at home. The Hawkeyes have won five of their past six against the Wolverines at Kinnick Stadium. Iowa’s only loss in that period was a 23-20 overtime loss in 2005.
It’s worth pointing out that each of the Hawkeyes’ wins over Michigan during that stretch were also by one score, so none of it has come easy. Still, Iowa has a penchant during the Ferentz tenure for topping the Wolverines in Iowa City.
Ferentz was asked if the mentality that it can beat Michigan starts in practice and the surprise of topping the Wolverines six years ago.
“Surprised a lot of people, yeah. Understanding obviously the circumstances played into it, yeah. But you have to do everything right. That’s a great illustration. Pretty much everything in that game we were doing what we could do. Not that every play is a great play, but we didn’t give them anything easy and came up with a couple plays and then played some situations really well. Again, that’s a good illustration because it felt like we were climbing a high hill the whole game,” Ferentz said.
And will the hill be that steep in this go-around?
“Yeah. You look at these guys, it’s hard to find a weakness. It’s easy to find a lot of depth. A lot of impressive guys. That’s a credit. They’ve recruited well. They should and they do. They’ve recruited really well and they’ve got players that play really well. They’re well-coached. I mean, it’s not all talent and ability. They’re very well-coached, and they play hard, so it’s going to be a challenge. There’s no question about that,” Ferentz said.
How then can the Hawkeyes do it again?
“Well, we’re going to have to play really well all three phases. I mean, just basic answer there, and every play. That’s the biggest thing. And then hopefully we can get them to slip up or make a mistake or two that they haven’t made a lot of them this year, so it’s going to be a challenge,” Ferentz said.
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