IOWA CITY, Iowa -- It wasn't sexy, but what do you expect from a football game in Iowa City?
No. 4 Michigan (5-0) ran away with a 27-14 win over Iowa (3-2) on Saturday afternoon, and given that AP top 5 teams were 1-5 at Kinnick Stadium, a victory is all you can ask for as a visitor.
"It's the best win of the week," head coach Jim Harbaugh said at his post-game press conference.
And that it was for a Michigan team that remains perfect through the first month of the college football season, including two conference wins that should look good on the resume given Iowa's road environment and Maryland's team ascension.
On the way to a win, the defense, which looked vulnerable throughout the second half, stepped up late with a goal-line stop and four consecutive pressures on QB Spencer Petras during Iowa's most important drive of the game.
The offense looked surgical early with an 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to start but coasted through most of the second half with two 3-and-outs on drives where Michigan could've delivered the dagger.
Which begs the question, when will Michigan unleash its star quarterback?
Going into Saturday's game, U-M's sophomore signal-caller, J.J. McCarthy, led the nation in passer rating vs. the blitz and NFL passer rating, according to Pro Football Focus.
Yet McCarthy only has only 64 dropbacks, 127th-most among college quarterbacks.
You can call it a byproduct of Michigan's non-conference schedule only allowing him to play one to two quarters of meaningful football, or point to the fact he's only started four of U-M's five wins. However, to be that low says a lot about this team's offense and how it's looking to continue attacking opposing defenses.
Against Maryland, junior RB Blake Corum carried the ball 30 times, mainly because he was Michigan's only consistently effective offensive player in a tight game, and his spell, Donovan Edwards, was out due to an injury. His 243 yards were a career-high.
A week later, though, even with Edwards back, Corum carried the rock 29 more times. This time, it wasn't a record, but finishing with 133 yards while averaging nearly 5 yards per carry is still a lovely day at the office for Michigan's most dangerous offensive weapon.
In predicting the outcome of U-M's first road game of the season, all the talk surrounded McCarthy's play, if he could handle a road environment, and if his improvising play-style would give Iowa a costly turnover and a chance to win.
McCarthy missed a few deep throws against Maryland and missed an open Roman Wilson 50 yards downfield again against Iowa. But, aside from that miss, the sophomore was calm, cool, and collected—the three Cs.
He didn't turn the ball over or come close to an interception. From the first snap, he looked poised, like he'd practiced in Kinnick all week, hitting TE Luke Schoonmaker and WR Roman Wilson in small windows, fearlessly trusting his arm to do what it's always done.
In the first half, McCarthy attempted 18 of his 24 total passes on the day, meaning he only threw the ball six times in the second half after opening the half with a touchdown throw to Edwards.
Michigan was up three possessions against an Iowa offense that, going into the day, didn't look like it could pass the ball against a team filled with ghosts.
Knowing that it would take a lot for the Hawkeyes to climb back, Harbaugh & Co. didn't give the offense a chance to make a game-changing mistake, essentially shutting it down and depending on the defense to close the game.
Against Iowa, in that scenario especially, it makes sense for Michigan to "play to win" and find a way out of Kinnick with the lead on the scoreboard unchanged.
They did that, and the dagger came from Corum in garbage time, scoring a 20-yard touchdown, so there's nothing wrong with how Michigan let that game play out.
But one has to wonder why, when the Hawkeyes started to make the game interesting with a bunch of time left, Harbaugh didn't give the keys to McCarthy, who leads college quarterbacks in completion percentage, and lend him some confidence away from home while building on the offense's momentum that it had earlier in the game.
Instead, Michigan punted the ball thrice consecutively on drives that lasted a blink after establishing a ton of offensive rhythm in each prior drive.
Situationally, Michigan was doing all it could to chew the clock via the run, which worked all day, hence Corum's 29 carries. It wasn't working during those drives, though, as Iowa loaded the box, begging U-M to feel forced to make a mistake.
Still, Harbaugh's team didn't make the critical mistake most teams do in Kinnick, forcing a big play that isn't there and allowing the Hawkeyes to stay in the game.
Concerns remain as to why U-M didn't press the gas when Iowa showed life, similar to many games during Harbaugh's tenure, which many folks wondered -- what happens when Michigan plays Penn State? Ohio State?
When you keep teams in the game, eventually, it will bite you in the chops, right?
The honest answer is that it won't happen against the Buckeyes or Nittany Lions because Michigan's coaching staff, employed to win football games, knows two possessions of separation against Iowa is like 30-plus against Ohio State.
Folks, just because they wanted to leave Kinnick safely doesn't mean they'll do the same in Columbus if they have the opportunity.
So, Michigan didn't go for Iowa's throat because A) U-M is confident enough to feel like it didn't have to, and B) against Iowa's offense, it never felt like it needed to.
Thanks to a mauling offensive line that looks primed to win another Joe Moore Award and a running back who leads the country in rushing touchdowns, Harbaugh doesn't have to ask for much from his sophomore signal-caller.
Not yet, at least.
Soon, Harbaugh will ask for more from his quarterback, who he said: "looks a lot like a little Jimmy Harbaugh out there."
McCarthy has the talent, and it looks like he has the moxie to be a legitimate signal-caller in the Big Ten.
Lucky for him, he has quite the supporting cast to lift the weight off him as Michigan continues to monitor his training wheels.
"We don't want to overcoach him."
Eventually, we'll see McCarthy's absurd arm talent and versatile legs unleashed as the star of this football team.
Until then, Michigan can & will be patient with its potential superstar.
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