10/5/2019 football Edit

Gameday Central: Iowa Hawkeyes Football at Michigan Wolverines Football

Ryan Tice • Maize&BlueReview

Editor

There's no denying Saturday is a huge one for the Michigan Wolverines football team.

No. 14 Iowa comes to town to take on the No. 19 Wolverines. It's the first real test for the Hawkeyes, who squeaked out an 18-17 win over 2-2 Iowa State in week three and have beaten their other three foes by a combined score of 116-17. That trio included Miami (Ohio) and two common foes with Michigan in Middle Tennessee State and Rutgers — the threesome boasts a combined record of 4-9 on the year.

Michigan beat MTSU 40-21 week one, while Iowa topped them 48-3 last weekend; U-M shutout Rutgers 52-0 seven days ago and the Hawkeyes posted a 30-0 victory over the Scarlet Knights Sept. 7. The aggregate of common opponents comes out to be 92-21 Michigan and 78-3 Iowa — but given the level of competition, that's not really worth reading much into.

The Michigan football offensive line will play a crucial role in how Saturday goes for the Wolverines. (Per Kjeldsen)

Saturday could be as simple as which team can be more effective running the ball. Iowa's three-headed monster in the backfield enters the game ranked 29th nationally with an average of 217.5 ground yards per game, while U-M is tied for 94th with a clip of 130.5.

The Wolverines have had trouble running the ball all year, while Iowa's rush defense checks in at 10th in the land currently … but again, look at who they've played. Against teams not named Wisconsin — which admittedly shredded the Maize and Blue defense — U-M is allowing just 104.3 rushing yards per game … and that included the tough-to-defend Army triple option, which shows how futile comparing stats from lopsided matchups can be.

The only sure thing is that Michigan needs to find its offensive identity and limit Iowa's, which despite a great start from quarterback Nate Stanley, has been and still is on the ground.

Game Information: No. 14 Iowa at No. 19 Michigan Football

Kickoff: 12 p.m.

TV: FOX

On The Call: Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Joel Klatt (color) and Jenny Taft (sideline)

Radio: Michigan/IMG Radio Network (950 AM in the Detroit Area; SiriusXM channel 195) with Dan Dierdorf, Jim Brandstatter and sideline reporter Doug Karsch, a regular contributor to TheWolverine.com.

Line: Michigan is between a 3.5- and 4-point favorite at most books (via VegasInsider.com).

Get a free 60-day trial to TheWolverine.com with promo code Blue60

Weather Forecast For Kickoff

According to weather.com, no rain is expected, but the temperature is expected to be in the high 50s, with a predicted temp of 57 degrees for the noon kickoff. Winds are expected to be around 10 miles per hour.

The Player That Will Decide The Game

For Iowa — Junior Mekhi Sargent: The 5-9, 212-pounder led the team in rushing yards (745) and touchdowns (nine) last year, and is off to another good start. Though the Hawkeyes have three players with between 200 and 300 rushing yards, Sargent leads his squad with 299 net yards and two touchdowns on the ground, and has also added 102 receiving yards for a team-high 401 yards from scrimmage.

Sargent ranks seventh in the Big Ten for rushing yards per game (74.8) and sixth in yards from scrimmage per contest (100.3). Though fellow running backs Toren Young and Tyler Goodson are more big-play threats, Sargent is the lead back and who the Wolverines must focus on shutting down.

For Michigan — Offensive line: For the second straight game, we're going with the U-M front as the deciding factor. Iowa's run defense — with the caveat explained above that they haven't played much competition — ranks as one of the country's best. Michigan's offense has a lot to prove, and it starts up front.

If the Hawkeyes defense, which has just 11 tackles for loss and five sacks on the year — despite who they have played so far — starts to get disruptive that should warrant major alarm bells.