Michigan Wolverines Football: Defense Owns Homecoming, Hawkeyes, 10-3
Anyone learning in advance that Michigan would score 10 against Iowa on Homecoming might have bet the house on the Hawkeyes.
Except for Vincent van Brown, of course.
His real name is Don Brown, Michigan’s defensive coordinator. But after U-M’s 10-3 win over Iowa, Brown might better be known as Old One Ear.
“That was a defensive masterpiece,” Harbaugh praised. “Our defense, Don Brown, the coaching staff, the players … Don called a great game. They were very well prepared.
“Player-wise, it was just obvious from play one to the last play of the game, everybody was hustling and running and playing with great effort. Great job.”
Great, and overwhelming for Iowa quarterback Nate Stanley, who entered the game 4-0 this year, with eight touchdown passes and nary an interception. He left empathizing with Rutgers QB Artur Sitkowski, who contemplated redshirting after the Wolverines got done with him last week.
The Wolverines sacked Stanley eight times, forced him to throw his first three interceptions of the season, secured four turnovers total and limited Iowa to 261 total yards of offense. Precisely one of those occurred on the ground, the Wolverines turning the Hawkeyes rushing attack to corn meal.
“We knew what we had to do,” senior captain and linebacker Khaleke Hudson (11 tackles, one TFL, one quarterback hurry) said. “We knew we had to be stout in the run game. That’s the first thing we wanted to do — stop the run and force them to throw. The results talked for themselves."
Stanley went 23-of-42 passing, while his counterpart — Michigan senior Shea Patterson — notched a 14-of-26 effort for 147 yards. The biggest difference? Patterson’s 51-yard bomb to junior wideout Nico Collins, which set up the game’s only touchdown.
That and Stanley’s bevy of bruises, of course.
“Sometimes it’s going to be like that,” Patterson said. “We were fortunate for the defense to come out and play like they did. They kept us in the game the whole entire time. We just stayed patient and took what they gave us, put a few drives together.
“We left a lot out there. We’ve got to start finishing in the red zone. Any time the defense plays like that, you try to help them out as much as you can.”
U-M’s offense could have helped them out plenty with any production in a scoreless second half. But they didn’t dent the end zone over the final 51:45 of the contest, and even a short field goal attempt went awry.
But the Wolverines (4-1, 2-1 Big Ten) survived against an Iowa team (4-1, 1-1) determined to send most of the 111, 519 onlookers home miserable.
“Nobody’s expectations exceed ours on offense and on defense,” Patterson said. “Our motto that’s in the locker room is to be 1-0 each week, attack each day with our best effort and be ready to go.”
Michigan’s defense proved ready to go, from the get-go. It created an early advantage, sophomore defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson forcing a fumble by Iowa running back Mekhi Sargent. Junior cornerback Ambry Thomas dove on the ball at the Iowa 18.
The Wolverines couldn’t move the chains on Iowa’s defense, but sophomore kicker Jake Moody’s 28-yard field goal gave Michigan a 3-0 lead just 2:41 into the game.
Patterson started off only 3-of-10 passing against the Hawkeyes, but made them pay dearly on one of those. He unloaded the 51-yard bomb to Collins on Michigan’s next possession, setting up the Wolverines at the Iowa 19.
Patterson also connected with freshman wideout Mike Sainristil on a clutch, eight-yard sideline throw on third-and-six, setting Michigan up inside Iowa’s 10. Freshman running back Zach Charbonnet (13 carries, 42 yards) capped off the six-play, 70-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown plunge.
But just when the happy Homecoming backslaps began, so did a rash of greasy fingers.
Junior wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones fumbled on a punt, but redshirt freshman defensive back Gemon Green was able to dive on it. Redshirt freshman tailback Christian Turner fumbled on the very next play, with U-M senior offensive guard Ben Bredeson recovering the loose ball.
The Wolverines covered those potential giveaways, but three in a row proved poison. Patterson looped a sideline pass that Iowa defensive back Geno Stone picked off.
Michigan’s defense — which knocked the silage out of Iowa early — rose up again. Stanley tossed one up for grabs, and senior safety Josh Metellus came down with it, recording Stanley’s first interception of the season.
As the first quarter gave way to the second, Stanley began to move the Hawkeyes in the short passing game. They drove 61 yards to the Michigan 4 early in the second, but had to settle for a 22-yard field goal, drawing to within seven, 10-3, with 12:18 left in the half.
Michigan staved off another Iowa march, senior cornerback Lavert Hill picking off a Stanley bomb at the U-M 4.
It wound up 10-3 at intermission, after redshirt junior kicker Quinn Nordin missed a 58-yard field goal as the clock ran out. Michigan’s defense held the Hawkeyes to just 13 rushing yards in the first half and those three points — but they needed to do so.
Aside from Patterson’s bomb to Collins, the offense hadn’t done much. In fact, it controlled the ball for just 12:52 of the opening 30 minutes.
Little did anyone know, it wouldn’t score again — and wouldn’t need to do so.
The Wolverines managed just 33 yards on 11 plays in the third quarter, looking more and more anemic. But the U-M defense continued to stonewall the Hawkeyes, safeguarding the seven-point lead into the fourth.
Even when the Wolverines’ offense momentarily came to life early in the fourth quarter, driving from its own 20 to the Iowa 17, it came away empty. Moody shoved a 34-yard field goal attempt right, keeping it a one-score game.
“It didn’t miss by much,” Harbaugh said. “We’ve got great faith in our kickers.”
Michigan didn’t win by much, and a growing faith in its defense proved well founded. On a day when the Wolverines generated only 267 yards of offense and 10 points themselves, they walked away with a win.
In a fitting end, the Wolverines swamped Stanley on a fourth-and-10 play inside Michigan territory. Stanley fought off three attackers, switched the ball to his left hand and lobbed a short pass to a running back Tyler Goodson, who got swarmed 12 yards short of moving the sticks.
“Everything we’ve been practicing for during the week came up in the game,” Hudson insisted. “We didn’t let them determine what plays they were going to do. We determined what plays they were going to do. We put them in situations where they were backed up, third-and-long, and they had to pass the ball.
“That’s the type of defense we want to play. That’s what we want to do every game.”
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