Three takeaways from Michigan's Big Ten Championship Game win over Iowa
A wall of helmets encircles the second floor of the southwest entrance to Lucas Oil Stadium. Above the helmets is a Vince Lombardi quote: “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will.”
Last week Jim Harbaugh mentioned that his favorite phrase is “where there’s a will, there’s a way.” There may not be a true entrance to football Valhalla, but between the Lombardi quote and the helmets on the wall (including a Michigan one), this seems like a pretty good approximation. Harbaugh’s team had the will, and tonight they found a way to become Big Ten champions for the 43rd time in program history.
Michigan’s linebackers, safeties, and defensive ends contained the edges. Michigan’s secondary stopped the outside threats. That left short throws underneath, and it wasn’t enough for Iowa
Iowa couldn’t find any room to run in the first half, averaging just 1.8 yards per carry on 19 carries. They upped their average a bit in the second half to 2.9 yards per carry, but that came on 29 carries. Their leading rusher, Tyler Goodson, had 18 carries for 50 yards, an average of 2.8 yards per carry. Michigan’s linebackers flowed well to the ball on outside threats, as did the safeties. The defensive ends contained as well, and when Iowa ran up the middle they ran into Michigan’s interior defensive linemen and again the linebackers. The few deep shots Iowa took were fruitless, as Michigan’s cornerbacks were draped all over the Iowa receivers. The only success Iowa could find was on the waggle. This mid-90s staple saw Iowa’s quarterback find crossers underneath on naked bootlegs, and they used this to pick up pass plays of 13, 21, and 22 yards in the first half.
The second half was a different story, though. Iowa went back to the waggle four times and completed one pass for zero yards. All this despite changing quarterbacks from Spencer Petras to Alex Padilla, who had a much better half than Petras’ first half statistically.
Michigan’s speed was too much for Iowa’s defense
Michigan opened up scoring with a 67-yard Blake Corum handoff from J.J. McCarthy. Corum ran up the middle, cut hard to the right, and got the blocks he needed from Roman Wilson, Mike Sainristil, and J.J. McCarthy (!) for the score.
Michigan’s third drive of the first half ended in a one-play, 75-yard touchdown thanks to an unexpected call from deep in offensive coordinator Josh Gattis’ playbook. Quarterback Cade McNamara threw what looked like a screen to Donovan Edwards, who then threw a beautiful deep ball to Roman Wilson, who snuck behind Iowa’s secondary and dusted the defense.
Michigan opened the second half running the ball because, frankly, they could. McNamara threw two times in the third quarter, completing one pass to Cornelius Johnson for 15 yards and another to Luke Schoonmaker for 27. McNamara threw four times in the fourth half before leaving the game when Michigan pulled away. The speed that set up early scores allowed Michigan to play their physical, punishing ground game in the second half to great effect.
Michigan’s tight ends showed up in the biggest moments and helped put the finishing touches on three second-half scoring drives
Cade McNamara may not have had to pass often in the second half, but when he did he could rely on his tight ends for big plays. Michigan was facing second-and-9 from Iowa’s 31-yard line on the ninth play of the first drive of the second half when McNamara found Schoonmaker deep up the seam for a 27-yard completion. A fresh set of downs and four yards between the ball and the end zone set Michigan up perfectly for a Hassan Haskins handoff and score.
Michigan then found itself in excellent field position on its third drive of the half, starting from Iowa’s 36-yard line. Two J.J. McCarthy rushes got Michigan to the 23-yard line, but it was McNamara’s deep throw on a corner route that was reeled in one-handed by Schoonmaker for a 22-yard reception. Haskins again got the carry and score, but the tight ends weren’t done yet.
McNamara found Erick All on a 38-yard reception, then again on third down from Iowa’s five-yard line for an incredible one-handed snag in the front corner of the end zone. That score made it Michigan 35, Iowa 3 and effectively ended Iowa’s title hopes.
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