U The Michigan Daily ( michigandaily.com I November 7, 2011
'FS ANDS
OR BUTS~
OR g owa 24, Mic'higan 16
COURTESY OFLON HORWEDEL PHOTO
Fifth-year senior wide receiver Junior Hemingway attempts to catch a pass from Denard Robinson on Michigan's final drive of the game. The Wolverines had the ball on the Iowa three-yard line with four chances to score and 16 seconds remaining.
Hemingway's would-be TD overshadows loss
By TIM ROHAN The reality was Michigan lost He sat there in his first game
Daily Sports Editor to Iowa on the road, 24-16. What back from a knee injury, answer-
could have been was harder to ing questions about the same prob-
IOWA CITY - Did Junior swallow. lems that plagued Michigan's first
Hemingway make the catch? Did "I thought it was a touchdown," loss, against Michigan State. Poor
he just become the hero? What did Iowa linebacker James Morris said tackling. Missed assignments. Not
, la w s a ;1 . .,.
A snapshot of his catch, frozen "sli" rea s;'y aid Rc igan Befo e p aying owa, chat-
in time, shows both of his hands safety Jordan Kovacs. "I think ter grew louder that Michigan's
cupping the football, his knee the whole defense was ready. We defense was "back." It had caused
down in bounds in the back of the thoughtforsurewe weregoingtogo 20 turnovers in eight games,
endzone. into overtime. But it didn't work out allowing an impressive 14.6 points
But the referees were watching like that." per game.
the replay, asking: Did the ball hit Kovacs's face was expression- Saturday, the Wolverines
the ground as he landed? less. swarmed Iowa running back Mar-
cus Coker on most of his carries.
Seventeen of them went for four
or fewer yards. But it was those
few instances they relapsed -
Coker had 94 yards on his other
eight carries - that doomed the
defese - - -
Coker ran untouched for a
13-yard touchdown late in the
third quarter, extending Iowa's
lead to 24-9. It was the same pow-
er-I running play Coker repeated
all day, but that time the lineback-
er got lost in the shuffle.
While Coker romped, Iowa
quarterback James Vandenberg passing game. As a result, Iowa
was deadly accurate in the play- punted on four of its five posses-
action pass game. Michigan was sions after the break.
hesitant rushing the quarterback Yes, Michigan forced a key
in the first half, afraid of being three-and-out with about two
burned by Coker. minutes remaining. Had redshirt
Iowa's final offensive num ers-4eshman .4ieebfee Jake Ryan
weren't devastating: 24 points, not gotten off his block and tack-
302 yards. led Coker for a loss on 3rd-and-
But the opinion of those who short, Hemingway would've never
played was that the defense hadn't had his chance.
done enough. And yes, it all could've been
Yes, the Wolverines made half- much worse.
time adjustments, increasing the That's how the defense played
pressure on Iowa's play-action See HEMINGWAY, Page 3B
Questions linger about Robi son, Gardner
By STEPHEN J. NESBITT
Daily Sports Editor
IOWA CITY - At the close of
the third quarter at Kinnick Sta-
dium, with the Michigan football
team trailing Iowa, 16-9, head ref-
eree Dan Capron walked over to
the umpire.
"I wonder how come Denard
Robinson wasn't playing?" Cap-
ron said, his voice booming
through the press box speakers.
It wasn't scripted - Capron
hadn't hit the "off" switch on his
microphone. The Chicago-based
attorney was just curious about
the Big Ten's most fascinating
quarterback, Michigan junior
Denard Robinson.
in the IS years "since Capron
arrived in Urbana-Champaign
for his freshman year at Illinois,
he has had plenty of exposure to
the Big Ten. In the past decade
as a referee, Capron has stood
behind nearly every quarterback
in the conference. And Robinson
isn't like any of them.
The reason Robinson was
standing on the sideline - watch-
ing sophomore quarterback
Devin Gardner flail around in a
key drive in the Wolverines' 24-16
defeat - was a bit unclear.
Robinson was blindsided on a
third-down pass late in the third
quarter. The lame-duck pass was
completed short of a first down,
and Robinson didn't come back
ALOEN REISS/Daiiy
The Michigan offensive line performed well on Saturday without starting left
guard Ricky Barnum, who missed the game due to an ankle injury.
Battered offensive line
persists without Barnum
Junior quarterback Denard Robinson threw for 194 yards, completing just 17-of-37 of his passes against Iowa.
for the next drive. With four minutes left in the receiver Roy Roundtree and into
"I just got a little hit to the first half, Robinson left the ball the arms of Hawkeye linebacker
elbow," Robinson said. on the ground while trying to Mike Kirksey for a drive-killing
Michigan radio reported that scramble away from an inevitable interception.
trainers were working on Robin- sack. Hawkeye lineman Tyler It was Robinson's 12th inter-
son's right shoulder. Nielson recovered the fumble. ception of the season - at least
"It was really his hand's deci- Iowa went three-and-out but still twice as many as every Big Ten
sion (to stay out)," said Michigan got a field goal. quarterback not named Nebras-
coach Brady Hoke. On Michigan's next drive, ka's Taylor Martinez. Robinson
Elbow, shoulder or hand? knocking on the Iowa doorstep had just 11 picks all of last season.
Regardless, Robinson was at the tail end of the first half, The two turnovers in a three-
roughed up. Despite his playmak- Robinson forced a pass into tight minute span were the difference
ing abilities, Robinson has also coverage at the goal line. The ball in the game.
been Michigan's biggest liability. deflected off redshirt junior wide See QUESTIONS, Page 3B
By KEVIN RAFTERY
Daily Sports Editor
IOWA CITY - While the Mich-
igan football team battled Iowa
on Saturday, Ricky Barnum sat at
home in Ann Arbor.
Barnum, the
regular starter , NOTEBOOK
at left guard,
has dealt with injuries to both
ankles this season and wasn't
healthy enough to go against the
Hawkeyes.
His absence left an alreadythin
group even thinner - the Wolver-
ines have just six offensive line-
men, including Barnum, who have
played in meaningful situations.
Redshirt sophomore left tackle
Taylor Lewan, playing with a
heavily taped left knee and hand,
started in Michigan's 24-16 loss to
the Hawkeyes. In a normal situa-
tion, there's a good chance Lewan,
who suffered leg and wrist inju-
ries last week against Purdue,
wouldn't have played on Saturday.
But the Wolverines simply didn't
have any other options.
Redshirt sophomore Michael
Schofield started in place of Bar-
num, leavingredshirt junior Elliot
See OFFENSIVE LINE, Page 3B
STREAK SNAPPED
* No.3 Michigan saaged a weekend split
against No. 6 Western Michigan, but
the Wolverines dropped their first home
game in 20 tries on Friday. Page 2B
TIM'S GOT THE TOUCH
* Sophomore forward Tim Hardaway Jr.
was Michigan's leading scorer with 20
points Friday in Michigan's exhibition win
over Wayne State. Page 3B