Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Friday, November 11, 2016 — 7A
Wolverines set for road night game
For the second time this
season, the Michigan football
team is headed on the road to play
a game that
was
circled
on most fans’
preseason
calendars.
And for the
second
time,
the
hype
surrounding
the
game
has
faded
considerably.
After Iowa
raced to a 12-2
season in 2015,
including an 8-0 Big Ten regular
season record, a mid-November
game at Kinnick Stadium seemed
make-or-break
in
2016.
But
while the Hawkeyes (3-3 Big
Ten, 5-4 overall) are still a real
threat, the attention that once
might have been expected has
dwindled. Iowa has already lost
games to North Dakota State and
Northwestern in addition to No. 7
Wisconsin and No. 10 Penn State.
For Michigan, though, the
stakes aren’t any lower. The
third-ranked Wolverines (6-0,
9-0) have everything to lose
when they take the field in
primetime Saturday.
“It makes you prepare that
much harder because you know
people are gunning for you,” said
fifth-year senior defensive tackle
Ryan Glasgow. “You’re going to
get everyone’s best shot every
week. And if you don’t prepare,
you can easily slip up. Anyone
in the Big Ten can beat you any
given Saturday.”
After blowing out Maryland,
59-3, last week, Michigan should be
in for a more substantial challenge
from
the
Hawkeyes.
Senior
quarterback C.J. Beathard is back
from last year’s powerhouse, but
he leads an offense that could
struggle against the Wolverines’
vaunted defense.
Beathard has completed nearly
60 percent of his passes for 1,584
yards and 13 touchdowns through
nine games. That puts him on pace
to match his 2015
total of 17 passing
touchdowns,
though
he
has
already
equaled his five
interceptions
from last year.
With an offensive
line
that
has
given up 24 sacks
so far this season,
Beathard
can
expect steady pressure all game
against one of the top pass rushes
in the country.
Rushing
the
ball,
Akrum
Wadley leads Iowa’s stable of
backs and has been a threat both
rushing and receiving. He has
664 yards and eight touchdowns
on the ground, and 220 yards and
two scores through the air.
The Wolverine defense won’t
make it easy to keep up those
numbers. Michigan is ranked
10th nationally in rush yards
allowed per game
(107.44), and it
rarely
allows
ball
carriers
to
score.
The
Wolverines
are
one of four teams
tied
for
first
in the country
with three rush
touchdowns
allowed, and they
boast the nation’s
best pass defense, too. The result
could be a mismatch when the
Hawkeye offense is on the field.
But it’s still a road night
game, so Michigan is preparing
for a slugfest.
“(Iowa is a) very tough, physical
team,” said redshirt sophomore
linebacker
Jabrill
Peppers.
“When you go up to Iowa City, you
know they’re going to give you all
they’ve got. So we’re preparing
for a tough, physical game, and we
expect nothing less.”
With
redshirt
sophomore
quarterback Wilton Speight and
the Michigan offense rolling, it
could be more than the Hawkeyes
can handle. There is, however,
one factor Michigan’s young
players may not be prepared for.
Kinnick’s visiting locker room
is famously painted pink — a
psychological trick intended to
put the opponents in a passive
mood.
There
are
differing
theories on the efficacy of such a
tactic. But according to Glasgow,
the impact may not be all it’s
cracked up to be.
“I thought they were going
to be way more pink,” he said.
“They’re pretty pale.”
Behind Enemy Lines:
Coach Kirk Ferentz
Last season, Kirk Ferentz,
the longest-tenured coach in
the Big Ten, had one of his best
seasons yet.
Ferentz, in his 18th season of
coaching at Iowa, led his team
to an undefeated record during
the 2015 regular season. The
Hawkeyes earned a spot in the
Rose Bowl, where the Hawkeyes
were defeated handily, 45-16,
after losing to Michigan State in
the Big Ten Championship Game.
Given their recent success,
Ferentz and the Hawkeyes (3-3
Big Ten, 5-4 overall) probably
couldn’t have predicted the
drop-off this season. Iowa has
struggled to a middling 5-4
record after losing to teams
like North Dakota State and
Northwestern
earlier
this
year. Though Iowa is a three-
touchdown underdog against
Michigan this Saturday, it has
the opportunity to play at home
in Kinnick Stadium.
In July, the Daily spoke
to Ferentz at Big Ten Media
Days in Chicago about former
quarterback Jake Rudock and
playing a night game against
Michigan.
The Michigan Daily: You’ll
be hosting Michigan in a night
game in November. What level
of intensity do you expect from
that game?
KF:
It
will
be
a
great
environment. Night games in
Kinnick are special. Night games
anywhere are really special. And
we’re playing a great opponent. A
rival, a traditional, storied history
of the program and they’ve got
an excellent football team, an
excellent program, so we’re going
to have a lot of work between now
and then to get ready for that, but
we’re eager for it.
TMD: It will be in mid-
November. Do you expect it to be
pretty cold?
KF: You know, it could be, it
might not be. It’s interesting.
Last year, we had a night game,
I think it was November or
last weekend of October, and it
couldn’t have been nicer. Then
a week later, I thought we were
on the North Pole. You just never
know what you’re going to get,
that’s for sure, in November.
TMD: Jake Rudock probably
considers himself just as much a
Hawkeye as he is a Wolverine —
KF: I would say probably
more so! We got a little more
time invested in him.
TMD: You did, you did! So
what was it like to watch him get
drafted and what do you expect
out of his future?
KF: I’m really happy for Jake.
It was hardly a negotiation. It was
a decision we had to make and
my obligation has always been to
what’s the best for our football
team. It’s like a parent. What’s the
best for your child involved and
for the family, et cetera? We made
a very hard decision and it wasn’t
necessarily anyone failing. It was
just two really good players. I think
history has proven that. We had
two good players to choose from.
I can’t say enough about Jake. The
good thing is that it worked out
really well for everybody involved.
Both teams went on and did well.
Both quarterbacks did great. I was
hardly surprised.
Jake is a first-class young man.
He’s a good football player, but
he’s a better person. Whenever
his football ends, he has a lot
of good things waiting for him
in life. He’s just a tremendous
young guy. You want everybody
to be happy. You want everybody
to be successful. But there’s only
one ball. Not everyone can share
it, unfortunately.
Breakdown: Michigan has a significant edge again
Three
months
ago,
this
weekend’s matchup looked like
it would be a tough test for the
Michigan football team. Several
pundits predicted that the now-
third-ranked Wolverines would
be a contender this season, but
most pointed to the upcoming
matchup with Iowa as one of the
season’s biggest challenges.
After all, the Hawkeyes won
the Big Ten West last year and
fell just a field goal short of
a likely berth in the College
Football Playoff, and Michigan
hasn’t won in Iowa City since
2005.
The experts were right about
the Wolverines (6-0 Big Ten,
9-0 overall), but not about Iowa.
The Hawkeyes have stumbled to
a 5-4 record, including a 7-point
loss to Northwestern, a 27-point
drubbing by Penn State and a
23-21 upset by FCS opponent
North Dakota State.
Michigan is favored by more
than 20 points, and the talk
about a close game feels like a
distant memory. Here’s how the
matchup looks on paper given
what we know now:
Michigan rush offense vs.
Iowa rush defense
After weeks of holding just a
slight edge over the other three
backs in the Wolverines’ four-
man rotation, senior running
back De’Veon Smith exploded for
114 yards and three touchdowns
last week against Maryland.
Though his performance could
earn him most of the carries
again this week, the rest of
Michigan’s backs continue to
perform well enough to garner
attention
—
redshirt
junior
Ty Isaac ripped off a 53-yard
gain near the end of the game
Saturday, and freshman Chris
Evans and sophomore Karan
Higdon (a former Iowa commit)
are averaging 8.0 and 7.2 yards
per carry, respectively.
The Hawkeyes’ run defense,
meanwhile, doesn’t look like it
has many answers these days.
Their flaws were first exposed
by a 239-yard performance on
the ground by North Dakota
State early in the season, and
the 72nd-best run defense in
the country hasn’t recovered
since. Most recently, Nittany
Lion
running
back
Saquon
Barkley amassed 207 total yards
of offense in a 41-14 Penn State
victory last week.
Edge: Michigan
Michigan pass offense vs. Iowa
pass defense
Iowa’s
secondary,
led
by
senior All-American cornerback
Desmond King, still poses a
challenge for the Wolverines in
theory, but the numbers haven’t
been there this season. Much
like the Wolverines’ Jourdan
Lewis, King hasn’t been targeted
very often, and his teammates
aren’t holding up their end. The
low point of the season for the
secondary actually came in a
victory, when the Hawkeyes
allowed
lowly
Purdue
to
throw for 458 yards and five
touchdowns. Iowa hasn’t been
taking the ball away at all, either
— its five interceptions are tied
for 101st in the FBS. Last year,
King alone had eight.
The
Hawkeyes’
struggles
are coming at the perfect time
for Michigan’s passing attack,
which has looked better by
the week. Redshirt sophomore
quarterback
Wilton
Speight
had his best performance of the
season last week, throwing for
362 yards and two touchdowns.
Fifth-year
senior
receiver
Amara Darboh and senior tight
end Jake Butt have been steady
all year, and fifth-year senior
receiver Jehu Chesson showed
signs of returning to his old form
with 112 yards and a touchdown
last week.
Edge: Michigan
Iowa rush offense vs. Michigan
rush defense
All season long, Iowa has
gone as far as its ground game
can take it. The Hawkeyes are
5-0 in games where they rush
for over 100 yards and 0-4 in
games where they are held under
that mark. Their two rotating
backs, junior Akrum Wadley and
senior LeShun Daniels Jr., have
lit up opponents like Purdue and
Minnesota, but they combined
for just 46 yards against the
Nittany Lions last week. In part
due to predictable playcalling,
Iowa has been unable to get
anything going on the ground
against above-average defenses.
The
Wolverines’
defense
would
certainly
fit
in
that
category, ranking 10th in the
country in rush yards allowed
per
game.
That
number
worsened, though, thanks to
Michigan State running back LJ
Scott, who accounted for 139 of
the Spartans’ 217 rushing yards
against Michigan two weeks ago.
The Wolverines also had some
trouble with Maryland’s running
backs on screen passes last week,
allowing a few big plays.
If
the
Hawkeyes’
offense
continues to tip its hand, though,
Michigan’s front seven has too
much experience and talent not
to take advantage of it.
Edge: Michigan
Iowa pass offense vs. Michigan
pass defense
Iowa
quarterback
C.J.
Beathard is one of the more
talented quarterbacks in the
Big Ten, but he could be in
for a long night Saturday. He
has been sacked 24 times this
season, more frequently than
all but eight quarterbacks in the
FBS. The Wolverines’ defense
has a proven ability to get to
quarterbacks — just three of
nine starting quarterbacks have
played complete games against
Michigan so far this season.
Even if Beathard has enough
time to get his throws off, there
aren’t a lot of great places to put
them. Lewis hasn’t been targeted
very often in the secondary this
season, and for good reason —
he’s allowed just four catches
and has two interceptions. His
counterpart on the other side,
senior Channing Stribling, has
been nearly as effective, allowing
just 11 catches and snagging
three picks of his own.
The Hawkeyes don’t appear to
have the weapons to attack shut-
down corners — go-to receiver
Riley McCarron is their only
player with over 300 receiving
yards.
Edge: Michigan
Special teams
Of all the phases of the game,
this is the most likely chance
for Iowa to make an impact.
The Hawkeyes’ special teams
unit ranks eighth in the country
in
special
teams
efficiency,
according
to
ESPN,
while
Michigan clocks in at 13th. The
Wolverines have the luxury of
using Jabrill Peppers on returns,
but Desmond King is almost just
as electric for the Hawkeyes.
He’s averaging 29.2 yards a kick
return, with a long of 77 yards,
and according to Michigan tight
ends/assistant
special
teams
coach Jay Harbaugh, he has
a knack for making the first
defender miss.
As for the kicking units,
the two teams are essentially
even. The Wolverines’ senior
kicker/punter,
Kenny
Allen,
has shaken off his early-season
struggles, riding six straight
made field goals and averaging
42.1 yards a punt. Iowa kicker
Keith Duncan hasn’t had much
work this season, but he is 6-for-
7 on field goal attempts, while
long-distance specialist Miguel
Rescinos
is
1-for-2
on
two
40-plus-yard kicks.
Edge: Iowa
Intangibles
With just three regular-season
games left and an undefeated
record, Michigan has everything
to lose. Iowa, though, has already
fallen well short of its preseason
expectations — the best it can
hope for now is to win one of its
last three games to secure bowl
eligibility.
Despite their success, the
Wolverines haven’t faced much
adversity on the road this
season. They won at Rutgers
and
Michigan
State,
but
both stadiums featured large
contingents of Michigan fans
and struggling opponents who
couldn’t
take
advantage
on
home turf.
Kinnick Stadium remains a
tough place to play, especially for
Michigan over the past decade.
In 2009, the Wolverines , then
4-1, lost a two-point game at
night to the Hawkeyes, and their
season spun out of control from
there. Even in 2011 — the year
Michigan went 11-2 and won the
Sugar Bowl — the Wolverines
suffered an eight-point loss at
Iowa.
The Hawkeyes clearly aren’t
the team some thought they
might be at the beginning of the
year, but this has “trap game”
written all over it if Michigan
isn’t careful.
Edge: Iowa
Prediction:
Michigan
38,
Iowa 10
Michigan
at Iowa
Matchup:
Michigan 9-0;
Iowa 5-4
When: Saturday
8 P.M.
Where: Kinnick
Stadium
TV/Radio: ABC
MAX BULTMAN
Managing Sports Editor
KELLY HALL
Daily Sports Editor
JACOB GASE
Daily Sports Editor
Michigan makes first trip to Kinnick Stadium since 2013 to take on 5-4 Iowa
CLAIRE ABDO/Daily
Redshirt sophomore Jabrill Peppers again figures to have plenty of opportunities for Michigan against Iowa on Saturday.
“You know
they’re going
to give you all
they’ve got.”
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Senior cornerback Channing Stribling pairs with Jourdan Lewis on the outside to form a formidable tandem.