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.

