FootballSaturday, October 4, 2019
3B

What to watch for: Iowa

The only real consensus among 
pundits and fans about Saturday’s 
game against No. 14 Iowa is that it 
will be very, very revealing.
In 
all 
likelihood, 
No. 
19 
Michigan’s true capability as a team 
is somewhere between the one 
that got run out of Camp Randall 
Stadium on Sept. 21 and the one 
that shut out Rutgers last Saturday 
at the Big House. But where on 
that spectrum it is will determine 
the direction of its season. Can the 
Wolverines achieve the goals they’ve 
spent the last two weeks saying are 
still attainable? Or is this a team 
ticketed for 7-5?
Michigan 
under 
Harbaugh 
has historically been very good in 
these types of games. Excluding 
Ohio State, a demon all its own, the 
Wolverines are 5-1 against ranked 
teams at home since 2015, and the 
one loss came on a fluke last-second 
play against Michigan State in 2015. 
But at the same time, Iowa runs a 
very similar scheme to Wisconsin, 
just without the Heisman candidate 
running back, and we all saw how it 
went against the Badgers.
Here are some things to keep a 
look out for as Michigan tries to get 
its season back on track:
Can Michigan score first?
The stat you’ve probably heard by 
now is that in the first three games 
of the Wolverines’ season, they 
fumbled the ball away on the first 
drive. But more concerning is that in 
each of those games, the Wolverines 
subsequently allowed the opponent 
to march down the field and score a 
touchdown.
Senior tight end Nick Eubanks 
said after the Wisconsin game that 
it was a mental issue, that allowing 
those early touchdowns deflated the 
team. In that light, the importance of 
the Wolverines scoring first cannot 
be overstated.
If Michigan can find the end 
zone early, it could give them a 
boost of confidence that may well 
translate to the rest of the game. 
But if the defense falters early, brace 
yourselves.
How does Shea Patterson look?
Through 
the 
season’s 
early 
goings, the senior quarterback was 
some combination of injured and 
bad, but he bounced back in a major 
way against the Scarlet Knights, 
completing 17 of 23 passes for 276 
yards and a touchdown. Perhaps 

more significantly, Patterson ran for 
three more scores — and that was in 
just three quarters of work.
The 
Wolverines 
seemed 
to 
scheme the offense a little differently 
last Saturday, letting Patterson run 
around and improvise, making plays 
with his arm and his feet. Patterson 
isn’t one of those guys who can just 
stand in the pocket and let it rip.
And for Patterson more than 
other players, the Rutgers game 
likely did mean something, because 
the way he was utilized was similar 
to last year — when Patterson was 
objectively a good quarterback.
Especially with backup Dylan 
McCaffrey 
doubtful 
with 
a 
concussion, Michigan needs Shea 
Patterson to play like 2018 Shea 
Patterson, like last week’s Shea 
Patterson, if it wants to beat a good 
team like the Hawkeyes.
Can the defensive line hold up?
In Madison, the Wolverines’ 
defensive line was pushed around 
by a mass of beefy linemen. The bad 
news for Michigan is that Iowa also 
has a stout offensive line led by two 
All-Big Ten tackles in Alaric Jackson 
and Tristan Wirfs, both of whom 
are over 300 pounds. That’s a tough 
assignment for the Wolverines’ 
undersized front seven.

If 
there’s 
any 
positive 
for 
Michigan, it’s that the defensive line 
that played against Wisconsin isn’t 
likely to be the same one that goes 
against the Hawkeyes. The 282-
pound senior Michael Dwumfour 
was out with an injury two weeks 
ago, but he should play on Saturday 
and bring some much-needed size 
at defensive tackle. That also means 
the Wolverines likely have no need to 
play Ben Mason, a former fullback, 
at the position. Mason, just 270 
pounds, struggled in the early games 
and appeared on offense against the 
Badgers, a potential sign that the 
experiment there is over.
Defensive 
ends 
Kwity 
Paye, 
Aidan Hutchinson and Michael 
Danna have looked good in the early 
going, and if they can get to Iowa 
quarterback Nate Stanley, it could 
cover up for mistakes elsewhere — 
but there’s only so much the pass 
rush can do to bail out everyone else.
Can Oliver Martin make noise 
on the other sideline?
Martin, who hails from Coralville, 
Iowa — just northwest of Iowa City 
— never quite found a fit at Michigan. 
He was buried on the depth chart by 
classmates Donovan Peoples-Jones, 
Tarik Black and Nico Collins and 
had just 11 catches in 2018. In that 

light, it’s not hard to see why Martin 
transferred to his hometown school 
in the offseason. He was granted 
immediate eligibility.
Martin hasn’t lit the world on fire 
with the Hawkeyes — he has just five 
receptions for 28 yards on the season 
— but he has a clearer path to more 
playing time at Iowa than he did 
with the Wolverines.
There don’t seem to be hard 
feelings 
regarding 
Martin’s 
departure, but multiple players 
mentioned it would be weird seeing 
him in black and gold.
“You’ve gotta make the decision 
that’s best for you,” said junior wide 
receiver Nico Collins. “I wasn’t mad 
about it. … He felt like that’s what he 
needed to do to chase his goal and he 
made that decision. But we’re still 
supportive.”
Can 
Michigan 
contain 
AJ 
Epenesa?
Google Iowa pass-rusher AJ 
Epensa, and one of the top results 
is an article that poses the question, 
“The next JJ Watt?”
Epenesa is a star. He led the Big 
Ten with 10.5 sacks in 2018 and was 
named First Team All-Big Ten by 
the media. It’ll be up to the offensive 
line — which has had its fair share of 
struggles lately — to stop him.

Fifth-year 
senior 
offensive 
tackle Jon Runyan looked shaky 
in his return from injury against 
Wisconsin, but with a few more 
games to get back into form, Runyan 
could still find a groove.
So, what will be the final score?
It’s Daily tradition to do a 
prediction at the end of these things. 
But you know what, I’m not going to 
do that, because, to be honest, I have 
no idea what will happen Saturday.
I buy that Michigan will look 
better than in Madison, with key 
players back healthy and a friendlier 
home environment against a slightly 
worse team. But it seems just as likely 
that the Wolverines win at home 
like they always have, as it does that 
they’ll allow an early touchdown 
and completely fall apart.
Using 
the 
highly 
scientific 
transitive 
property 
of 
football, 
Michigan beat Rutgers by 52 and 
Middle Tennessee by 19, while Iowa 
beat the Scarlet Knights by 30 and 
the Blue Raiders by 45. Summing up 
those margins of victory, we get……
the Hawkeyes by four. It’s as good as 
any guess I could come up with.
One 
thing 
is 
sure, 
though. 
Whatever happens Saturday, it’ll be 
a lot easier to predict the subsequent 
games.

ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Editor

RUCHITA IYER/Daily
Junior quarterback Shea Patterson completed 17 of 23 passes last week against Rutgers for 276 yards and a touchdown, along with three rushing touchdowns.

Five questions that will determine the outcome of Michigan’s game Saturday, and possibly its season