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October 07, 2019 - Image 7

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The Michigan Daily

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SPORTSMONDAY

The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | October 7, 2019

Jim Harbaugh felt no need to wait

for questions.

Walking into the press room Saturday

afternoon, he had a “special guest”

beside him and a message to deliver.

The “special guest” was junior

cornerback Ambry Thomas, a man who

he introduced with a few laudatory

sentences. The message didn’t need any

introduction.

“Obviously, that was a defensive

masterpiece,”
Harbaugh
said,
still

adjusting his seat at the podium.

As
Harbaugh
ran
down
the

masterpiece’s exemplars — Don Brown’s

game plan, the pass rush, the run

defense, the secondary — his confidence

in Michigan’s defense emanated.

And after dispatching No. 14 Iowa

in a 10-3 slugfest that moved the

19th-ranked Wolverines to 4-1 overall

and 2-1 in Big Ten play, it’s easy to see

where the confidence comes from.

All week, the Hawkeyes were lauded

as a replica of the Wisconsin team that

routed Michigan, 35-14, two weeks

ago. That game prompted wholesale

dismissal of the Wolverines’ once-

vaunted defense. Michigan’s response:

not so fast.

“Don called a great game, they were

very well prepared,” Harbaugh said.

“And player-wise, it was just obvious

from play one to the last play of the

game that everybody was hustling and

running and playing with great effort.”

Brown’s challenge to his defense

in this prove-it week was to intercept

Iowa
quarterback
Nate
Stanley

twice. Through four weeks, Stanley

had been among the best statistical

quarterbacks in college football, with

eight touchdowns and no interceptions.

He finished Saturday with three.

“They’re not really comfortable

passing the ball, they’re not really a

spread team or anything like that,” said

senior linebacker Khaleke Hudson.

“So (it was) just stopping the run and

doing whatever we can for them to be

uncomfortable.”

Beneath
Stanley’s
stats,
the

Wolverines knew he couldn’t carry their

offense without an efficient ground

game. So Brown’s preparation focused

on the run, snuffing out the Hawkeye’s

ISO and power schemes in a way that

Michigan’s defense failed to against

the Badgers’ counter-heavy scheme in

Madison.

“Don, during the week, he said he

might jump off a tall building if some

of those (ISO) plays worked cause

they really thought they had them,”

Harbaugh said.

Rooftops around Ann Arbor, consider

yourselves safe. Iowa’s final rushing

totals: 30 carries, one yard.

“We knew it’s the power Iowa, the big

dogs who just run it down your throat,”

said sophomore defensive end Aidan

Hutchinson. “So we showed them what

kind of run defense we have.”

Michigan needed every part of its

defense’s dominance.

Early on, it looked as if the offense

might be able to follow up its 52-point

showing against Rutgers with a repeat

against an opponent with a pulse. After

an early field goal off a fumble recovery,

Shea Patterson led off the next drive

with a 51-yard post route to Nico Collins,

showcasing the downfield passing

ability that has only fleetingly popped

its head above water all season.

Five plays later, freshman running

back Zach Charbonnet ran for his fourth

touchdown of the year.

That was with 8:33 to play in the first

quarter. Michigan didn’t score again.

“Sometimes, it’s gonna be like

that,” Patterson said. “We were really

fortunate that the defense came out and

played the way they did, kept us in the

game the entire time. … We left a lot out

there. Gotta start finishing in the red

zone.”

Yet, among it all, the Wolverines kept

their advantage on the scoreboard.

For that, they had their defense

to thank. Each time Iowa entered

Michigan territory, it was stymied on

the edge of field goal range. Sometimes

it came as a result of their own undoing,

with penalties and questionable play-

calling. At others, it was an unavoidable

consequence of the Wolverines’ eight

sacks against an offensive line that

was touted as a poor man’s version of

Wisconsin’s. Poor indeed.

“I’m not gonna lie, it felt pretty

smooth on the field,” Hutchinson said.

“It felt like everyone was doing their

thing.”

Still, kept afloat by Michigan’s

anemic offense, the Hawkeyes had one

final chance, taking over at their own

43 with 1:35 to play. After a fourth-

down conversion on the first set of

downs paved the way for three straight

incompletions, Brown dialed up a blitz

on fourth-and-10 with the game on the

line.

In the huddle, Hutchinson knew it

was going to work as soon as he heard

the playcall. Hudson was just excited for

his shot at the quarterback.

Seconds later, that’s exactly what he

got, storming Stanley and forcing an

emergency left-handed dump off that

amounted to a hope and a prayer.

The answer: Not today.

THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Editor

ALEC COHEN & ALEXANDRIA POMPEI / DAILY DESIGN BY JACK SILBERMAN

Michigan sacks QB Nate Stanley

eight times in win over Iowa

U-M 10 | 3 IOWA

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