‘M’ SURVIVED
‘M’ SURVIVED

JARED GREENSPAN
Managing Sports Editor

Michigan fends off Iowa in Kinnick, 27-14

I

OWA CITY – On the turf, 
deep in the bowels of Kinnick 
Stadium, surrounded by a 
striped sea of black and gold, top-
five teams often go to die.
There’s a magical quality to 
Kinnick, an aura that seems 
to 
catalyze 
stunning 
upsets: 
Entering Saturday, Iowa had 
defeated five of the last six top-
five opponents that it faced at 
home, including a then-No. 2 
Michigan football team in 2016.
Saturday, the fourth-ranked 
Wolverines waltzed into Kinnick 
conscious 
of 
its 
reputation, 
cognizant of the history. But they 
bucked the slogan – for a day, at 
least, Kinnick is where top-five 
teams survive.
Michigan (5-0 overall, 2-0 Big 
Ten) staved off the upset-minded 
Hawkeyes (3-2, 1-1), 27-14, to 
secure the program’s first win in 
Iowa City since 2005.
“Great, 
great 
feeling 
of 
winning and the thrill of victory,” 
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh 
said. “It’ll be a very happy flight 

back to Michigan.”
This isn’t a vintage Iowa 
team, but that doesn’t take 
away from what the Wolverines 
accomplished. 
The 
Hawkeyes 
tout a vaunted defense, as the unit 
allowed just 23 points across the 
first four games.
On the game’s opening drive, 
Michigan 
made 
a 
definitive 
statement. The offense marched 
down the field for an 11-play, 
75-yard drive capped off by 
graduate receiver Ronnie Bell’s 
16-yard 
touchdown 
scamper 
on an end around. Iowa looked 
hapless; Kinnick felt punctured.
“We did a good job of mixing 
up the plays, and that’s how you 
want to start a game,” Harbaugh 
said. “I thought it was a very 
impressive drive.”
Iowa’s offense – the worst 
scoring unit in the Big Ten – 
looked the part early on. In the 
first half, the Hawkeyes moved 

the ball past midfield only once. 
Michigan, meanwhile, doubled 
Iowa’s time of possession and 
secured a sound 13-0 halftime 
lead.
The 
second 
half 
began 
similarly. The Wolverines forced 
a quick Iowa punt and then 
steamrolled 67 yards into the 

endzone on another brutally 
methodical 
drive. 
This 
one 
ended in emphatic fashion, with 
sophomore 
quarterback 
J.J. 
McCarthy scampering away from 
a blitz and floating a touchdown 
pass for sophomore running back 
Donovan Edwards. 
Michigan’s 20-0 lead appeared 

SPORTSWEDNESDAY

But they bucked the slogan – for 
a day, at least, Kinnick is where 
top-five teams survive.

EMMA MATI/Daily | Design by Lys Goldman

insurmountable. 
The 
crowd, 
boisterous at kickoff, seemed 
lifeless.
“We weren’t gonna let up 
at all,” senior tight end Luke 
Schoonmaker said. “When you 
get up like that on a defense like 
this, you know they won’t be far 
behind in an environment like 

this.”
Sure enough, on a dime, 
everything changed.
Iowa cracked the scoreboard 
early in the fourth quarter, as 
running back Kaleb Johnson 
bounced outside for a two-
yard 
score. 
Feeding 
off 
its 
reinvigorated fans, the Hawkeyes’ 

MICHIGAN 27

defense 
forced 
a 
three-and-
out, handing the ball back to a 
suddenly competent offense.
Kinnick was alive, and so were 
Iowa’s hopes.
Down 13, the Hawkeyes had a 
legitimate chance to whittle the 
deficit to a one possession game. 
They stormed to Michigan’s 
six-yard line, confronted with 
a pivotal fourth-and-two. But a 
13-play, 78-yard drive came to 
an underwhelming close: Iowa 
turned the ball over on downs, 
throwing short of the sticks and 
dashing dreams of a comeback.
“We faced a little adversity, 
but we didn’t flinch, we kept 
punching,” junior edge rusher 
Jaylen 
Harrell 
said. 
“Keep 
playing. Next play mentality.”
That 
mindset 
helped 
demoralize Iowa. As the final 
minutes played out, fans trudged 
for the exits, black and gold 
patterns giving way to barren 

metal bleachers. Kinnick, silent 
but for cheers from the Michigan 
sideline, 
seemed 
innocuous, 
far less daunting – just as the 
Wolverines intended.
Kinnick is known for upsets 
as much as its mind games; the 
visiting locker room is painted 
light pink, a calculated decision 
intended 
to 
mess 
with 
the 
opposition’s 
psyche. 
On 
the 
recommendation 
of 
graduate 
cornerback 
Gemon 
Green, 
Michigan players brought out 
pink towels with them to wave 
on the sideline, an ode to their 
temporary home.
“We always want to embrace 
everything they throw at us,” 
senior edge rusher Mike Morris 
said. “They have a pink locker 
room, thinking that it’s gonna be 
some type of adversity. I really 
didn’t notice it until we sat down 
and someone said it was pink. I 
liked the color.”
They liked the color, and they 
liked Kinnick, too. Because on 
this day, as junior running back 
Blake Corum staked the dagger 
with a 20-yard touchdown run, 
a top-five team lived. Michigan’s 
ambitions 
– 
and 
undefeated 
record – are still intact.

KINNICK STADIUM, 2022

IOWA 14

