A insane day of college football got even crazier at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday night as Iowa upset No. 3 MI, 14-13.
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With just more than four minutes left in the game, he appeared to be pointing to his left (non-throwing) shoulder after getting up from a 3-yard scramble.
Combined with six tackles by Desmond King and five by Brandon Snyder, the Hawkeyes’ secondary proved to be among Iowa’s primary lines of defense against a MI team which lost for the fourth straight visit to Kinnick Stadium.
But Iowa’s defense, and a full collection of timeouts, held MI to just two yards on three plays, and the Hawkeyes were going to get the ball back.
Nobody on this team ever experienced the crowd pouring onto the turf at historic Kinnick Stadium.
“It’s one of the things we’ve been wanting to do is try to develop some confidence in the passing game, and obviously he was able to do that very well today, ” said Tide coach Nick Saban, who sat down with Hurts for a 1 on 1 film session during the week. Instead, the Hawkeyes allowed two yards on three plays. “That’s what it took tonight”.
Akrum Wadley had 115 yards rushing to help the Hawkeyes (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten) beat a top-five team for the first time in six years. Saturday marked the first appearance at Kinnick Stadium for MI coach Jim Harbaugh since 1985, when he quarterbacked the Wolverines in the memorable No. 1 vs.
Saturday was second-year coach Jim Harbaugh’s first trip to Kinnick Stadium since quarterbacking a second-ranked MI team in a 12-10 loss to top-ranked Iowa in 1985.
Geoff Wade threw for 307 yards and one touchdown for Holy Cross (4-7, 2-4). The Hawkeyes rattled off three straight run plays, including an eight yard QB keeper from Beathard and they were in business at the MI 15. Defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson swallowed up Wolverine running back De’Veon Smith after an excellent punt was downed at the 2-yard line.
On the way to that 10-0 advantage, MI gained 123 yards on three possessions. “He got the ball to some of our playmakers down the field and they had opportunities to make big plays”. “Sometimes he made something out of nothing”. Iowa uncharacteristically went for two points but was unsuccessful with U-M maintaining a 10-8 lead.
Iowa entered the game against MI with an all-time record of 9-4 in home night games, including a 30-28 win over the Wolverines in 2009.
That’s the result of running seven plays for 15 yards in the third quarter, which started in a hole when Khalid Hill fumbled the kickoff and Iowa recovered.
He came back to loud cheers on the Cornhuskers’ early in the fourth and scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 13-yard run with 7:17 left. Michigan’s game notes touted an attack that came into the Iowa game ranked in the national top 20 in 11 different categories. While the offense started rolling a bit to begin the fourth quarter, the Wolverines nevertheless sputtered to a punt near midfield. Wolverines kicker Kenneth Allen responded with a 51-yard field goal to put MI in front 13-11.
From Iowa’s fake punt when its punter, former Central Michigan punter Ron Coluzzi, did an unintentional somersault, drawing a targeting ejection from Devin Bush Jr.to Michigan settling for a field goal on its second drive, it was clear it would be an unusual first half.
The Wolverines followed suit. Limited to 2.8 yards per carry – one-half yard less than the Hawkeyes averaged – moving the chains became problematic for MI.
It’s still not a season-ender for the Wolverines, but it is that prime-time-on-the-road wakeup call that is so common in the Big Ten.
“If guys are looking down the horizon, you’re going to get hit right between the eyes”, Petersen said. The Wolverines barely got past the 200-yard mark, rushing for only 98 in a complete 180 from their typically explosive offensive performance. “We had to make it rough on them, didn’t want to give up any easy passes or runs”. He had two tackles for loss and a sack in the game. The senior defensive tackle notched the aforementioned safety, as well as 9 total tackles, a sack, and 2 tackles for a loss. The score didn’t hold up, as Iowa rolled down the field on the game’s final possession.
Sam Darnold threw for 287 yards and two touchdowns and USC upset No. 4 Washington 26-13 on Saturday night, snapping the host Huskies’ winning streak at 12 games and hurting their playoff hopes.
MI scored the game’s first 10 points, but Iowa got a safety, then a Wadley touchdown to draw within 10-8 at halftime after failing on a two-point attempt.
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Iowa travels to face IL in its last road game of 2016.
