Five early takes on Michigan's Big Ten championship game matchup with Iowa

No. 2 Michigan Wolverines football will take on No. 15 Iowa in the Big Ten Championship game Saturday night. Here are five early takes on the Wolverines’ matchup, after Hawkeye head coach Kirk Ferentz met with the media Sunday afternoon.

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1. Iowa has uncertainty at quarterback and elsewhere

Iowa junior quarterback Spencer Petras has been dealing with a shoulder injury, missing two-plus games but returning in relief duty last week and leading the Hawkeyes to a 28-21 win at Nebraska Friday behind seven completions for 102 yards on 13 attempts. Sophomore Alex Padilla, who can also pick up yardage with his legs, had been solid in leading Iowa to victories over Northwestern, Minnesota and Illinois, but struggled against the Cornhuskers.

Ferentz wasn’t ready to name his starting signal-caller for the Big Ten Championship but said he likely will do that Tuesday.

“It’s not like we’re trying to be coy,” Ferentz said. “I just want to have an opportunity to visit with the team, visit with the staff and we’ll push forward.”

Part of the equation at quarterback is that both Petras and Padilla got the flu last week and were two of many Hawkeyes to be ill. Most notably, starting right guard Connor Colby and starting left tackle Mason Richman both played but were ultimately pulled from Friday’s game.

“It was a matter of how long guys could hang in there,” Ferentz said. He said early reports on the status of some of his players “are really good.”

“Hopefully it’s run its course, or at least we’re on the tail end of it,” he added. “Made for an interesting week, to say the least.”

2. Lots of respect between Michigan and Iowa, Kirk Ferentz and Jim Hargbaugh

College football’s longest tenured head coach, Ferentz has seen many coaches come and go in the Big Ten, and Michigan has had four different head coaches since he was hired at Iowa in 1998.

Ferentz and Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh have a history, with the former having served as the Baltimore Ravens’ assistant head coach and offensive coordinator when the latter was playing quarterback for the organization in 1998. Harbaugh said there is nobody he respects more in the coaching world, and Ferentz had similar comments.

“Jim’s a great person, from my vantage point, and outstanding coach,” Ferentz said.

Harbaugh signed a contract extension this offseason despite some fans calling for his job. Ferentz praised Michigan’s athletic department for staying with the seventh-year head coach.

“You want to talk about old school — that’s an old-school approach, to actually stick with a coach,” Ferentz said. “Credit to them, credit to their administration, their leadership there.”

There’s no higher compliment from one head coach to another, though, than one directed at the other’s team.

“Those guys really played outstanding football all season long this year,” Ferentz said.

3. Michigan’s pass rushers have a favorable matchup

Iowa is known for strong offensive line play, and the Hawkeyes have a star in junior center Tyler Linderbaum, a projected first-round NFL Draft pick. But they’re not as solid at the tackle spots. Richman has yielded three sacks and 14 pressures from the left tackle spot, and backup Jack Plumb has given up two sacks and 14 pressures in just 171 pass-blocking snaps as the backup on both sides of the line. Meanwhile, Nick DeJong, who’s taken the bulk of the right-tackle snaps, has allowed a whopping five sacks and 24 pressures.

The Wolverines have been elite at rushing the passer, led by a Michigan-record 13 sacks from junior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, who had three sacks and 15 pressures against Ohio State. Ferentz compared Hutchinson to Howie Long, John Randle and J.J. Watt.

“Mainly because they didn’t take plays off. All the time, every play,” Ferentz said. “They kept you up at night, just wondering how they were going to disrupt things. And that’s what you’re looking at with No. 97.

“He’s elusive, he’s strong and has such a tremendous motor.”

The Wolverines also have a star on the edge in redshirt freshman outside linebacker David Ojabo, who’s racked up 11 sacks this season and had one against the Buckeyes.

Not a mobile quarterback, Petras has been under pressure on 33.5 percent of his dropbacks and is completing just 37.5 percent of his passes and averaging 3.3 yards per attempt in those cases, per Pro Football Focus (PFF).

4. Iowa’s run defense is strong

Even though it’s early in the week, Ferentz has seen quite a bit of Michigan’s run game.

“We’ve been watching film all season long, and there’s crossover tape. When Michigan’s one of the common opponents, they’re typically the team we watch because they do run the ball a little bit and they give us an idea of what the opponent’s defense will look like,” he revealed.

And Michigan has had success on the ground, compiling 224.9 yards per game (ninth nationally). Redshirt sophomore running back Hassan Haskins, who’s got 1,232 yards and 18 touchdowns on the year, is known for picking up the tough yardage, while second-year freshman Blake Corum is speedier and can get to the edge, with 865 yards and 10 scores.

“Both of their backs have been stellar and have had great seasons,” Ferentz said. “They both present different challenges. They’re getting good play from the running backs and the guys up front. I think they’re doing a nice job, with all five guys coordinated together, good tight ends, quarterback is playing well.”

But Iowa should be a formidable opponent. The Hawkeyes slot 14th in the country with just 105.8 rushing yards per game allowed. Linebacker Jack Campbell is one who caught Harbaugh’s eye on film, with the junior having registered 124 tackles (seventh in the country), 3.5 stops for loss, one sack, one forced fumble, one interception and seven pass breakups this season.

At the same time, Ferentz knows his team can’t just hone in on Michigan’s ground game.

“I know they’ve run the ball effectively, but they’re not a one-dimensional football team,” Ferentz pointed out.

5. Kirk Ferentz kept a close eye on the Michigan-Ohio State game

After the Hawkeyes beat Nebraska Friday, they got the help they needed with Minnesota knocking off Wisconsin, which put them in the Big Ten Title game. Ferentz said he and his family celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday, but he had a watchful eye on the Michigan-Ohio State game, then the Minnesota-Wisconsin clash, of course.

“It was a great football game,” Ferentz said of Michigan’s 42-27 victory over the Buckeyes. “Classic Big Ten weather, with the snow coming down and two really good teams slugging it out, getting after it. Great crowd involved. So it was everything that’s good about the Big Ten.”

Ferentz knows his Hawkeyes have their work cut out for them this week.

“The way they’ve been playing all season long, they’re good up front on both sides of the ball, they run the ball really effectively and throw it effectively, and present a lot of challenges for you as a defensive team looking at it. Offensively, they’re playing good defense like you’d respect; it’s just like a tradition at Michigan. And then on top of it, they’ve got really good special teams play and specialists. So they’re a tough team to prepare for.

“When you get to a championship game, that’s what you expect — playing a team that’s a complete team, and that’s what we see in Michigan.”