Defense / ST notes: Michigan stops run, makes Iowa work for everything in road win over Hawkeyes

IOWA CITY — The Iowa Hawkeyes’ pregame intro video has a soundbite of a coach telling his team, “Make them work for everything!” That’s the Iowa way, of course: Strong defense — always — coupled with a physical and precise offense. It’s produced a lot of wins over the years, especially at Kinnick Stadium, where Iowa had beaten five of six top-five teams since 2008 until the fourth-ranked Michigan Wolverines beat the Hawkeyes, 27-14, Saturday.

It wasn’t a perfect game by the Michigan defense by any stretch of the imagination, but the Wolverines started fast. After the offense provided a first-drive touchdown to take the lead — key against an Iowa offense that loves to play with a lead and run the ball — the Wolverines forced 3 punts on all three of the Hawkeyes’ first-half possessions.

The Hawkeyes had just 91 total yards in the first half, 23 of which came on the ground. The Hawkeyes had just 5 first downs.

“[Senior defensive tackle] Mazi Smith and [junior defensive lineman] Kris Jenkins on the inside were doing a tremendous job forcing things to the outside, getting the pressure up the middle that allowed those edges to come through at the end,” Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said.

“It probably won’t show up in the stat line. But it was under 20 yards I think we held them rushing in the first half, and you’re not doing that unless your guys are playing really good inside of the front. And I think we can get better, too.”

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It was more of the same in the third quarter. Michigan’s defense gave up just 64 total yards in the stanza. The momentum shifted a bit heading into the fourth, and Iowa made it a game with a 2-yard rushing touchdown by running back Kaleb Johnson on the first play of the quarter.

The Hawkeyes drove 78 yards on 13 plays, but the Michigan defense made them work for every inch. The Hawkeyes chewed up 6:56 of game clock, which lessened their chances for pulling off the improbable comeback after turning the ball over on downs at the U-M 5-yard line with 5:41 to go.

“Just tried to keep them out,” the Michigan coach said of his defense’s effort. “They’re not in until they’re in.”

Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras had some success late in the game. He finished with 246 passing yards (the third-highest total of his 28-game career) and 1 touchdown with 21 completions on 31 attempts.

“We gave up some inside breaking routes,” Harbaugh continued. “That’s an area we can look to improve on. They hit us on an out-breaking route, a sail route, then came back with a dig route. Had us on our heels there. We were able to get a couple tackles for loss, extend it to a third-and-4. Then it was a fourth-and-2. They roll to the left. They got called for a pick [offensive pass interference], but they were short of a first down.”

Even with the Hawkeyes scoring a late touchdown to make it 27-14 with 8 seconds left, the Michigan defense did its job in getting pressure and notching sacks on Petras.

Senior edge Mike Morris registered 2 sacks in the final 23 minutes of game time, and graduate edges Eyabi Okie and Taylor Upshaw shared a third-down sack with 4 minutes to play that all but ended the Hawkeyes’ chances.

“Just a lot of extra effort there, both Eyabi and Mike,” Harbaugh said. “[Junior edge] Jaylen Harrell, guys were doing a really good job on the edge.”

“I’m so proud of the man [Okie] is, and of the man he’s becoming on this team,” Morris said of Okie, a UT Martin transfer by way of Alabama who joined the team in mid-August. “I’m just so excited for everything he’s doing right now. He’s on his way to becoming a great Michigan Man and a great Michigan football player.”

Michigan plays a clean special teams game

Michigan and Iowa have two of the top special teams units in the country, and both played solid games. U-M graduate kicker Jake Moody nailed two field goals — one from 44 yards and the other a 35-yarder, both in the second quarter — giving the Maize and Blue points out of drives when the offense moved the ball but couldn’t punch in touchdowns.

Graduate punter Brad Robbins punted 4 times and pinned the Hawkeyes inside their own 20-yard line on 3 occasions. One of his boots went 51 yards.

Michigan junior punt returner A.J. Henning brought back 3 punts for 15 yards, including a 13-yard long, and he took care of the ball.

“We talked about the importance, stressed the importance, of ball security,” Harbaugh said of Michigan’s plan heading into the game. “It’s a very good strategy. Field position, win the turnover battles, and they’re really tough to beat. We didn’t want to give them anything. We didn’t want to give them any of those type of gifts.”

Miscellaneous Michigan defense / special teams notes

• Morris now leads the team with 4 sacks and 6 tackles for loss.

• Senior cornerback DJ Turner nearly had an interception, but dropped it. That was Michigan’s only pass breakup of the game. He had running room for a potential pick-six had he held on to the ball.

• Iowa was held to just 35 rushing yards for the game, the first opponent Michigan has held under 50 yards on the ground since Wisconsin gained just 43 yards Oct. 2, 2021. The total was also the least Iowa has registered in a game since rushing for 24 yards in a loss at Wisconsin last season.

• Iowa tight end Sam LaPorta caught 6 passes for 62 yards in last year’s Big Ten championship game against Michigan, a 42-3 Hawkeyes loss. He had 5 catches Saturday but they went for just 24 yards.

• Iowa’s 246 passing yards are the most it has accumulated since throwing for 283 yards against Maryland last October (exactly a year ago Saturday).

• Sophomore linebacker Junior Colson led Michigan with 7 tackles. Position mate and graduate student Michael Barrett notched 5 stops.

• Michigan freshman defensive tackle Mason Graham made his first career start and had his first full sack. He posted a half-sack in the season opener against Colorado State.