M/Iowa 2009 refresher

Submitted by caup on

A little refresher course on last year's game:

Iowa 30, Michigan 28

Night game. Crowd was stoked.

Iowa had a functional bye the prior week vs. Arkansas State

Iowa outgained Michigan by 48 total yards.

Michigan lost 3 fumbles and had 2 INTs.

Iowa had no fumbles and had 1 INT (for a pick 6).

TOP was 32:45 Iowa, 27:45 Michigan.  The 4:30 time advantage was pretty evenly spread out over the game.

Iowa had 72 offensive plays, Michigan had 68.

Denard replaced Tate in the 2nd half and was trying to lead M into game-winning FG territory when he threw an INT.  M couldn't run the ball with Denard on that last drive due to time constraints.

So, I'd say M has a chance on Saturday.

antidaily

October 13th, 2010 at 1:03 PM ^

It was a student newspaper I wrote for at Michigan. It was the anti-Michigan Daily. if you're familiar with the Every Three Weekly, it was like that... but before it (1998?) and made with way less money. And probably not as good.

JeepinBen

October 13th, 2010 at 1:44 PM ^

beaten over the head with like a baby seal cub by Destructor, then yes... we were all "introduced" to that song. About every damn play and commercial break, and chance that there might have been .10393 seconds of silence

Ty Butterfield

October 13th, 2010 at 12:58 PM ^

Thanks for the refresher. I don't know a lot about Iowa. HOWEVA, they always have a bunch of unknown white guys who seem to play above their perceived ability. I have no idea how this will play out. I just hope Denard can get back on track. If the offense can score at least 35 maybe Michigan has a chance.

jamiemac

October 13th, 2010 at 1:23 PM ^

If I could add a factoid

Going into the game a year ago, no team had scored a rushing TD vs Iowa yet on the season.

Same thing this year

Here's the deal: Michigan has performed statisically better every step of the way this year compared to a year ago. If that continues, our offense will smoke these guys.

hgoblue

October 13th, 2010 at 5:00 PM ^

I hate to think this way but we are sunk the rest of the season.  It doesn't matter if we torch their defense. Ask yourself this question: How many points would Iowa score against a lower level FCS division defense?  Unfortunately that's what we have.  They will torch us all afternoon and we won't be able to keep up. 

I really hope I am wrong but I don't see us winning another game this season.  I told my brother after the Umass came we wouldn't win one big ten Game.  I was wrong but barely. We squeeked one out in the last minute.

griesecheeks

October 13th, 2010 at 1:52 PM ^

that's the only question, IMO. it will be tough. i think we will play much better than we did against MSU, but I'm not necessarily sold on 5 TDs. Iowa may not have the same rushing threat as MSU, but I still think Stanzi will torch us through the air. He's prone to int's though, and that will be critical. We have a shot if Iowa stalls out and settles for a few FGs instead of scoring TDs, and maybe Stanzi gives us a gift or 2. 30-34 points for Iowa seems pretty likely.

Magnum P.I.

October 13th, 2010 at 2:39 PM ^

Stanzi will throw zero interceptions against us this year. Opponents really don't have to take chances on the pass against our D, the one INT Chappell threw notwithstanding. I would be very surprised if we picked Stanzi off--it would truly have to be gifted. He'll take a sack if he has to; the next play there'll be a wide open 15-yard route. The game plan against us by now is "just be patient; they'll break down."

Duval Wolverine

October 13th, 2010 at 1:53 PM ^

Actually the game against MSU wasnt that close last yr, we were down 20-6 with 5 mins left in the 4th quarter, when Stonum turned a 10 yd pass into a 66-yd touchdown , and we were able to tie it up in the last seconds of the game, but for 3 and half quarters it wasnt close at all!

UMGooch

October 13th, 2010 at 1:55 PM ^

I apologize for being a Negative Nancy, and I laud your optimism. I really do. Unfortunately, the glaring difference is last year we had Brandon Graham and Donovan Warren, along with Woorfork and the other now-transfers that have devastated our secondary!

The difference this year: Offense - better, Defense - worse. I'm hoping that the offense's improvement far outweighs the defenses retrograde progress. Of course, Dilithium hadn't hit critical mass last year, and TrueFreshTaterTot was trying to change the college football world on an injury.

Iowa has shown weakness this year losing to Arizona, but its going to take great execution and a positive TOM to beat them. (no dropped balls, no glaring HERP DERPs by any Wolverines)

jmblue

October 13th, 2010 at 2:19 PM ^

That was Tate's worst game last year (8-19, 94 yards, INT, lost fumble).  If he'd merely turned in an average performance, we'd have probably won.

One note of caution: we have to replace Minor's production from last year (22 carries, 95 yards, 2 TD).  Also, Stanzi's a better passer now than he was then.

imablue

October 13th, 2010 at 2:19 PM ^

I think we'll come out and play a lot better this week, no more trying to force throws to the receivers. Denard just needs to lead the receivers a little better. We need some pressure on Stanzi to get a couple of turnovers.

James Howlett

October 13th, 2010 at 3:34 PM ^

Staniz is currently completing 67% of his passes, he's thrown 10 TD's to 2 int's. He's completed 57%, at the same point last year, and already had a handul of int's. He's the third highest rated QB in the nation and will be facing the 119th best FBS pass defense.

Iowa, last year conceded run yardage in an attempt to stop what was then an explosive passing game with Forcier almost bringing UM back against MSU after comeback wins against Indiana, and ND. So, they kept their safeties back and overplayed the pass all day. They succeeded giving Forcier easily his worst perfromance to that point and the defensive line harrassing Forcier much of the day.

Iowa's defense finished #3 in pass defense efficiency last year. They are third in that category this year, while being #1 in scoring defense and #2 in rushing defense.

Very unlikely that the Iowa safeties will be kept back this year with a great DL and good coverage from the defensive backfield. They'll keep the sure tackling safeties up.

Bad news for the offense.

chunkums

October 13th, 2010 at 3:55 PM ^

Our team was not known for its passing at this time last year.  As a matter of fact, the passing has been better this season.

Game 1:  179 yds  compared to 186 yds

Game 2 :  240 yds  compared to 258 yds

Game 3:  68 yds  compared to 241 yds

Game 4:  184 yds  compared to 255 yds

Game 5:  223 yds  compared to 215 yds 

James Howlett

October 13th, 2010 at 4:33 PM ^

The prior game in 2009 UM had a net of 28 yards rushing against MSU. Iowa made a tactical gamble that given their front seven's ability to stop the run they wouldn't need much safety support. That was probably a mistake. They overvalued UM's passing attack and undervalued the running attack. Probably worth noting that regardless of their rationale for dropping the safeties. It's very, very unlikely they do the same this year. With Iowa's safeties, Sash and Greenwood, being strong in run support that should be a different level of run support than Iowa had last year. One question mark will be Iowa's MLB. They might lost a very good athlete in Tarpinian(injured)for the UM game. If he can't play that could mean an easier time in getting to the perimeter.

BrewHawk

October 13th, 2010 at 4:48 PM ^

Troy Johnson is an experienced, capable backup.  Unfortunately, against Penn St. he had to leave the game as well as Tarp so we were left with true frosh James Morris in their stead.

The kid did a great job in his first real action and will be a great one in years to come.  Not sure if he's quite up for the Michigan offense though.  Hopefully Tarp can go and if not Johnson will do just fine.  Afterall, he was the Defensive POY against Minnesota last year when filling in for Hunter.

James Howlett

October 13th, 2010 at 4:59 PM ^

He's a sure tackler but, doesn't have the same kind of athleticism as Tarpinian. Getting to the perimeter against Denard that's potentially not an insignificant issue.

tlh908

October 13th, 2010 at 5:24 PM ^

I like our chances this week, we got the bad out of our system last week.  All we will hear about Sunday is Denard's Heisman highlight roll.

tubauberalles

October 13th, 2010 at 10:59 PM ^

Our OL this year is also much improved/healthier (please?) than last year, which may provide the boost for our running game to keep on track and possibly open up some decent passing opportunities.