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Going into the fourth quarter against the Iowa Hawkeyes, the Michigan Wolverines were looking for a comeback. They started all the way back in their own territory on the 18-yard line. Denard Robinson sailed pass after pass over his open receivers, but in the end, he got himself out of jams. Completions to Martavious Odoms and Roy Roundtree eventually brought the Wolverines within striking distance of a win.
Set up at the three yard line with a 1st and goal, Robison threw an incomplete pass to Junior Hemmingway. Then he threw one that was ruled incomplete, but looked very much like a touchdown. Hemmingway turned, caught the ball, secured it, and came down with his knee inbounds and the ball seemingly inside the out-of-bounds line. An official review followed, while the commentary team debated the catch. The consensus seemed to be that it was a catch, but the officials ruled it incomplete. Robison fired off two more incompletions and the clock ran out (the last completion may have also been pass interference), handing Michigan a 24-16 loss.
But that play probably should have been a touchdown, many agree. After the jump, we've got a video, courtesy of SportsGrid:
Already ahead 17-9, Iowa began the fourth quarter driving at midfield. A 15-yard completion from James Vendenberg to Marvin McNutt followed, and it eventually was Marcus Coker scoring another touchdown for the Hawkeyes, from 13-yards out to the right side. Mike Meyer nailed the extra point and Iowa took a 24-9 lead. The Wolverines responded though, Denard Robinson took charge and led his team on an eight play, 57-yard drive that ended in a Kevin Koger touchdown reception from seven yards out. The Brendan Gibbons extra point was good.
Michigan got set up on what they hoped would be a comeback drive, after forcing the Hawkeyes to punt after a single first down. Robinson completed a pass to Junior Hemmingway for 19 yards, but the drive stalled out there. With around four minutes to go, Michigan opted to punt on fourth down. But they forced Iowa to punt with a three-and-out, and had yet another chance at it.
The Wolverines thought they had a touchdown when Vincent Smith was tackled, but rolled over the player and his knees didn't seem to touch the ground, so he got up and ran it into the end zone. But an official review revealed that his elbow was down on the play, so it was simply a first down for Michigan at the 29-yard line. Michigan converted a third down with a 13-yard completion to Martavious Odoms. A send and long was converted with an 18-yard completion into Iowa territory to Roy Roundtree. Yet another first down took the Wolverines to the Iowa 32-yard line with under forty seconds remaining on the clock.
Robinson continues to overthrow wide open receivers, but a completion to Roundtree sets them up at the three-yard line. Robinson threw a clear completion to Hemmingway for a touchdown but it's ruled an incompletion. Hemmingway's knee goes down in the endzone with possession of the ball, but the referees rule him out of bounds for some reason and uphold the review. It looks like the ball could have been over the out of bounds line when his knee came down. Robinson is faced with a third down and seven seconds to go, and he is forced to throw an incompletion.
On fourth down, the pass was broken up and Iowa takes a 24-16 win after a very controversial ruling by the referees.
It was a really close game, with the teams sharing similar stats in every category. Michigan rushed for 127 yards against Iowa's 131. They passed for just under 200 yards while Iowa had 171. It all came down to that play at the very end that could have went either way.
Michigan kicked off to start the second half and got things started the right way, forcing an Iowa punt after a single first down. James Vandenberg was sacked for a loss of eight yards on first down, and then was sacked again on third and long, this one for two yards, forcing the punt. Then they started driving immediately after. Fitzgerald Toussaint rushed for seven yards, three yards, one yard ... but also had two rushes for no gain. Denard Robinson picked up the slack on that, rushing for 22 yards. Eventually, they ended up at the Iowa 15-yard line and Brendan Gibbons booted a 32-yard field goal, bringing the score to 17-9, Iowa.
After that, the two teams exchanged punts and Iowa took over when the quarter came to an end, with Iowa leading 17-9. Michigan had a six play drive ... but it only went three yards overall after a big sack by Iowa.
The Wolverines took a punt to begin the second quarter, but they couldn't do much. Starting from their own 22-yard line, they had to punt after a first down. Iowa got the ball back at their own 22-yard line, but had a much better time driving down the field. Marcus Coker got that started, with a 27-yard rush taking them just shy of Michigan territory. What followed were completions of 15 yards and 8 yards, then more rushes from Coker for 13 yards and 3 yards. Eventually, the Hawkeyes were set up with a 2nd and 7 at the Michigan 10-yard line, and James Vandenberg completed a pass to C.J. Fiedorowicz for 9 yards, and then Brad Herman caught the one-yard pass all by himself in the corner of the end zone.
An extra point put the Hawkeyes up 14-6. It was an 11-play, 78 yard drive. The Spartans got the ball back and started driving. Junior Hemingway caught a 13-yard pass and Fitzgerald Toussaint had a four-yard rush, but Denard Robinson was sacked and fumbled the ball, coughing it up to Tyler Nielsen at the Michigan 31-yard line .The Hawkeyes took the field position, added ten yards or so to it, and then sent out Mike Meyer, who kicked a 42-yard field goal and put the Hawkeyes ahead 17-6.
The Wolverines started driving, with a 16-yard completion to Junior Hemingway and then a 19-yard rush from Denard Robinson. Unfortunately for Michigan, a tipped pass was picked off in Iowa territory by Christian Kirksey, and Iowa killed the clock to take it to halftime.
Early play in the first quarter started in favor of Iowa, as the Wolverines were forced to punt on their opening drive and then gave up a touchdown to the Hawkeyes on their first possession. James Vandenberg completed passes of 44 and 20 yards to set Marcus Coker up for an eventual four-yard touchdown to cap off a six-play, 76-yard drive. The two teams exchanged punts and then Michigan got the ball with 7:47 remaining in the quarter.
And they began driving. A nine yard pass to Junior Hemingway kicked off the drive. Rushes from Fitzgerald Toussaint began to carry them across the field with rushes of eight yards, five yards, seven yards and 11 yards. A two-yard rush was turned into a big gain after a facemask call on James Morris. Denard Robinson was brought down behind the line on 1st and goal, but he eventually hit Toussaint on second down out of the backfield for a five-yard touchdown. The extra point was botched and they trail 7-6.
Iowa got the ball back and couldn't do anything with it, and will have to punt to start the second quarter.
The Michigan Wolverines figured to face a hostile environment on Saturday afternoon when they visit the Iowa Hawkeyes, but Iowa will ramp up the hype even further by playing in a Veterans Day-inspired helmet theme that includes a patriotic, American flag Hawkeye logo instead up the usual gold color.
The Iowa crowd doesn't need any help getting fired up when Michigan comes to town, but the class logo change will add a little juice to Kinnick Stadium. Check out the helmet after the jump.
Michigan responded really well following their fourth straight loss to Michigan State, using the idle week to their advantage and dominating Purdue, 36-14, the week after. At 3-1 in the Big Ten (7-1 overall), Michigan is still very much in contention for the Legends Division title.
While Michigan is coming off of a big win that pieced together some shattered confidence, Iowa will be attempting to bounce back off the ropes after suffering a big hit from Minnesota last week. Of course, that's exactly what makes Iowa the popular upset pick this week.
Anyway, here's the info you're looking for:
For further reading, news, discussion and more, visit Michigan Wolverines' SB Nation blog Maize N' Brew and Iowa Hawkeyes' SB Nation blog Black Heart Gold Pants. Here’s the complete Week 10 college football TV schedule, and stay tuned to SB Nation’s college football news hub for more.
After Fitzgerald Toussaint had a career day against Purdue last week he is encouraged about another possible big week this week against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Iowa is coming off of a demoralizing 22-21 loss to Minnesota in which they failed to stop Duane Bennett and MarQueis Gray. As expected, Iowa fans are not confident with Denard Robinson and company coming to Iowa City this weekend:
After watching Iowa's defense wilt in the final quarter at Penn State and last week to a one-dimensional Minnesota run game, you can only imagine the fate that lies ahead with the vaunted Wolverine rushing attack coming to town.
Michigan does need to concern itself with Iowa running back Marcus Coker, who gashed Minnesota for over 250 yards last week. Coker has rushed for 969 yards and 10 touchdowns on the season, but he has been the only consistent offensive threat for the Hawkeyes.Iowa's James Vandenberg has 17 touchdown passes against only four interceptions this year.
The oddsmakers were impressed with Michigan's dominant victory over Purdue on Saturday, and Iowa's stunning loss at Minnesota did not do the Hawkeyes any favors when it comes to hosting the Wolverines this weekend. Oddsshark, SB Nation's official odds partner, has the Wolverines as a strong four point road favorite heading into Saturday's action at Kinnick Stadium. The Hawkeyes have beaten the Wolverines in each of the past two seasons, but Iowa's recent struggles have put Michigan in a solid position:
The Hawkeyes sport records of 5-3 and 3-5 ATS heading into this matchup, while the Wolverines sit at 7-1 and 6-2 ATS on the season. The over under records are 5-2 for the Hawkeyes and 3-5 for the Wolverines.
Iowa has been a much better team at home so far as opposed to on the road. all three losses have come away from home at Iowa State, Penn State, and Minnesota. This is Michigan's third road game of the season, and the Wolverines are trying to keep pace with Michigan State and Nebraska within the Legends Division.
Following its loss to Michigan State, Michigan had a week off to regroup and get ready for Purdue. While talk about a potential post-MSU collapse was all too common in the two weeks leading up to the Purdue game, Michigan used the extra preparation time to its advantage and dominated the Boilermakers en route to a 36-14 victory.
Beating Purdue improved Michigan's record to 7-1 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten. Thanks to Michigan State's loss to Nebraska, the Wolverines are now tied for first in the Legends Division with four games to go. They will need some help to make it to the Big Ten title game, but any talk about that will be a moot point if the Wolverines don't keep up their end of the bargain by winning.
While Michigan wouldn't technically be knocked out of the Legends Division race with a loss, it can't afford to lose in the division. Based on how the tiebreakers are set up, division record could play a part in deciding the Legends Division champion if there is a three-way tie. As a result, the Wolverines especially need to take care of business against Iowa on Saturday and Nebraska in two weeks to have a shot at winning the tiebreaker if it comes to that.
Interestingly enough, there would be a four-way tie for first in the Legends Division right now if not for Iowa's shocking loss to Minnesota last Saturday. The Hawkeyes' inconsistent season continued with a 22-21 defeat at Minnesota, and it puts them a step behind the three first-place teams. Iowa actually controls its own destiny since it still has to play Michigan, Michigan State and Nebraska, but if the loss to Minnesota is any indication, this stretch of games to finish the season will present more problems than opportunities for the Hawkeyes.
Michigan Coach Brady Hoke Seeking Explanation From Big Ten On Controversial Call
by James Brady
If you happened to miss it on Saturday, there was a very controversial call at the end of the Michigan-Iowa game. Denard Robinson threw a pass to Junior Hemmingway that most folks thought was a complete pass with just seconds remaining. It would have brought the Wolverines within a two-point conversion of the Hawkeyes to force overtime and keep their hopes of winning alive (video here). Instead, the referees ruled it incomplete (one signaled touchdown) and then confirmed the incomplete ruling after a replay.
Now coach Brady Hoke has some comments on the matter, as he's adamant that the call was blown, and plans to seek explanation from the Big Ten office, according to AnnArbor.com. Hoke says that he thought junior made the catch in-bounds. He goes on to note that even if the Big Ten comes out and says the call was blown, it won't make any difference, because a loss is a loss. Hoke notes that "it's just the way it goes." He's right, but it's still bad to see calls like that made, at such crucial points. There's more quotes here.
Nov 07 3:38p