Tough to get a feel for Iowa-Michigan game

That makes a good point, which makes the 2003 game sting even more. With an extra week of prep that was a good chance to grab one there.
 
Their OL isn't very big, thats one thing that stood out to me.

This game comes down to two things.

A. Iowa's running game
B. Iowa's defense

Very simple IMO
 
I don't know about you guys, but this one worries me a little. Am I the only one whose sphincter puckered at the end of the game last year when Denard Robinson came in? Their offense couldn't move the ball at all on us with Forcier back there. Denard comes in and they start marching down the field. Luckily he made an ill-advised throw for a pick, but they moved the ball on our D which was arguably just as good as this year's D.

I think the Hawks are capable of winning it by 2-3 TDs if they tackle well and stay disciplined. I want to see our safeties wrapping up Denard when he gets loose and not loading up and going for the big hit like they seem to be doing all the time this year.

I also think they're just as capable of losing by a small margin. I don't see us getting blown out by Michigan in any scenario, but I'm not chalking up the win yet either by a long shot.
 
michigan is NOT the 2006 rose bowl champion team of texas and denard robinson IS NOT vince young. he exploited terrible defenses, and got exploited against a solid defense.

44-21, iowa
 
I actually think our bend but don't break defense plays right into Michigan's biggest weakness, long drives and red zone offense. When the field is short in the red zone DR has less space to move in, thus you see them passing more as they did against MSU. Since DR is not a very accurate passer this plays into our hands.

If we can stop the big plays we will have no trouble holding Michigan to less than 21 points. I predict lots of field goals by Michigan this week, which should be a victory for Iowa.
 
I 'm buying into the 'Iowa is the more physical team' angle. I've got stalled drives and missed field goals dancing in my head. I also wish Tarp was playing in this one you need his athleticism at the LB spot.

Despite those couple of negatives I think Iowa sneaks one out. Michigan is a year or two away from being really good.
 
This is a very intriging match-up & a clash of opposing styles. It is hard to gauge. I do have concerns that the Michigan O-line is more formidable than a lot of people think. I mean, DR only needs a little gap & he's gone for substantial yds. The Iowa D is going to have to be VERY disciplined in their gap assignments.

This game can easily end 4 different ways. Each team could win by a blow-out, it could be a high-scoring close game or a game similar to the MSU game last week. The match-up is so odd, one just can't get a feel.

I do have a concern about Iowa's D getting gassed trying to run down DR over the course of a whole game. Iowa has done well in the past playing many minutes without rotating a ton. Hopefully, Iowa's depth can overcome any attrition problems they may encounter.
 
EyeAmHawk said:
I actually think our bend but don't break defense plays right into Michigan's biggest weakness, long drives and red zone offense. When the field is short in the red zone DR has less space to move in, thus you see them passing more as they did against MSU. Since DR is not a very accurate passer this plays into our hands.

If we can stop the big plays we will have no trouble holding Michigan to less than 21 points. I predict lots of field goals by Michigan this week, which should be a victory for Iowa.
Click to expand...

This is how i see it happening also.

*Play our normal Offense of running between the tackles and play action against a weak front four and bad secondary.
*Play assignment football on defense.
*Make DR beat you with his arm.
 
briankaldenberg said:
I'm going to get blasted, but I see us losing this game 7 or 8 out of 10 time.

Michigan 41
Iowa 24
Click to expand...

I don't think you should get blasted for saying Iowa will lose, but you should for saying the D will give up 41. Yes Arizona scored 34, but the D was only responsible for 20 of that and 7 of the 20 came when Arizona started at the 8 so I don't even know if you can put that on the D.

Let me know how much you would like to bet and I will take Iowa and the 17.
 
SectionSFan said:
I don't know about you guys, but this one worries me a little. Am I the only one whose sphincter puckered at the end of the game last year when Denard Robinson came in? Their offense couldn't move the ball at all on us with Forcier back there. Denard comes in and they start marching down the field. Luckily he made an ill-advised throw for a pick, but they moved the ball on our D which was arguably just as good as this year's D.

I think the Hawks are capable of winning it by 2-3 TDs if they tackle well and stay disciplined. I want to see our safeties wrapping up Denard when he gets loose and not loading up and going for the big hit like they seem to be doing all the time this year.

I also think they're just as capable of losing by a small margin. I don't see us getting blown out by Michigan in any scenario, but I'm not chalking up the win yet either by a long shot.
Click to expand...

Last year DRob was an unknown commodity, when he got playing time against Iowa after Forcier got hurt.
No team had seen DRob up to that point. How do you prepare for a guy you've never seen play? This year everyone, literally everyone has seen what DRob is capable of. So it's much easier to prepare for a player you
have video of every play he's been in on up til now.
Otherwise some good points.
 
Hawkize1 said:
Last year DRob was an unknown commodity, when he got playing time against Iowa after Forcier got hurt.
No team had seen DRob up to that point. How do you prepare for a guy you've never seen play?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't go this far.

Denard Robinson 2009 stats leading up to Iowa game:

vs. Western Michigan - 2/4, 18 yards passing; 11-74-1 rushing
vs. Notre Dame - 4-21-0 rushing
vs. Eastern Michigan - 0/4, 0 yards passing (2 ints); 3-60-2 rushing
vs. Indiana - 2/3, 39 yards passing; 11-24-0 rushing
vs. MSU - 3-(-9)-0 rushing

Total: 4/11, 59 yards passing (2 ints); 32-170-3 rushing

So while he didn't have huge numbers, I don't know that he was a completely unknown commodity.
 
Man, some of you guys worry too much.

Iowa will have no problem making Michigan one-dimensional. We should be able to eliminate the passing game because a) Robinson is not a great passer, b) he will have trouble seeing and throwing over our D-line (especially Binns), c) we will never, ever blitz, d) our back four will play disciplined coverage and their receivers are nothing special.

So ultimately Michigan is going to have one player and one play-- Denard Robinson on the zone read run. On the other hand, Iowa has Stanzi running the show, DJK, McNutt, and Reisner working nicely in the passing game and A-Rob on the ground. I know it sucks we lost Jewel, but let's not forget that Adam Robinson is pretty good, he doesn't go down easy, and Michigan's D is a pretty poor-tackling group.

I will take 4-5 offensive weapons over one any day, especially when that single weapon only runs one play. Iowa 34-13.
 
Our offense will own their D, like every other team's O has owned their D this year. All our D needs to do is slow DR down, not stop him. If Iowa puts up 30 we win easily.

Iowa 30
scUM 21
 
whammer33024 said:
michigan is NOT the 2006 rose bowl champion team of texas and denard robinson IS NOT vince young. he exploited terrible defenses, and got exploited against a solid defense.

44-21, iowa
Click to expand...

I agree with your assessment. His big stats were against some horrible teams. I see Iowa by ten to fourteen points.
 
hey brian kaldenberg, is your consulting strategy to give people 2 opposite pieces of advice? or do you just do that when predicting scores?

prediction thread- iowa 38, michigan 31

this thread- michigan 41, iowa 24

i will definitely NOT be recommending you to anyone seeking consultation
 
5th year Senior QB 3rd in passing ratings vs. a D that ranks what 119th in the country?

Our #1 ranked defense vs. a very scary playmaker at QB?

Michigan will make a few big plays but can they stop us or anyone?
 
Billso said:
Michigan is infinite years away from being really good if they stick with their 3-3-5 and current (lack of) defensive recruiting focus.
Click to expand...


If Richrod survives, you honestly don't think he can't get the defensive personnel that he wants. Double negative sentence, but you get my point. He is playing 4 or 5 freshman, best DB is injured, a young NFL prototype at NG, he has the parts to fix this defense in a short peroid of time.

We'll know by 2011, if he will continue with the 3-3-5 philosophy........Greg Robinson probably won't be around.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top