How Will Michigan Bounce Back vs. Iowa After Being Beaten by Michigan State?

Peter White by Contributor Written on October 08, 2009
Tate_forcier_feature

Well it looked like Michigan was gonna pull it off.

Down by six with less than 10 seconds to go, Tate Forcier threw a TD pass to Roy Roundtree to tie it up with two seconds to go. So they went to overtime with momentum on there side. But, on third down with only five yards to go, Tate Forcier threw a pass that was tipped and intercepted by MSU. A few plays later, the MSU RB ran it into the endzone for a game winner. With that, Michigan's comeback was unsuccessful, and it left the Woleverines with there first loss of the season. Now the question that remains is, how will they respond following the loss?

Going into Iowa city on a Saturday Night with it being homecoming for Iowa, seems like the Hawkeyes have already clinched this victory, right? Not so fast. While Iowa may have one of the top rushing defenses in the nation, that doesn't mean that Michigan wont rack up yards against them.

While our offensive line may be banged up, we still have, what I think, are two of the best running backs in the nation in Carlos Brown and Brandon Minor. Now Minor has been banged up most of the season, but Carlos Brown has stepped up and filled the void left by the injured Minor.

If Michigan can establish the run game early, then that will open up the passing game for Tate Forcier, and help to take some of the pressure off the true freshmen. Now keep in mind that the Iowa defense hasn't allowed a rushing TD in 33 quarters, and I believe that the streak will be broken this weekend.

But, the problem is on the other side of the ball. The defense has given up over 400 yards per game, and 13 TDs. The defensive line stepped it up last week, and for most of the game took control of the MSU offensive line.

If the defense can stop the run, then that will force Ricky Sanzi to win the game with his arm. But, that will put pressure on the secondary, which has shown the abilty to give up the long pass play every now and then.

So the key will be for the defensive line to take control early and stop the run, forcing Ricky Stanzi to throw the ball. Now remember if you read my BT preview, I said that this was a game that Michigan will lose.

Iowa 24-17 over Michigan

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written on October 08, 2009 Preview/Prediction

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