Iowa Throttles Michigan State: A Real Game Changer

Saturday, Iowa dismantled then-undefeated Michigan State to the tune of 37-6. 

The victory was a strong statement from a team that had been oh-so-close to greatness, only to be stung with special teams blunders and questionable play calling.

Iowa's victory obviously changes the national title picture: While Michigan State wasn't being highly touted as contender for the crystal football, they were ranked No. 5 in the BCS and were in prime position to slide into the big game if/when the leaders fell.

Now, another undefeated has fallen. Another contender has dropped.

Iowa's victory also shook up the Big Ten title a little. Coming into the game, Michigan State had a stranglehold on the title race as the only undefeated team. Now, it's a four-way race and could easily end in a three-way tie.

The Spartans are no longer the front runner for the Rose Bowl; that distinction falls back to Wisconsin (who defeated both Iowa and Ohio State and will likely be ranked higher in the BCS than Michigan State, if they win out). 

Iowa's domination over Michigan State cleared up one picture and muddied another. All in a day's work, right? 

That's all well and good, but the real story coming out of Saturday was how Iowa pulled out such a dominant performance and how much more lopsided it could have been.

Let's start at the beginning.

The Special Teams Were Actually Special

In Iowa's two losses, there are a lot of areas that could be pointed to that aided in those defeats.

None stood out more noticeably than the poor play of the special teams units, though.

Iowa has miffed a couple of extra points, had a punt blocked and allowed a kick return for a touchdown. Even when they weren't directly giving up points or giving them away, the special teams had been allowing Iowa's opponents to play a short field and always threaten to break off a big return.

Saturday was much better. Mike Meyer still bounced an extra-point off the uprights, but this time it didn't make the difference in the game like it did against Wisconsin a week ago. 

That miff aside, the Hawkeyes blanketed the Spartans on kickoffs and punts, shoring up an element of the game that had been lacking horribly up until now. They didn't allow the Spartans to stare down a short field to the end zone and gave their defense plenty of room to make things happen.

There is still work to be done, for sure. Still, for perhaps the first time this season, Iowa's special teams play wasn't a liability. 

In fact, it was actually "special" by comparison.

The Defense Made Amends

Perhaps that's a little bit of a harsh statement. After all, the defense hasn't been bad at all this year. Sure, they weren't necessarily what fans expected against Wisconsin or Michigan, but they were good nonetheless.

Still, what they did Saturday was special. The defensive line held a talented running duo of Edwin Baker and Le'Veon Bell to only 31 yards on 20 attempts. That's a paltry 1.55 yards per carry average (the lowest average allowed by Iowa this season). 

That forced Kirk Cousins to the air more often than he would have liked. It also forced Cousins to make some choices he didn't want to make.

Iowa's secondary stepped up bigger than expected and pulled down three interceptions.  One of those was pure highlight reel material where Tyler Sash pulled down the interception, then tossed it back to Micah Hyde who ran it 66 yards for a score.

The Hawkeyes took away everything Michigan State tried and put the Spartans in dire straights early.

After the heartbreaking loss to Wisconsin, Adrian Clayborn called out his defensive brothers, claiming that they didn't practice hard enough. This week, they responded and showcased what this defense is capable of when firing on all cylinders.

The Coaches Showed Surprising Aggression

There's little question that Kirk Ferentz and his staff want to win games. However, Ferentz's ultra-conservative style has come under fire from fans of late.

His tendency to sit on the ball and rely on the defense to bring home the win hasn't worked as well as in the past: Arizona put together a final drive to beat Iowa; Wisconsin did the same; Michigan turned a route into a competitive ball game. 

Fans (and I) were looking around the country asking why Iowa's leaders were content to settle on a 10-point lead while everyone else was going for the jugular and putting their opponents away. In a conference this tough, it seemed an unnecessary risk, especially given the success demonstrated by the offense when allowed to perform at full speed.

Saturday, Ferentz loosened the Dogs of War a little longer than he'd been willing to in the past. Iowa fans have been talking about it ever since.

Even in the second half, with a 30-point lead, Ferentz showed a willingness to "go for it." On an end around, he pulled a rabbit out of the hat and allowed Marvin McNutt to pull up short and toss a long ball to Derrell Johnson-Koulianos.

That the pass dropped incomplete is irrelevant. What mattered was that Ferentz (and OC Ken O'Keefe) showed the moxy to pull that play out of the archives at all. Traditionally, they would have settled on running the ball for two downs, attempting a short pass on the third and then punting it away. 

In fact, the overall feel of the game was that the Hawkeyes weren't holding anything back. 

That's not to say that they played recklessly. Rather, when they would have shut down the offense and turned the game over to the defense, they allowed the offense to keep playing.  Michigan State never had an opportunity to grab the momentum and mount a comeback. 

For the first time in a very long time, Iowa fans got to see that their coach has a killer instinct after all.

The Offense Responded in Kind

Unshackled, the Hawkeye offense put together one of their most balanced attacks of the season. It wasn't necessarily the most dominant offensive performance, but it was one of the most balanced.

Iowa logged 162 yards on the ground and added another 190 through the air. Adam Robinson scored once on the ground while Ricky Stanzi struck three times through the air. 

The Hawkeyes never allowed Michigan State to enjoy the same one-sided attack that Iowa's defense got to face. More precisely, the offense fed off of the defense's turnovers and big plays and came up with a solid performance of their own.

This was against a defense that hadn't given up a passing touchdown since October 9th, and hadn't given up multiple passing touchdowns since their game against Notre Dame on September 18th. It was also the third most yards-per-carry allowed by the Spartans (3.86) in the 2010 season.

The offensive line did a fantastic job of protecting Ricky Stanzi, rarely allowing pressure to force him out of the pocket or make tough decisions. The line pushed Michigan State's line around nicely on run plays as well. 

It was one of the few times this year where every aspect of the offense seemed to be working in complete concert with each other.

This Changes Things

I, among many other Iowa fans, were becoming a little concerned about the remainder of the 2010 season: Iowa had started strong and looked good, but tripped over themselves at Arizona; they picked themselves up nicely and rolled on but tripped over their own feet again against Wisconsin; the defense didn't look as dominant as expected; the special teams were anything but special. 

The coaches seemed locked in a mindset that had past its expiration date and didn't seem to understand the team they had created.

The offense was better than anyone had predicted, but it was only allowed to play half a game. Stanzi had corrected his mistakes from a year ago, but didn't have the same support around him.

With a pesky Northwestern still ahead, and a nasty showdown against Ohio State on November 20th, the future was beginning to look extraordinarily scary.

If last Saturday was any indicator of what's to come however, things have taken a nice turn.  Suddenly, this team looks a whole lot more like the Hawkeye team that everyone expected back in August.

Indiana may have a whale of a pass attack, but Iowa's defensive secondary is up to the task and the defensive line shows every capability of making Ben Chappell's day a living nightmare.

Northwestern is still a pest, but Kirk Ferentz may finally be ready to swat that gnat and move on to bigger concerns.

Ohio State...well, they're still Ohio State, but Iowa looks more prepared to take on that caliber of opponent than they've looked in nearly a month. 

Actually, they look more prepared than they've looked all year.

I thought that Iowa would move farther up the BCS standings than they did with their win over Michigan State. I expected them to be in the top 15. Instead, they'll come in at No. 16 with Michigan State at No. 14, Ohio State at No. 11, and Wisconsin at No. 9. 

Still, their blowout win over Michigan State puts them firmly back in the hunt for a share of the Big Ten title and possibly a shot at a Rose Bowl appearance. They still need a little help from Wisconsin to get to Pasadena, but they're closer than they were a few days ago.

With the changes in coaching attitude, a new motivation for the defense, and special teams play that isn't handicapping the Hawks at every turn, this changes things for Iowa. 

Suddenly, they're back to being one of the better teams in the country. 

Even if they don't get a BCS at-large bid, these Hawks are flying high again and showing that they're ready for whatever faces them in the weeks to come.