A victory over No. 2 Michigan would be Iowa’s biggest upset in my 25 years
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – This marks my 25th year covering the Iowa football team, so I’ve seen my share of upsets, both at the expense and benefit of the Hawkeyes.
From the resounding victory over Washington in the 1995 Sun Bowl to the much-needed victory over Michigan State in 2000 to the last-second win over Penn State in 2008, the list of upsets in which Iowa was victorious goes on and on.
It’s hard to pick the greatest upset during the past quarter century, but that would change on Saturday should Iowa defeat No. 2 Michigan in prime time at Kinnick Stadium.
Iowa had some impressive victories in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009 and last season, but all those teams won at least 10 games. So to call any of their victories an upset would be a reach.
The current team is different, though, because few outside of the Iowa players and coaches probably give the 5-4 Hawkeyes much of a chance on Saturday, and for good reason.
Michigan is beating opponents into submission and scoring points like an arena team, while Iowa is struggling to run against quality opponents, struggling to complete passes longer than five yards and coming off a game in which it allowed 599 yards to Penn State, including a whopping 359 rushing yards.
After nearly a decade of being average or slightly above average, Michigan is back among the elite thanks to the force of nature that is Jim Harbaugh.
It makes for a great story, the way which in Harbaugh has rescued his alma mater from mediocrity and made it great again in less than two seasons.
Harbaugh has surpassed Alabama’s Nick Saban as college football’s highest-paid coach, with $9 million owed to Harbaugh for this season alone.
Michigan fans will say it is money well spent because the Wolverines are 19-3 under Harbaugh after compiling a 46-42 record in the seven seasons before he was hired.
Harbaugh has won at each of his coaching stops, which started at the University of San Diego followed by Stanford, the San Francisco 49ers and now Michigan.
His current team is dominant on both sides of the line of scrimmage and healthy for the most part. Combine that with Harbaugh’s coaching acumen and his ability to motivate and the chance of Iowa winning on Saturday would appear to be slim to none.
Iowa senior running back LeShun Daniels was asked on Tuesday, given all the circumstances surrounding both teams, if Iowa could defeat Michigan.
“Of course,” Daniels said. “We don’t go throughout the week thinking we don’t have a chance or anything like that. Obviously, we know that they’re an excellent team and it’s going to take a great effort from us as a whole. We’re going to have to be clicking on all cylinders.
“We don’t look at a task as if it’s impossible or anything like that. We compete twelve games out of the year and we’re working out pretty much the entire year after that. So we don’t go into any game thinking we don’t have a chance because we’re competitors. Everybody on this team wouldn’t be here if you weren’t a competitor.”
Make no mistake about it, I have Michigan winning on Saturday, but not in the same overwhelming fashion that many do, but more like 27-10 or 31-10.
Before some of you frustrated fans call me a delusional homer for picking such a close score, I still have Iowa losing by either 17 or 21 points at home. Something just tells me that Iowa will rise to the occasion for at least while before Michigan’s superiority ultimately pulls through.
Michigan has faced hardly any adversity and has played just two games on the road at hapless Rutgers and struggling Michigan State.
The Iowa fans could make a difference, given how close the seats are to the playing field at Kinnick Stadium. With all day to fuel up, fans should be in the right frame of mind to distract the Michigan players.
Prevent the Wolverines from getting off to their usual fast start and the fans will feed off the circumstance.
It was obvious from talking to the Iowa players on Tuesday that they have a tremendous amount of respect for Michigan.
Junior offensive lineman Ike Boettger called the Michigan defense the best he will have faced in college, while junior linebacker Ben Niemann said something similar about the Michigan offense.
Michigan leads the Big Ten in total defense, allowing just 246.3 yards per game and a conference low 4.2 yards per play.
“This Michigan defense is the real deal, absolutely, Boettger said. “They’re very stout against the run and they can definitely go after the passer. They’ve got a great back end. It’s definitely going to be a test.”
Adding to the excitement, and to the pressure, is that the game will be played in prime time and on national television. There should be a large viewing audience just from those interested in Michigan.
Iowa is sort of the side show heading into Saturday’s game.
Harbaugh loves the attention and doesn’t seem opposed to running up the score. Just ask Rutgers.
Pride doesn’t win a football game, but it could help with Iowa’s preparation.
Iowa was embarrassed last Saturday at Penn State and many think it’ll be embarrassed again this Saturday at home.
The Hawkeyes faced a similar situation against Penn State in 2008. Iowa was 5-4 heading into that game, which matches the current team’s record, while Penn State was undefeated and ranked third nationally.
Iowa kept the game close behind the running of 2008 Doak Walker Award winner Shonn Greene and ultimately prevailed on a last-second field goal by Daniel Murray.
Greene, obviously, made a huge difference, but the current Iowa team has two quality running backs in senior LeShun Daniels and junior Akrum Wadley.
So stranger things have happened in sports than should Iowa prevail on Saturday.
This is a chance for the Iowa players to seize the moment and prove the naysayers wrong. It’s a chance to show that Iowa isn’t plummeting back to mediocrity.
Upsets don’t come easy, though, especially this one.