Points fly, teeth chatter during 38-28 Iowa win

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Oct. 16, 2010

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — For the second year in a row, Iowa’s football team defended Michigan quarterbacks Denard Robinson and Tate Forcier. For the second year in a row, the Hawkeyes emerged with a high-scoring, teeth-rattling victory that was secured by a late interception.

No. 14 Iowa scored 21 points off four turnovers and improved to 5-1 overall with a 38-28 win over the No. 24 Wolverines in front of 112,784 at Michigan Stadium. It is the most points Iowa has scored against a Michigan team.

Iowa, which did not commit a turnover, is 2-0 in the Big Ten Conference with wins over Penn State and Michigan. It is the second consecutive Hawkeye win in the series and their first in the Big House since 2002. The Wolverines are 5-2, 1-2.

It was a day when Derrell Johnson-Koulianos became the school’s all-time receiving yardage leader and running back Adam Robinson carried the ball 31 times for 143 yards and two touchdowns. Johnson-Koulianos hauled in four passes for 70 yards — three were touchdowns. Robinson, Johnson-Koulianos and Marvin McNutt all had four receptions. Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi completed 17 of 24 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns.

Michigan managed 522 yards on 86 plays, compared to the Hawkeyes’ picking up 383 on 60 snaps.

Middle linebacker Troy Johnson was the defensive hero for Iowa, compiling 13 tackles and a game-clinching interception with 1:54 remaining. Jeremiha Hunter also had 13 stops for the Hawkeyes.

“This is a happy lockerroom,” said UI head coach Kirk Ferentz. “Winning on the road is difficult anywhere. Winning on the road in this league is really difficult.”

Michigan opened the scoring with a 13-play, 75-yard drive on its first possession that oddly did not feature Robinson. The Wolverine quarterback carried the ball twice, but he also attempted four passes (three complete) and handed off to backs Stephen Hopkins (four times) and Vincent Smith (three times). The scoring play was an 8-yard pass from Robinson to Smith at the 8:18 mark. Kicker Seth Broekhuizen tacked on the PAT for the early 7-0 edge.

Iowa couldn’t capitalize on a 40-yard kickoff return by Johnson-Koulianos on its second drive. The Hawkeyes had first down at their own 44, but managed just one completion to tight end Allen Reisner on three attempts.

Iowa’s defense forced a three-and-out, but a 63-yard punt by Michigan’s Will Hagerup pinned the Hawkeyes back to their own 16. The starting position did not prevent an 84-yard scoring drive capped by a 14-yard touchdown pass from Stanzi to Johnson Koulianos. The extra kick by Mike Meyer tied the score, 7-7, with 1:29 left in the first quarter. The Hawkeyes had five plays of 11 or more yards on the drive, with Robinson rushing for 19 and 14 yards and a pass reception of 11 yards. McNutt added an 11-yard reception. The scoring grab by Johnson-Koulianos put him second all-time in school history for career receiving yardage.

The Wolverines then committed costly back-to-back miscues. Faced with third-and-5 from midfield, left tackle Taylor Lewan was flagged for a false start. Now third-and-10, Robinson heaved a pass down the right sideline that Hawkeye strong safety Tyler Sash was waiting under. Sash returned the interception 36 yards and Iowa had first down at the Wolverine 49.

The Hawkeyes turned the interception into seven points and a 14-7 lead. Stanzi completed a 15-yard middle screen to Robinson taking the ball to Michigan’s 34, and two plays later Stanzi completed a 31-yard touchdown pass to Johnson-Koulianos with 13:22 left in the half.

Michigan put a 12-play drive together that advanced inside the Iowa 21, but Hawkeye defensive end Adrian Clayborn made sure it didn’t turn into points. Clayborn got a hand on a 38-yard field goal attempt by Broekhuizen and Sash picked it up around the 15-yard line and returned it to the Wolverine 48. Iowa cashed the big special team’s play into another touchdown, extending its lead to 21-7. It was appropriate that Robinson scored the touchdown since his 16-yard run on a third-and-14 draw was the highlight of the series (Reisner threw a key block on the play). Robinson had five carries on the drive (for 31 yards); his touchdown run was from four yards with 4:31 left in the half.

Iowa averaged 6.6 yards per 29 plays in the first half (192 yards) and scored on all three red zone opportunities.

The third quarter started slowly for both teams until Michigan’s second drive. Back-up quarterback Tate Forcier replaced a dinged-up Robinson and passed the Wolverines to the Hawkeye 15. Iowa defensive tackle Karl Klug ended the threat with a thunderous tackle of Smith, whose fumble at the 14 was recovered by Lebron Daniel. Iowa didn’t move the chains and punted back to Forcier at the Wolverine 35.

Forcier, known for his passing, was under relentless pressure before being picked off by Micah Hyde and Iowa made Michigan pay again. Five plays after the turnover, the Hawkeyes extended their lead to 28-7 with an 11-yard scoring run by Robinson. Stanzi completed all three passes on the drive for 50 yards (34 yards to McNutt, 11 yards to Brad Rogers and 5 yards to Keenan Davis).

Hopkins scored the first rushing touchdown against Iowa this season (24 quarters) when he went in from 2 yards with 13:10 left in the game. That whittled the Hawkeye lead to 28-14, but Iowa wasn’t done scoring…and Johnson-Koulianos wasn’t done with an assault on the record book. A 19-yard scoring strike from Stanzi to Johnson-Koulianos upped the Hawkeye lead to 35-14 and made Johnson-Koulianos the all-time receiving yardage leader with 2,275. The old record was 2,271 yards by Tim Dwight from 1994-97.

The Wolverines answered with a nifty pass play of their own, scoring from 45 yards from Forcier to Junior Hemingway 69 seconds later, once again reducing the Hawkeye lead to 14 points at 35-21.

Forcier rallied Michigan again, carving the Iowa secondary with three pass completions for 35 yards before lofting a jump ball down the field that was pulled down by Hemingway for 31 yards at the Iowa 3. Forcier ducked into the end zone on the next snap and the Wolverines made it a one-touchdown game at 35-28.

In a game of 146 plays, two huge third-down conversions on the Iowa’s second-to-last offensive series proved pivotal. It also allowed the Hawkeyes to burn 4:02 off the clock. On third-and-9 from the Iowa 41, Stanzi completed a 17-yarder to McNutt; three plays later, Robinson scooped up a screen pass moments before it hit the turf, broke four tackles and turned it into a 26-yard gain. It eventually set up a 30-yard field goal by Meyer, making it a two-possession game again at 38-28.

“I bent over and caught it and I was just trying to get the first down,” Robinson said. “I was trying to keep my balance but was tripped up.”

Johnson intercepted Forcier late to seal the decision.

Iowa is home the next two weeks — Oct. 23 against Wisconsin and Oct. 30 against Michigan State.