Likes, dislikes from Iowa football's last-second win over Michigan
· Yahoo Sports
ANN ARBOR, Michigan — What goes around comes around.
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In a controversial finish, Michigan escaped its season opener against Western Michigan with a touchdown on the final play of the game.
The script flipped against Iowa.
On the final play of the Sept. 26 game, Hank Brown hit Reece Vander Zee for a 16-yard touchdown to give Iowa a dramatic win over Michigan.
The Hawkeyes improved to 4-0 with a thrilling 20-19 victory.
There's a lot to unpack here. Let's get into likes and dislikes.
Likes
Reece Vander Zee's heroics: A walk-off touchdown by Iowa's receiver. Vander Zee finished the game with five receptions for 66 yards and two touchdowns. The Rock Rapids product has fought through adversity in his Iowa career, which saw him sidelined due to injuries at times. He delivered a massive moment for the Hawkeye faithful in Ann Arbor.
Clutch final drive: Trailing by five, Iowa went 11 plays for 91 yards in less than two minutes. Tight end Addison Ostrenga came up with a big catch. The last of those 11 plays was when Hank Brown hit Vander Zee.
Hank Brown's second half: After a shaky first half in which he completed just 6-of-12 passes, Brown settled in after the break. In the second half, Brown was 15-of-23 passing. He finished the game 21-of-35 for 227 yards and two touchdowns. After a dreadful start to the game offensively, Iowa scored touchdowns on two of its final four drives. It wasn't pretty, but the Hawkeyes offense found ways to deliver down the stretch of the game. Brown rose to the occasion in his first road start, which came in a very difficult environment.
Coming up in crunch time: For the second time in four games, the Hawkeyes delivered in the clutch. Iowa now has one-possession wins over Iowa State and Michigan this season.
Braeden Jackson: After scoring the first two touchdowns of his career in a breakout game against UNI, Jackson came up big again for the Hawkeyes. After falling into an early 7-0 hole, Jackson broke free on a kickoff for a 99-yard return touchdown. It was reminiscent of what all-time special-teamer Kaden Wetjen did. Jackson’s return was Iowa’s second special-teams touchdown of the season.
DJ Vonnahme's wild catch: This was a ridiculous play. On a big third down in Michigan territory, Hank Brown's pass was tipped, but tight end DJ Vonnahme, who had been pushed out of bounds by a Michigan defender, reestablished himself on the field to haul in a 21-yard gain. On the very next play, Brown hit Reece Vander Zee for a 16-yard touchdown, his first of the game. With the PAT, Iowa went up 14-13, taking its first lead of the game.
Bend-but-not-break defense: Michigan had Iowa’s defense on the ropes multiple times, but the Hawkeyes were able to hold strong. The Wolverines scored touchdowns on just one of their four red-zone appearances. Deshaun Lee picked off Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood when the Wolverines were near the end zone. Another time, Iowa got a fourth-down stop. The Wolverines were able to move the ball on the Hawkeyes, putting up 429 total yards, but Iowa’s defense was fairly opportunistic with its back against the wall.
Boston Everitt: In his first season playing American football, the Aussie product continues to excel. Everitt helped Iowa’s efforts in the field-position battle, which is crucial in a low-scoring affair. Everitt punted six times for an average of 42.3 yards and pinned Michigan inside the 20 three times. This was Everitt’s first road game.
Penalties: Iowa was the more disciplined team when it came to penalties. Michigan had eight penalties for 75 yards. Iowa had five penalties for 34 yards.
Winning the turnover battle: Iowa was +1 in the turnover battle. Lee's interception was the lone takeaway of the game. The Hawkeyes didn't turn the ball over. Brown didn't make any disastrous mistakes, which seemed like a possibility entering the game.
Iowa stays undefeated: The Hawkeyes are 4-0 entering a huge matchup with Ohio State at Kinnick Stadium. Everything is still on the table for this Iowa team.
Dislikes
First six offensive drives: This was a very tough watch for a while. The Hawkeyes' offense failed to score on its first six drives of the game. Up to that point, their only score was from Jackson's kickoff return. When Iowa’s running game doesn’t get much traction, the offense doesn’t have many answers and things looked pretty grim.
Running game: Iowa’s ability to move the ball on the ground has been such a key part of its offense, but the Hawkeyes struggled to do so against Michigan. Iowa rushed for just 58 yards, averaging just 2.4 per carry. After having three players each over 100 yards against UNI, Iowa’s leading rusher against Michigan was Kamari Moulton with just 44 yards. It was even worse than when Iowa rushed for just 93 yards against Iowa State.
Iowa secondary: What could've been a game-winning touchdown came when Iowa let a Michigan receiver get free. With Iowa leading 14-13 in the fourth quarter, Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood extended the play with his legs and hit JJ Buchanan for a 49-yard touchdown. While Michigan rushed for 153 yards, it hurt Iowa's defense more through the air. Michigan finished with 276 passing yards. Andrew Marsh had seven catches for 106 yards while Buchanan had five catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns.
Penalty/missed field goal: This was a brutal sequence. Trailing by five late in the fourth quarter, Iowa was set to go for it on fourth-and-short. But a false start moved the ball back, and the Hawkeyes elected to try a field goal. Then Caden Buhr missed a 51-yarder, his first field-goal attempt of the game. Fortunately it ended up not biting Iowa.
Michigan controlled: It’s difficult to find many statistical categories where Michigan didn’t hold the advantage. The Wolverines outgained the Hawkeyes 429-285, averaged 6.3 per play compared to Iowa’s 4.8 and had 21 first downs to Iowa’s 16. Statistically, it's baffling how Iowa won this game, but the Hawkeyes were the most resilient, opportunistic team.
Time of possession: The Wolverines had the ball a lot, which means the Hawkeyes' defense was on the field a lot. Michigan had the ball for roughly nine minutes more than Iowa.
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This article originally appeared on Hawk Central: Likes, dislikes from Iowa football's last-second win over Michigan