Week 6 -- With room to spare

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- There is no lead storyline.

Every play mattered. Big and small. A block, a big TD catch, a defensive stop. The interceptions, the running back and the fifth-year senior middle linebacker.

Every effort was a brick in a foundation that finally, eventually, reached to the top of the giant scoreboards the loom over Michigan Stadium.

Against a late-afternoon autumn sky, it all mattered and the scoreboard said Iowa.

The No. 15 Iowa Hawkeyes (5-1, 2-0 Big Ten) had just enough of everything in Saturday's 38-28 victory over Michigan (5-2, 1-2) before 112,784 fans at Michigan Stadium.

Iowa's defense bottled and then broke Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson. Gunslinger Tate Forcier replaced Robinson, who was held to 201 total yards before leaving with an arm injury, and pulled the Wolverines to within a touchdown with 6:55 to play.

But quarterback Ricky Stanzi finished a flawless day with an ugly little completion that running back Adam Robinson turned into gold, a 26-yard gain on a check-down, and Mike Meyer's 30-yard field goal sealed it for Iowa.

In the end, all that mattered was 38-28. Getting there was sort of nutty, but that's all that mattered.

"It's important for us to get this kind of win," Iowa offensive lineman Julian Vandervelde said. "Everything clicked, but we're still not there. It still wasn't everyone doing everything right for four quarters."

Exactly.

A lot went right for three quarters.

Stanzi was fantastic, completing 17 of 24 for 248 yards and three TDs. Senior wide receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos caught four passes for 70 yards and three TDs. On his third TD reception, a 19-yarder in the fourth quarter, Johnson-Koulianos became Iowa's career leader in receiving yards with 2,274, surpassing Tim Dwight, 2,271.

"I'm speechless," Johnson-Koulianos said to Iowa TV cameras after the Hawkeyes sang the school song in the corner of the west end zone.

Robinson carried the ball a career-high 31 times for 143 yards and a pair of scores. He also caught four passes for 61 yards.

Iowa had the better Robinson. OK, Iowa had the more durable Robinson, who again walked out of the lockerroom gingerly.

"Just to come away with the win, that shows the character of our team," said Robinson, whose 204 total yards was a career high. "We were able to come together as a team and mesh under a lot of adversity. I think that's something that's going to help us later in the season."

Be good if it kicked in this week. The Hawkeyes host Wisconsin (6-1, 2-1) in the massive matchup in the Big Ten and maybe the nation. The Badgers knocked off No. 1 Ohio State, 31-18, at Camp Randall on Saturday night.

Strictly out of the matchup, Iowa's defense was the unit that faced adversity at Michigan Stadium.

Iowa had obviously geared to stop or at least contain Denard Robinson. After a 12-yard gain on a sweep in the third quarter, Robinson was smacked by linebacker Tyler Nielsen and defensive tackle Mike Daniels. He left the game after the tackle reaggravated a shoulder injury and was replaced by Forcier.

After a Micah Hyde interception that led to Iowa's 35-14 lead, it was bombs away with Forcier.

Forcier led three TD drives in the fourth quarter, plunging in from 3 yards to pull Michigan within 35-28 with 6:55 left. Forcier drove an offensive machine that gashed Iowa for 522 yards, the most against the Hawkeyes since Ohio State ran up 530 yards in a 31-6 victory over Iowa in 2005.

"Not happy about the yards," cornerback Shaun Prater said. "The 'W' is nice and that's what it's all about, but what they did to us . . . we need to clean that up. It feels like a loss that way."

The numbers belie what actually was an opportunistic defensive effort.

The Hawkeyes converted four Michigan turnovers into 14 points. Safety Tyler Sash returned a first-quarter interception 36 yards to set up a score. Hyde's interception turned into Adam Robinson's 11-yard TD run in the third.

The first-team defense was also on the field for a blocked field goal. D-lineman Adrian Clayborn was officially credited with a the block. Sash kept the opportunistic theme going when he let the ball roll to the Iowa 10, looked off the Michigan field-goal unit and picked it up and ran.

He gave Iowa first down at Michigan's 48. The drive ended in Adam Robinson's first TD.

"The turnovers are inexcusable," Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said. "We're not good enough to have those things and beat anybody, let alone a good Iowa team."

Yeah, there were yards, but everything mattered. It takes more than yards to win.

Michigan found that rhythm with Forcier, who, it appeared, more or less, replaced Robinson due to performance rather than injury. Robinson was in the offensive huddle on the sideline, but never got the keys to the offense back.

Finally, after a day of taking what Michigan handed to them, the Hawkeyes had some pressure. The Wolverines scored two TDs -- a 45-yard bomb from Forcier to Junior Hemingway and Forcier's 3-yard run -- in less than four minutes.

Then, Iowa made every play that mattered.

Stanzi hit Marvin McNutt for 17 yards. Then, Stanzi threw low to Robinson, who scooped the ball up, broke three tackles and, 26 yards later, converted a third-and-8.

Meyer, a true freshman walk-on, booted a 30-yarder. Then, on Michigan's last lunge, middle linebacker Troy Johnson picked off Forcier, slid and called it a day.

That was a fifth-year senior making his third career start.

See, it all matters.