My No. 4 game in Ferentz Era -- Iowa-Michigan, 2002

(This is an extension of Marc Morehouse's series on his Iowa football blog. Also, see Scott Dochterman's picks at his blog.)

This is the only game of the 10 I'm listing that wasn't close. It was lopsided, in fact.

But Iowa's 34-9 win at Michigan in 2002 left indelible impressions -- for that season and for the the entire decade.

The Wolverines were ranked eighth in the country. They got run out of their own vaunted Big House.

The Hawkeyes went to 5-0 in the Big Ten with the win, on their way to 8-0.  But this was the day that produced the realization Iowa had a very good team. Excerpts from my column from that game:

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - From the mist and the mud in Michigan Stadium Saturday, one thing couldn't have been clearer to 111,000 fans and an ESPN audience.

Something quite special is going on with the University of Iowa's football team. What happened here doesn't happen. Guests don't beat Michigan 34-9 . Seriously, they don't.

Opponents don't cap days here by leading a merry band of road-warrior fans in as rousing a rendition of their school fight song as you'll ever hear.

"Priceless," Iowa tight end Dallas Clark called the serenade. "Memorable. That was for all the Hawks who have worn the Tiger Hawk and haven't been able to beat Michigan . We came into the Big House and played our butts off."

That No.8 national ranking Michigan held was based on legacy, nothing more. The Wolverines were merely keeping the spot warm for someone more deserving. That would be Iowa. And the Hawks are acting like a team that knows how to cling to it and improve upon it.

"We gave Michigan our 'A' game," Iowa senior nose guard Colin Cole said.

The 'A' stood for "annihilation." The Big House met the Big Bulldozers. ...

The Hawkeye defense showed no gimmicks, nothing new. It was line up and punish, line up and punish. Iowa's offense did likewise.

"That's something we couldn't do a couple years ago," Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. "We couldn't make anybody break physically."

Now you rarely hear any Hawks quoting strength coach Chris Doyle's mantra of "breaking the rock." Chunks of the rock have rocked five straight Big Ten teams.