From pile on the Hawkeyes to pile of Hawkeyes

IOWA CITY -- Everyone thought Micah Hyde made the play, which is understandable.

The junior made a lot of the plays and he did end up with the ball after it rolled onto the FieldTurf. So hey, pile on Micah.

"It was funny, B.J. [Lowery] made the play, so I'm running over there to celebrate with him," Hyde said. "I went to pick up the ball, so everyone thinks I made the play."

Every Hawkeye made a play in the Hawkeyes' 24-16 upset of No. 13 Michigan before 70,585 fans Saturday at Kinnick Stadium. The Hawkeyes (6-3, 3-2 Big Ten) now have won three straight against Michigan (7-2, 3-2) for the first time in the series and are bowl eligible for the 11th straight season.

Running back Marcus Coker finished with 132 yards and two TDs and Iowa's defense, blamed last week with everything from Occupy Wall Street to Kim Kardashian's divorce, came through with a sterling goal-line stand that ended on sophomore B.J. Lowery's breakup on a pass intended for Michigan wide receiver Roy Roundtree.

This unleashed a torrent of emotion, from the Hawkeyes piling on top of each other around the 20-yard line to coach Kirk Ferentz, whose sprint up the tunnel had a little extra zip with his face straining to hold back tears.

"I remember getting tackled and then ended up on the bottom of the pile saying, 'It wasn't me, it wasn't me, it was B.J.,' " Hyde said. "It was a good time."

It was about as wild of an about-face as Ferentz's Hawkeyes have had in his 13 seasons. Ferentz shot lasers out of his eyes and ground his teeth to nubs after last Saturday's 22-21 loss at Minnesota. This week, it's tears of joy, well almost. Ferentz was up the tunnel faster than Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson.

"Our guys really battled and competed," Ferentz said. "They played through tough moments, and there were a few of them out there. We came up with plays when we had to."

Coker scored untouched on a 13-yard run to give the Hawkeyes a 24-9 lead with 10:42 left in the game. Iowa's offense sort of checked out after that, generating just one more first down in two drives.

It was on the defense.

Michigan pounced immediately, with Robinson tossing a 7-yard TD to tight end Kevin Kroger with 7:53 left in the game, pulling Michigan to 24-16.

The Wolverines started their last gasp at Iowa's 18 with 2:15 left. Eventually, Robinson hit Roundtree for a 19-yard gain to Iowa's 3. UM had 16 seconds and four cracks from there.

Robinson, who finished 17 of 37 for 194 yards, with two TDs and an interception, tried receiver Junior Hemingway on first and second down. Looked like he might've had him on second down, with Hemingway snaring a one-handed catch around Hyde at the back of the end zone. The play was called incomplete on the field and stood up on video review.

“I was hoping it was a knee or elbow on that one," Ferentz said. "It just seemed like a weird play. Once I saw it on the board I felt a lot better, but you never know. You never know.”

It looked as though Hemingway didn't quite secure the ball.

“You can't leave the game up to the officials," said Robinson, whose team was held to 127 rushing yards. "We have to do it ourselves.”

On third down, Robinson threw short to running back Vincent Smith. Middle linebacker Tyler Nielsen came free on a perfectly timed blitz and had Robinson dead to rights.

"I got a hand on him, but I don't think that was enough," Nielsen said with a laugh. "That's why he is the most electrifying player in the country."

Iowa had one defensive playcall on the goal line. Defensive coordinator Norm Parker wanted to put pressure on Robinson and called blitzes on four downs. Safety Tanner Miller pressured two or three times and was breathing down Robinson's chinstrap on fourth down.

Iowa was in a nickel defense with man coverage. Roundtree tried to put a slant on Lowery, who didn't give an inch and made the play with his left hand, which is covered in a cast for a broken wrist he suffered in August. Lowery was locked up with Roundtree every play on the goal line stand.

"The cast hand, yes," Lowery said with a laugh. "I kind of had an advantage."

Because of that cast hand, Iowa remains alive in the Legends Division. It also turns November into a round-robin tournament. Next week, it's Michigan State (7-2, 4-1) at Kinnick.

Iowa is in it. After the bitter Minnesota defeat, that last sentence feels like a minor miracle. It was enough to move the quarterback, yes, the quarterback, to jump into the pile.

"I was the first one on top of him [Hyde]," said quarterback James Vandenberg, who completed 14 of 21 for 171 yards and a TD. "Then, I kind of hopped up and thought, we didn't just win the World Series."

From piling on the Hawkeyes a week ago to a pile of Hawkeyes on Saturday.

This is one nutty season.