Game Report: Michigan Wolverines 42, Iowa Hawkeyes 3

INDIANAPOLIS — A closer look at the Big Ten football championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium, where No. 2 Michigan defeated No. 13 Iowa, 42-3.

Turning point

After Iowa botched a trick play when running back Gavin Williams overthrew a pass to wide-open fullback Monte Pottebaum in the end zone from the Michigan 17 and Caleb Shudak missed a subsequent 33-yard field goal, the Wolverines took over on their 20 with 8:33 left in the first quarter.

Running back Blake Corum took a handoff at the Michigan 33. Linemen Zak Zinter and Andrew Steuber opened a hole for him. He took off up the middle, then shifted to the right sideline. The blocking was just as good downfield, courtesy of wide receivers Andrei Anthony and Mike Sainristil.

It was a 67-yard touchdown for Corum.

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After an Iowa three-and-out, Michigan showed trickery could work. Freshman running back Donovan Edwards caught a backward pass from Cade McNamara, then threw a pinpoint bomb to wide receiver Roman Wilson, who was several yards past Hawkeye cornerback Jermari Harris.

It was a 75-yard touchdown for Wilson.

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Those two consecutive plays were the longest rush and longest pass allowed by Iowa this season. In fact, it was the longest rush Iowa allowed since 2014 and the longest pass it surrendered since 2018 according to @ESPNStatsInfo.

The plays gave Michigan a 14-0 lead that stood for the rest of the night, and eternity.

By the numbers

0 — Iowa has no win over a team currently in the AP Top 25.

6 — This was the sixth game in which Iowa trailed by double-digits. It was one of the three it lost.

7 — It was the Hawkeyes’ first loss to a ranked opponent in their last seven games against one.

17 — Iowa has gone 17 years without a Big Ten championship.

24 — Iowa broke its single-season school record for interceptions when Jermari Harris got the Hawkeyes’ 24th of the year on the last play of the first half.

42 — The 42 points Iowa allowed was the most since it lost 45-16 to Stanford in the Rose Bowl at the end of the 2015 season.

Notebook

* Iowa punter Tory Taylor left Michigan at its 8, 3 and 9 on consecutive second-quarter kicks. His two other first-half punts went 52 and 50 yards.

* Many former Iowa football players were in town for the game. None are more famous than WWE champion Ettore Ewen, better known as Big E.

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Heisman Trophy-winner Charles Woodson was here for Michigan.

* An 8:17 p.m. kickoff makes for a long day for people living out of a suitcase.

The bar business did well in downtown Indianapolis for many hours before fans headed to the stadium. You couldn’t tell which team would have more fans at the game, but you could see both would be extremely well-represented.

Michigan, though a marquee college football name, didn’t have fans who were the least bit jaded. It had been just as long for a Big Ten title for the Wolverines as the Hawkeyes. The two shared the crown in 2004 and hadn’t won an outright league championship since.

Injury report

Iowa cornerback Terry Roberts (bone bruise) was back after missing the last five games and played on the punt team. Fellow special teams gunner Ivory Kelly-Martin also played on special teams after missing time with a foot issue.

Hawkeye offensive tackle Connor Colby limped off the field late in the game and went to the medical tent.

Iowa starting quarterback Spencer Petras left the game in the second half with what head coach Kirk Ferentz said was a torso injury.

Next game

Iowa’s bowl destination and opponent will be announced Sunday. The consensus opinion is that it will be Orlando’s Jan. 1 Citrus Bowl, against a Southeastern Conference club, perhaps Kentucky.