All about November for the Wolverines

Michigan is just like every other Big Ten divisional contender.

The Wolverines (7-1, 3-1 Big Ten) rode a wave of beatables (Minnesota and Northwestern) to a showdown moment with Michigan State and lost. The Wolverines beat Purdue last week and now face the Hawkeyes (5-3, 2-2) at Kinnick Stadium (11 a.m. ESPN).

It's not the showdown that it might've been in the wake of Iowa's surprising loss at Minnesota last week, but it is November and there is a Big Ten championship game dangling for division winners for the first time in league history.

The bottom line is it's November. Time to matter or be road kill.

"I've thought about the month of November an awful lot," Michigan coach Brady Hoke said Monday. "That's when you win championships in this league."

Now, this is the part where you might get mixed up. This is the Michigan coach talking but it's going to sound like Kirk Ferentz in a lot of ways. The question is about blueprint for winning Big Ten football in November.

"I don't know if our blueprint is ever going to be different," said Hoke, who added that the Hawkeyes will be the most physical team UM has faced at this point (a tweak to highly physical Michigan State?). "We want to run the football. We want to be able to possess the football. We want to take care of the football.

"Defensively, we want to stop the run and get bodies to the ball, create opportunities for our offense and be sound in our special teams. Try to gain some field position because of special teams."

It's a sound philosophy. It's one that's worked for the Hawkeyes. And if you think Hoke doesn't know who Kirk Ferentz is, that'd be wrong. Hoke was an assistant at Michigan from 1995-02 and was the head coach at Ball State when Iowa topped BSU 56-0 in 2005. Hoke eventually led the Cardinals to an undefeated regular season in 2008.

You can weigh in the fact that Hoke's Michigan squad travels to Iowa this week, but he spoke highly of Iowa on Monday.

"I've always loved, as a coach, watching Iowa on offense and watching Iowa on defense," he said. "If there are similar opponents and we're getting ready to play somebody that they've played, since I was here before, that I'll put on because of how they play defense and the physicality they play with, the fundamentals and the techniques."

Of course, you know nearly every detail there is to know about Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson.

You know that he leads the Big Ten in total offense (281.0 yards a game). You know that he's a more balanced quarterback this season, rushing 135 times and passing 155. You also know he's still inconsistent as a passer, leading the Big Ten with 11 interceptions.

But the Wolverines seem to have found a bona-fide No. 1 running back in Fitz Toussaint, who's gone from two carries against Northwestern four weeks ago to a career-high 170 yards and two TDs on 20 carries in the victory over Purdue last week.

Another step in the direction of Hoke's vision for what he wants Michigan to be is signs of life from the defense. The Wolverines are plus-6 in turnover margin. Their 20 takeaways are 20th in the nation and second in the Big Ten, behind only Penn State's 22.

The Wolverines have rushers in Robinson and Toussaint. The Wolverines are possessing the ball (fifth in the Big Ten in time of possession, 30:29). The defense creates opportunities for the offense.

Sounds like Michigan is ready for November.