The name of the blitz is . . . never mind

IOWA CITY -- No Iowa defender would give up the name of the blitz.

And those were blitzes with Michigan on the Hawkeyes' 3 late in the fourth quarter on Saturday. Safety Tanner Miller went a couple times. Strong safety Jordan Bernstine gave it a go on fourth down. Linebacker Tyler Nielsen almost had UM quarterback Denard Robinson on third down.

Iowa wanted to pressure Robinson and force him to react. The Hawkeyes dictated the decision making and it paid off in Saturday's 24-16 victory over No. 13 Michigan.

They were blitzes. The names of those blitzes are on a "need to know" basis.

"I'm not going to get into all that," Nielsen said. " 'Sack Denard,' that was the name of the call."

Really, it was Iowa's best and, maybe, only move.

The Wolverines had first-and-goal from Iowa's 3 with 16 seconds and no timeouts. That took run out of the playbook for the Wolverines. If someone is tackled, the last play is a complete scramble.

Iowa defensive coordinator Norm Parker knew that and decided to force Robinson into quick reads. A blitzer broke free or was coming on all four plays. Robinson only had time for one quick look at the defense.

He was flushed by Miller on third down and drifted to his left, but Iowa had running back Vincent Smith draped in double coverage.

"You're kind of rolling the dice a little bit because he's a dangerous passer," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. "He can also squirt out of there and run the ball, so the guys had to play great team defense, something we've struggled with at times."

And it was team defense. The blitzers did their job, and so did the coverage. Defensive backs Micah Hyde, Shaun Prater, and B.J. Lowery were locked into man coverage.

"We played a lot of man and the coaches gave us the green light today," Prater said. "They said, we are going to play more man and you guys have to stay on your guy and make plays.

"Overall, we battled. We didn't give up any deep passes, we played hard and we got off the field."

Michigan coach Brady Hoke groused about the general without getting too specific on UM's overall dodginess in the red zone, going just 2 of 5 with touchdowns inside Iowa's 20-yard line.

“Obviously, you get into the red zone, you've got to score touchdowns," he said. "Bottom line.”

Iowa's red zone defense has been solid this season, except for last week's performance at Minnesota. It seems you back this group into a corner and it stands up, which included blitzing four straight downs with Michigan at the 3 on Saturday.

What was the name of that blitz? Anyone?

"I can't give up that information, you'll have to ask coach Ferentz about that," Prater said. "They're pretty simple. I don't want to get in trouble."