No. 22 Iowa 24, No. 10 Michigan 23: Hokey-pokey at Ann Arbor

ANN ARBOR, MICH. - If you saw a delirious bunch of football players dancing their way into Iowa City Saturday night, don't be too alarmed.

They were only the Iowa Hawkeyes doing the hokey-pokey after their monumental 24-23 victory over the Michigan Wolverines.

Paul Kujawa's 1-yard plunge with 69 seconds left and Jeff Skillett's PAT gave Iowa a victory it will cherish for a long, long time and sent the Hawks dancing their favorite dance again.

'Can you believe it!” yelled Iowa Coach Hayden Fry after he escaped the delirium in the U of I locker room. 'Two wins in the state of Michigan in the same year. Woo-eee! First time ever.”

Iowa whipped Michigan State, 12-7, two weeks ago in East Lansing, and on Saturday the Hawks were feeling mighty fine about the Big Ten race.

'We're sitting in the driver's seat,” declared linebacker John Derby, whose interception with 48 seconds left sealed the victory.

The 22nd-ranked Hawks stand 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the Big Ten, tied for the top spot with Illinois and Minnesota. Michigan, which was ranked No. 1 in the country just two weeks ago, fell to 3-3 and 1-2.

The Hawkeyes felt they didn't get any credit in the Detroit newspapers for their win at Michigan State, and they used that perceived slight to their advantage.

'Not one word of credit for the state of Iowa or the Hawkeyes,” moaned Fry.

Even USA Today, he said, picked Saturday's Michigan State-Illinois game as the key to the Big Ten race, neglecting the Hawks.

'Oh well,” said Fry. 'It helped us. Thank you.”

Iowa, a 13-point underdog, executed a beautiful 85-yard drive to the winning touchdown in the final minutes as Matt Rodgers picked the Wolverines apart.

Rodgers completed 5 of 6 passes for 67 yards on the march, none bigger than a 12-yarder to Tony Stewart, who made a twisting catch for a first down at the 1. Kujawa scored on the next play and the Hawks went nuts.

Rodgers enjoyed a big afternoon before 105,517 fans and a national cable audience on ESPN. He hit 27 of 37 passes for 276 yards and a 4-yard touchdown to Danan Hughes, and did not throw any interceptions.

'We played about as close to perfect as we can,” said Rodgers. 'And it's tough to beat any team when you play perfectly.”

For a while, it looked like Rodgers might be the goat. Iowa failed to call a timeout with 19 seconds left in the first half and the ball at Michigan's 1-yard line, and the half ended with Marvin Lampkin stopped just short of the goal line on a running play.

Fry roared in Rodgers' face, but later learned a substitute messed up and never made it to the huddle. Rodgers never got the message to call a timeout, and said he confused the game clock with the 25-second clock.

'It was just miscommunication,” said Rodgers.

'I apologized to Matt and the team before we went out for the second half,” said Fry.

Whatever he said worked.

Iowa's defense held Michigan to just three first downs in the second half, and the Hawks roared back from an eventual 20-10 deficit to win.

'I'm happier than if we won the Big Ten championship or a bowl game,” crowed Fry. 'Just incredible.”

But he said it was not his biggest win ever, not even his biggest in Ann Arbor.

'No, Lord no!” he said. 'I remember one time we came up here and won 9 to 7.”

That was in 1981, and it propelled Iowa to the Rose Bowl.

The Hawks think it could happen again.

Saturday's outcome snapped a pair of long Michigan streaks.

The Wolverines had won 22 straight homecoming games dating to 1968. They hadn't lost back-to-back Big Ten home games since 1967, when Bump Elliott was the U of M coach.

Gary Moeller calls the shots for Michigan now, and one call the Wolverines made in the third quarter could haunt him for a long, long time.

Dwayne Ware had just given Michigan a 20-10 lead when he recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for a touchdown, and the hosts tried to trick Iowa with a sneaky two-point conversion.

While the holder and kicker lined up for an apparent extra point, a quick snap went to Jarrod Bunch, who was stopped short. A kick would have made it 21-10, and it's that one point that cost the Wolverines a potential 24-24 tie.

'This is coaching,” said Moeller. 'I'll take all the blame.”

Ken Sollom, Michigan's holder, has the option of calling the play if he thinks it will work. He did, but it didn't.

'We should have kicked the ball,” said Moeller. 'It's my call.”

Last week, a failed two-point conversion pass with six seconds left cost Michigan a 28-27 loss to Michigan State when no official called pass interference.

Michigan looked good in the first half. Jon Vaughn ticked off sizable runs and Elvis Grbac hit 70 percent of his passes.

A 35-yard punt return by Tripp Welborne led to Vaughn's 2-yard touchdown, and a 38-yard kickoff return by Derrick Alexander set up Allen Jefferson's 7-yard score.

But the Hawkeyes adjusted after trailing 14-7 at halftime. Vaughn, the nation's leading rusher, finished with 86 yards and spent much of the fourth quarter on the bench after aggravating an ankle injury.

This victory was no fluke. Iowa beat Michigan in first downs (24-11), total yards (367-236) and time of possession (33:18-26:42)

For Iowa, the glory was spread around. Nine Hawks caught passes and everyone seemed to make at least one big, big catch.

Kujawa caught six, Hughes five, Michael Titley four, Jon Filloon and Mike Saunders three each. Filloon, knocked out of action two weeks ago with a bad knee, made a 16-yard grab on Iowa's winning touchdown drive.

Trailing 20-10 late in the third quarter, Rodgers took Iowa on a 67-yard drive that culminated with his 1-yard sneak early in the fourth quarter. Skillett's extra point made it 20-17.

J.D. Carlson booted a 47-yard field goal for Michigan with 4:27 left, but Iowa took the ball and moved swiftly to victory.

Seven bowl scouts attended, but they might have wasted their time as far as Iowa is concerned.

A scout from the Florida-Citrus bowl was impressed with Iowa, but maybe a little too much.

'They may be going a little farther west than us the way they're playing,” he said.

And that could be Pasadena, the site of the Rose Bowl.

There are still five games left, starting Saturday against Northwestern at Kinnick Stadium. Looming on the horizon is a Nov. 3 trip to Illinois. Circle that date on your calendar.