For once, it's Iowa's defense I'm more concerned about. Iowa has a real, live passing game now and has some legit B1G-quality receivers in Brandon Smith, Tyrone Tracy, and Ihmir Smith-Marsette. Wieting and Beyer are capable TEs that aren't quite on the same level as Hock and Fant were, but both of them very well could hear their name called in a future NFL draft weekend. The running game hasn't exploded yet, but it is getting better, and true freshman Tyler Goodson already seems to be showing signs that he's more than good enough to play on Sundays. And with Alaric Jackson back, the OL should be able to both buy Stanley some time to throw, and create some holes for the running game.
The defense is competent and does a good job of limiting the big plays, but the secondary is still on the mend and the LB squad is still pretty green. The DL is high-quality, but can ill-afford injuries or other mishaps. Phil Parker may want to dial up a few extra blitzes this Saturday and put some pressure on Patterson, because if he gets time to throw, the DB's are going to be torched because Iowa hasn't seen receivers anywhere near this talented yet. Michigan isn't an elite defensive team, but it's still a sound one, and is good enough to keep Iowa out of the end zone on a consistent basis. For comparison, Iowa seems to be slightly better at throwing the ball than Wisconsin, but is clearly inferior at running the ball. Despite this, Iowa is still a run-first team and I fully expect Michigan to stack the box with 8 guys consistently and dare Iowa to throw. Stanley is a good QB and rarely makes mistakes, but also makes relatively few big plays. I think the Wolverines will be patient and wait for that one big mistake and try to cash in.
Really and truly, I think the keys to victory are going to be very similar for both teams. Limit the penalties, limit the turnovers, and use good defense to set up good field position. Michael Sleep-Dalton is a welcome addition to Iowa and has shown himself a plenty competent punter, so I expect lots of long fields for both teams (I have no idea how good Michigan's punter is). It may come down to a late kick. First to 25 probably wins.
