Better Michigan squads than this one have gone into Kinnick turtled up and found ways to lose games that they shouldn't have. That place is cursed. F that place. Michigan catches a break in that this one is a noon kick off and not a night game.
This game scares me, but will say I am glad they had that poor performance vs Maryland last week. Lots of teachable moments for some young guys and a reality check for some players that maybe didn't come to play.
Donovan Edwards should be back in time for this one. That will help the offense out tremendously. They'll need that help as Iowa plays sound fundamental defensive football. Also glad they got that Maryland game out of the way because Iowa will do exactly what Maryland did in terms of defense- drop 7-8 into zone every snap and play little to no man- try to keep everything in front of them. Michigan should have a plan for flooding those zones- you'd think- which they didn't vs Maryland- and they should have teachable moments for McCarthy- if nothing is there check it down, take off, or throw it away- don't try to play that hero ball crap.
As far as Michigan's defense is concerned...this won't really be a test. Iowa is bad at offense. Everyone knows this. Their offense scored just 13 points vs Rutgers. Their defense scored 14. Iowa's best offense = their defense.
This will be an ugly game...and it scares me. McCarthy oozes with talent but last week vs Maryland he was all over the map and tried way too hard. He needs to just settle his ass down and take what the defense gives him and live to fight another down. If he does that- Michigan should win. If he tries to be a hero- could just wind up being an ugly ass game that Iowa wins by a late last second FG.
Regardless it will be a low scoring snooze fest imo in large part bc Harbaugh will do what he always does...go conservative and turtle up. This one is a real test for Michigan's offense. If they pass this test they'll likely roll into Columbus 10-1 or 11-0.