Iowa vs Michigan Preview

When Iowa has the ball-
Look for Iowa to come out running the ball. The weather forecast is calling for cold and chances of showers/snow. Iowa should be able to move the ball on the ground as well as in the air, Michigan has the 91st ranked defense, giving up an average of 392 yards per game. Ricky Stanzi looked much better last week, but will have to erase the two awful decisions that led to interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. The offensive line should look better than last week as they will have had two weeks of practice and games working as a unit. Last week the Wolverines gave up 400+ total offensive yards to Michigan State.

When Michigan has the ball-
They want to run the ball, they are 28th in the nation averaging just short of 200 yards per game. The good news is that Iowa is only allowing 122 per game, so their strength is also Iowa's strength. Michigan will once again be without their starting center Molk, so look for Iowa to bring more line stunts and try to disrupt the line calls. Last week against Michigan State, the Wolverines were only able to manage 28 yards rushing. So either MSU's defense is that good or Michigan got a lot of yards against sub-par defenses.

Michigan will win if-
They can run the ball against Iowa, if they can establish the run it could be a long day for Iowa. Their freshman quarterback had his first road game last week and lost, this week he will come in to a much more hostile environment at night. They want to allow him to run to set up the pass. If they can get him out of the pocket and give him the run/pass option, they will be successful as Forcier is more athletic than most of Iowa's defenders. Michigan will have to stop the Iowa running game, which is something that they haven't done this season, giving up 153 yards per game this season. If they can create some turnovers and give their offense a short field, they have a chance.

Iowa will win if-
Iowa needs to dominate the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. If they can do this and force Michigan to play from behind with the pass, they will win. Iowa needs to stay away from the turnovers, something they have yet to do this season. If Iowa can establish the run, it will force them to have their safeties start to cheat up to help the run, and their corner backs aren't good enough to cover our wide outs one on one. On the season, Michigan has given up 392 yards per game, so Iowa should be able to move the ball, so long as they don't shoot themselves in the foot. If the Iowa defense can put pressure on the young Wolverines and give them a proverbial punch in the mouth, they will be able to dominate the game. If Forcier is forced to be a pocket passer, it is advantage Iowa.

Score prediction:
Iowa - 24
Michigan - 10

Predictions:
Iowa has 200+ yards rushing
Stanzi has 300+ yards passing
Stanzi throws 0 Int's
The Iowa defense comes up with 3 TO's
There will be 1 defensive/special teams TD
Iowa knocks Forcier out of the game