Iowa at Michigan (What to expect)

By Brendan Stiles

HawkeyeDrive.com

To get you all ready for Saturday’s game between No. 15 Iowa and Michigan, I put together a list of things you ought to know before these two face off inside “The Big House.”

At the end, I’ll provide what I think are three keys to an Iowa victory.

No. 15 Iowa Hawkeyes (4-1, 1-0) at Michigan Wolverines (5-1, 1-1)

Michigan Stadium; Ann Arbor, Mich.

Oct. 16, 2010

2:30 p.m. Central

TV: ABC/ESPN (Ron Franklin, Ed Cunningham)

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network (Gary Dolphin, Ed Podolak, Rob Brooks)

Weather: 61 degrees

Brendan’s Three Keys to the Game:

1. Contain Denard Robinson

This is the most obvious key to an Iowa win this weekend. It has been well-documented just how gifted an athlete the Michigan signal-caller has been this season, and if he is going to beat the Hawkeyes on Saturday, the Iowa defense needs to force him to win with his arm. If he gets any creases to run through, the Wolverines will move the chains offensively.

2. Solid O-Line play

The offensive line needs to deliver. Julian Vandervelde described what Michigan wants to do defensively as “controlled chaos.” Expect the Wolverines to load up the box and try to keep Adam Robinson from breaking off long runs like Michigan State was able to last week. Also expect plenty of blitzes to come Ricky Stanzi, which if the O-Line can pick up, can lead to big plays down the field.

3. Don’t give Michigan an early lead

This is Michigan’s Homecoming game. I expect the Wolverines wanting to come out with a purpose after being beat badly by Michigan State at home last week. There was talk about “The Big House” expanding the number of seats and being louder now than before. Iowa cannot afford any early breakdowns in front of this crowd of 113,000. If the Hawkeyes can establish what they want to do on both sides of the football early, it will start paying off as the game progresses. It’s important for Iowa to play a 60-minute game.