Michigan 26. Iowa 0. 2023 Big Ten Champions

[JRB]

26-0 is your final. 215 yards of offense is usually a recipe for defeat, but it was good enough tonight. Iowa's offense is a study in putridity-- I'm not sure they could drive the field for a touchdown on this Michigan defense if they got to play 11-on-9.

[WingsFan]

Tony Petitti

[edindetroit]

Hand Harbaugh the trophy Petitti!

[WingsFan]

BET LOL!

[WingsFan]

POS Tony Petitti snuck off the back of the stage and down the tunnel in the middle of Mikey Sainristil's MVP interview. Classy!!

[Jeff Buchanan]

That was grueling. Iowa's defense is elite. Where they were really strong was in coverages. Parker did things that I don't think JJ did very well with. Limiting M's passing game was critical in allowing Iowa's LB to fill gaps and prevent any big plays in the ground game. M not Iowa won the turnover battle critical in a game like this. Tommy Doman came-up big when M could not pay-off turnovers and great field position with TDs. M's defense played really well - as good in making plays as Iowa. I feel pretty good about M's injury status. Graham, Edwards and Nugent that left the game intermittently will hopefully heal up. Will Johnson will probably be ready to go in a month. Moore has work in front of him getting the OL in shape.

The CFP seeding: M should move up to the #1 seed, Huskies #2, Texas #3 and Alabama #4. You can't put Alabama in without putting Texas in so, any talk of other contenders (UGA, FSU) is a waste of time. The #1 seed between Washington and Michigan is arguable. I would think the Committee would have a hard time moving Washington above M but, who knows.

[klondike]

Well, this type of football will get you this far.. but no further. Unfortunately( or fortunately), UM is built to win the B1G Championship. Not anything after. Bo would be proud

[Jeff Buchanan]

Well, this type of football will get you this far.. but no further. Unfortunately( or fortunately), UM is built to win the B1G Championship. Not anything after. Bo would be proud

There may be something to this. OTH, if M's defense plays like it did v. Iowa, forces turnovers, they are capable of forcing an opponent to play the game that Harbaugh dictates. It's true that to win in the CFP, you have to play big, fast and take risks. My preference is to do just that and M has the tools to do that. It's not in their character. I would definitely like to see a more innovative and varied offensive play calling going forward. It was pretty clear that Ferentz forced M to play his game. It would have been nice if M had dialed up some trickeration - there was none of it. M will probably need it in the CFP.

[WingsFan]

For Jim Harbaugh fans I suggest you watch the post-game presser with JJ, Blake, and Mikey with Harbaugh. Never seen him so happy, he really wanted this one. Said he was 10 out of 10 happy!

I watched it before I went to bed and really put me in a good mood also, didn't want it to end.

[klondike]

Iowa's defense is really good. Although I would be interested in seeing what they would do vs. an Oregon or Washington or some SEC school. The game went as I expected and wanted( minus those long sack losses by JJ). I mean, JJ was only using half his arsenal because of injuries or scheme, I don't know.

I was expecting a nother 50-60 yards in qb runs as that should be one of Iowa's weaknesses on defense and UM did nothing to even test that. Other than that, no turnovers and a special teams win and that's all they had to do.

In another month, they better upgrade their offense and get JJ healthy or another loss and probably a big loss is waiting.

[Cody_Russell]

I still think JJ McCarthy has been dealing with a more notable injury than people realize. The scary hit that JJ took in the Penn State game. M coaches and players being hush-hush about the specific situation. Wasn’t it in the Maryland game that the broadcast focused on how JJ’s footing and mechanics look off?
Hopefully a full month off will allow JJ to heal up to 100%. Then unleash the JJ running attack that we saw in 2022 vs Ohio State. If the injury is an ankle or knee sprain, that’s plenty of time.

The M OLine needs to get better too if they want to hang with an opponent like Bama or Texas.

[klondike]

The loss of Minter has hurt. They were getting stonewalling on his side. They got guys but not to his level.

[WingsFan]

FWIW Sam Webb (I know) said a big part of the game was Iowa having a cheat sheet on Michigan's offense from Cade.

[Cody_Russell]

The loss of Zinter has hurt. They were getting stonewalling on his side. They got guys but not to his level.

Losing Zinter hurts for sure going forward. He’s going to have a long NFL career assuming injury luck in the pros.

What’s bizarre about the situation is Zinter’s injury might have provided a momentum and energy boost to get by Ohio State. Short term gain vs long term troubles. The Corum TD happened immediately after the injury and then M’s defense forced a 3 & out. Ohio State had momentum prior to Zinter going down.
Perhaps it’s silly of me to speculate hypotheticals because maybe M wins vs OSU if Zinter doesn’t go down. I wish it didn’t happen and hope my Detroit Lions draft him.

[lineygoblue]

Just got back from Indy.

Impressions:

Lucas Oil Field was overall disappointing. Its one of the biggest buildings I've ever seen built for sports events. BUT, sitting up in the nosebleeds is like sitting on the roof of a 10-12 story building and looking down on a football game. I had a hard time just making out player numbers. And they don't allow binoculars, so I was just SOL when it came to identifying players. Also, the state of Indiana has no clue on handling lots of traffic. At least on Saturday night this was true. Took over an hour to drive less than a mile from my spot near the stadium to the freeway. Absolutely ridiculous. And even more galling was seeing Indianapolis police officers, and Indiana Highway Patrol sitting around in their cars, just watching the traffic jam. Not helping in the slightest. They could take lessons from the Ann Arbor Police and Washtenaw County Sheriff on traffic control. Just horrible.

My son and I estimated that the crowd was at least 70% Michigan. It might have been more. Iowa had the lower side of the south endzone, and most of the west lower sideline, but everything else was Michigan. And Michigan fans were definitely louder. Whenever Iowa started the "Lets Go Hawks" thing, they were drowned out by "Lets Go Blue!". Fun stuff for M fans. But the Iowa fans were cool. We sat near some who wished us well as they left. Nice people.

The game: I agree with those who have observed that JJ isn't 100%. He's never going to admit it, but he's still hurt. His passing went from hot to cold, and back and forth. Some were great throws, and others were "what was that?" Hopefully, the break will allow him to heal up a bit. Also I saw a quick handshake and man hug betweek JJ and McNamara before the game. I tried to pick out Erick All but I couldn't figure out which one he was.

Iowa's defense played really well. Their front 7 is as good as any in the league. There were running lanes, but they closed up quickly. Their linebackers recover and tackle well. If they had a decent offense with that defense, they probably would have been undefeated going into the game.

The 2nd quarter was totally forgettable. Probably the worst quarter I've seen Michigan play all season. Horrible.

It was nice to see Cornelius Johnson with so many catches last night. Iowa was taking away Roman Wilson, but that left Johnson with single coverage. He took advantage.

I also enjoyed seeing Michigan's defense create scoring opportunities. Its great for a struggling offense to have drives for TD's that start in the red zone.

And, as expected, Tony Titties PUSSIED OUT on the trophy ceremony. Harbaugh probably helped Titties to save some face when Harbaugh declined to accept the trophy and requested that Zinter accept on behalf of the team. CLASS ACT by Harbaugh, when he could have done SO MANY other things, some of them downright mean, .. and nobody would have blamed him. Instead, he once again places the focus on his team, instead of himself. CLASS ACT 100%. There is no debate on this. Tony Titties scurried out the exit as Sainristill was receiving his MVP trophy. He couldn't even hang around for that. Shame on him. If he's going to be the commissioner of a 18 team league, representing hundreds of thousands of students and faculty, and MILLIONS of people in the geographic footprint, then he could swallow his pride, accept the "boos", and show some class like a true leader would do. Instead, once again, he was OUTCLASSED by Harbaugh. Great job, Coach.

So now, three championships in a row for the first time in Michigan history. On to the playoffs and back to the Rose Bowl to face Alabama. Bring it on. This is what you play for. Win, lose, just give your very best. Leave it all on the field. Alabama is a great team, with a great coach, fans and great organization. You want to play the best, and there they are, as our next opponent. Lets go.