Position grades from Michigan Football’s loss to Iowa

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Michigan dominated Iowa for four quarters only to lose on the final play of the game by a 20-19 final score, falling to 3-1 overall on the year. Here’s a look at how each position group fared, with the position grades from the loss.

Quarterback: B+

Bryce Underwood looked comfortable commanding the offense for a third straight week, even against a strong Iowa defense. It wasn’t quite the run-centric game plan it was against Oklahoma, but Underwood found success on the ground and through the air against Iowa. He went 17-of-28 for 276 yards and two touchdowns, while also adding 36 rushing yards. He did throw an interception in the red zone in the third quarter, stalling a quality drive.

This week’s performance continued Underwood’s upward trend since a disappointing start against Western Michigan, offering some hope for the offense’s potential for the rest of the season if even marginal gains continue to show themselves each week.

Running Back: B-

Getting the run game going was a focus after the running backs hadn’t been productive through the first three weeks. It was thought there could, or at least should be, more of an emphasis on running between the tackles this week, but that’s a tough ask against a Phil Parker defense.

We saw Michigan continue to utilize both running backs, with Jordan Marshall and Savion Hiter going for 59 yards and 53 yards, respectively. Hiter took on a bigger workload in the second half with Marshall still being dinged up, so Saturday’s effort was a good way for the freshman to get some meaningful reps against stronger competition.

Wide Receiver: A-

The wide receivers did an excellent job helping Underwood get off to a nice start on Saturday. Andrew Marsh finished with seven receptions for 106 yards, while JJ Buchanan added five receptions, 132 yards and two touchdowns of his own.

Once again, Michigan didn’t have a third or fourth wide receiver really emerge, but as long as Marsh and Buchanan continue dominating as they have been, we can pump the brakes on any major concerns. Both have shown some really strong chemistry with Underwood and continue to be on the rise heading into the middle of the season.

Tight End: C-

Michigan switched things up at tight end again this week, with junior Hogan Hansen getting the start and even recording a reception on the first drive of the game. Hansen finished with just two receptions for 13 yards. As a whole, the tight ends weren’t really a major part of the game plan once again, but as long as the passing game can find success in other ways and the group is still doing its job as blockers, perhaps it’s not all that big of a concern.

Offensive Line: C

With Andrew Sprague missing a second straight game, Evan Link got the start at left tackle with Nathan Efobi and Brady Norton in as the starting guards. Michigan’s offensive front did a nice job against a strong Iowa front seven in the early going. Things got worrisome for a minute when Blake Frazier left the game in the third quarter with an injury, but he was able to return.

Late in the game, it would’ve been highly beneficial if the offensive line could’ve leaned on Iowa’s front a bit more to burn some more of the clock. But imposing its will hasn’t been the brand of this Michigan line to this point, and it came back to burn it on Saturday.

Defensive Line: B

Iowa’s offensive line is easily the best that Michigan’s defensive line has faced to this point, but it was still able to do a really nice job stifling the offense. Of note for the Wolverine defensive line, edge rusher Dom Nichols was questionable for much of the week, but was able to go on Saturday and appeared to still be a bit hampered at times.

Freshman Tariq Boney flashed once again, recording a sack for a second consecutive week. Nichols and John Henry Daley each had 0.5 sacks as well. However, the pass rush wasn’t able to do enough late in the game and allowed Iowa’s offense to drive the field for the final touchdown.

Linebacker: C+

Michigan’s linebackers didn’t look as strong as they did against Oklahoma, but still limited the impact of Iowa’s offense. There were a couple instances where the run fits weren’t very strong, allowing Iowa’s running backs to churn out extra yards while a few coverage lapses, especially on tight end D.J. Vonnahme, could be seen as well.

Defensive Backs: D+

Michigan’s defensive backs did a good job for much of the day on Iowa’s pass-catchers, but picked a bad time to have their worst stretch of the season. Perhaps the biggest mistake of the day came on the final drive when fifth-year senior cornerback Zeke Berry pushed Iowa’s Tony Diaz after a play was over, resulting in 15 free yards to set up the game-winning score. After that, Smith Snowden was beat for the touchdown. A lack of discipline in a big moment was something that concerned us for a while, and we saw it burn Michigan on Saturday.

Special Teams: D+

It was a bad day at the office for the kickoff unit, allowing Iowa’s Braeden Jackson to score on a 99-yard return in the first quarter to tie the game at 7-7. Then, on its next kickoff attempt, Iowa’s Xavier Williams brought it all the way out to the 36-yard line.

Punter Cam Brown had four punts for an average of 42.5 yards, including pinning Iowa at its own nine yard line on the final drive of the game. Trey Butkowski went 2-for-2 on field goals as well, including hitting one from 41 yards out.

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