Michigan football stunned by Iowa with walk-off touchdown on final play

This time, Michigan football came up on the wrong side of the clock.

For most of the game, the No. 18 Wolverines (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten) kept it fairly simple, breaking through in the fourth quarter to take a 19-14 lead over the No. 17 Hawkeyes (4-0, 1-0). But Iowa put together one final 91-yard drive, scoring on a 16-yard TD pass from Hank Brown to Reece Vander Zee with no time left for a 20-19 victory.

Michigan moved the ball consistently in the first half, though it bogged down in the red zone multiple times, settling for a field goal and turning it over on downs. The Wolverines’ defense stymied the Hawkeyes for the first three quarters before Iowa took the lead with a seven-play, 75-yard drive highlighted by a controversial deep pass to a receiver.

RELIVE SATURDAY'S VICTORY: Week 4 highlights vs Iowa

But Bryce Underwood and Michigan responded with a six-play drive capped by a 49-yard TD throw to JJ Buchanan, in which Underwood danced in the pocket before scrambling to his right and making the throw. The TD was the second of the day for Buchanan, who has four TDs in four games after scoring five in 13 games with Utah last season.

Neither team had a rush of more than 10 yards until there was only a bit more than six minutes left in the third quarter. (That was a Jordan Marshall rush in which he appeared bogged down in the middle of the line before bouncing it out to the right to reach the Iowa 27. That drive, though, stalled out in the red zone as well, with Michigan settling for a field goal in the third quarter.

Halfway threw

You wouldn’t necessarily expect the Wolverines to find their passing game against a Hawkeyes squad that, as always, is built around stolid (if not stodgy) defense, special teams and waiting for other teams to make mistakes. But there was Underwood going 11-for-16 for 162 yards. The main beneficiary of that was Andrew Marsh, who had a couple of eyepopping grabs in the first half, but Buchanan got the Wolverines on the board first with an 18-yard TD catch with 1:58 left in the first quarter.

And yet, the Wolverines led only by three at the half, as a 10-play, 62-yard drive that ate more than six minutes off the clock in the second quarter ended with a turnover on downs at the Iowa 18.

Still, at least Iowa wasn’t able to turn the resulting drive into points, as it down on the kickoff following Michigan’s first touchdown: With a little under two minutes left in the first quarter, Braeden Jackson took a kickoff 99 yards to the end zone to even the score at 7-7. Jackson’s return accounted for 22 yards more than the Hawkeyes’ offense did in the first half.

Dom Nichols injury scare

Star U-M pass rusher Dom Nichols returned to the game after briefly leaving in the first half.

Nichols recorded a share of a tackle for loss on the play he was injured, but was limping towards the sideline and signaling for help when he went down on the ground just before the next snap. After a few moments, he was able to walk off the field under his own power, seemingly favoring his right leg.

The next drive, he was back in the game.

He was listed as questionable in the availability report earlier this week with an undisclosed injury, but was taken off on Saturday and cleared to play. Nichols has been a star for U-M as perhaps the best player through three weeks on an already elite defensive line, ranking second among edges in tackles (11) and sacks (2½) in what's been a breakout junior season.

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Michigan football schedule: Row the boat to Minnesota

The Wolverines hit the road for the first time this season as they visit Minnesota on Saturday, Oct. 3 (noon, Fox), in a battle for the Little Brown Jug. Michigan has won five straight against the Golden Gophers, with the most recent being a 27-24 squeaker in Ann Arbor in September 2024.

U-M’s last loss in the classic Big Ten rivalry came at home in 2014 (three years before current coach P.J. Fleck and his “Row The Boat” mantra came over from Western Michigan); the Wolverines haven’t lost in Minneapolis since 1977, a run of 18 straight wins on the Gophers’ (frozen) tundra.

• Week 1: W, 13-12 vs Western Michigan.
• Week 2: W, 17-10 vs Oklahoma.
• Week 3: W, 52-17 vs UTEP.
• Week 4: L, 20-19 vs. Iowa.
• Week 5: at Minnesota, Saturday, Oct. 3 (noon, Fox).
• Week 6: Bye week.
• Week 7: vs Penn State, Saturday, Oct. 17 (time and TV TBA).
• Week 8: vs Indiana, Saturday, Oct. 24 (time and TV TBA).
• Week 9: at Rutgers, Saturday, Oct. 31 (time and TV TBA).
• Week 10: vs Michigan State, Saturday, Nov. 7 (time and TV TBA).
• Week 11: at Oregon, Saturday, Nov. 14 (time and TV TBA).
• Week 12: vs UCLA, Saturday, Nov. 21 (time and TV TBA).
• Week 13: at Ohio State, Saturday, Nov. 28 (Noon ET, Fox).

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

Free Press sports writer Andrew Birkle contributed to this report.

Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football stunned by Iowa with walk-off touchdown on final play