Thoughts on Michigan State Game

After one of the more disappointing losses in recent memory, the Iowa Hawkeyes came out on Saturday and re-asserted themselves not only as a title contender in the Big Ten, but also as a relevant player in the BCS picture with a dominating 37-6 performance against Michigan State. Here are my thoughts.
Quick Start. Iowa teams under Kirk Ferentz have always seemed to be energized when the offense is able to move the ball down the field on the first drive and score a touchdown. That certainly seemed to be the case on Saturday when the Hawkeyes marched the ball down field on a 12 play 80 yard drive ending in a three yard touchdown pass from Ricky Stanzi to Colin Sandeman. Scoring on the first drive not only helps the defense out by giving them a lead, but it also has the effect of giving the offense confidence for the rest of the game. As a result of Iowa moving the ball at will on its first two drives, the Michigan State defense was on its heels the entire game until the 4th quarter when Iowa went exclusively to the ground game.

Quiet Warrior. Just another ho-hum performance for Iowa running back, Adam Robinson. While it has been written and said multiple times this season, Robinson’s value is immeasurable to this team. His ability to keep his legs moving while maintaining his balance are skills that overshadow any perceived lack of breakaway speed. It was nice to Marcus Coker get some meaningful carries in the second quarter, as Iowa will need to rely on him at least for a few carries in these remaining four games. My only complaint with the game was the decision to leave Robinson and other starters on both sides of the ball in the game so late into the fourth quarter. Perhaps it was because of Michigan State’s comeback abilities or the need for more practice, but the game seemed to be in hand that late in the game and an injury to any starter would have been devastating. Nonetheless, if the Iowa running attack can continue to produce like it has the entire season, defenses will be forced to respect the run allowing Stanzi to throw the ball downfield off of play action.

Defensive Line Pressure. While the Iowa defense only had one sack on Saturday by Steve Bigach, it was evident that Michigan State clearly respected Iowa’s front four by relying heavily on quick developing pass plays and not throwing downfield very often. Despite Adrian Clayborn having a relatively quiet game statistically, Mike Daniels and Christian Ballard looked impressive against the run with Daniels collecting two tackles for loss. Chances are that the Iowa front four will not put up gaudy statistics the next two weeks against Indiana and Northwestern offenses that like to air it out at six to eight yard clips; however, the Iowa defensive line will be able to use their strength and quickness in the next two games to get in the throwing lanes to knock down passes. Speaking of the defense, Tyler Sash had an incredible game on Saturday with an interception and subsequent lateral to Micah Hyde who went 66 yards for a touchdown. Sash also looked great in run support making several open field tackles with good tackling technique that may have been lacking by several members of the secondary the past few weeks.

Special Teams Coverage. The Iowa kickoff coverage unit looked much improved on Saturday limiting Michigan State to an average of 16 yards per kickoff. Don Nordmann and Tom Donatell are quickly making themselves known to the Iowa faithful with their solid tackling on kickoffs as the unit as a whole continues to improve. It is apparent that the kickoff coverage unit is taking pride in its play the past few weeks, which pride and intensity may have been lacking early on in the season. It is also apparent that the Iowa coaching staff has placed more emphasis on this aspect of the game the last few weeks.

Iowa’s win on Saturday not only ended Michigan State’s national championship dreams, but it also gave this team the confidence that they desperately needed after last week’s agonizing loss to realize that they are still a good football team that has a lot to play for the remainder of the year. Several players commented on Saturday that practice last week was much better than it had been, as everyone picked up the tempo and worked harder. Iowa’s game against Indiana will be very telling as to the mentality of this team. If Iowa comes out and plays like they did on Saturday, it will tell me that the team leadership is continuing to follow the mantra of its coaching staff by taking one game at a time.