Detroit Free Press
(MCT)
IOWA CITY, Iowa — On a night when Michigan's players made more mistakes than are suitable to win a game, a coaching decision took center stage.
Michigan committed five turnovers by four players and made crucial defensive errors in a 30-28 loss to Iowa at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday night.
Yet, despite all that, they were in a position, with
the ball and 1:30 remaining, to drive down 83 yards — or less for a
field goal — to win the game.
Michigan quarterback
Tate Forcier
had done this three times this season, twice winning the game and once forcing overtime, but he was on the sidelines this time.
One drive before, Michigan coach
Rich Rodriguez
had replaced Forcier with
Denard Robinson
, saying he was "looking for a spark." Robinson provided it, driving for a touchdown to bring U-M within two at 30-28.
But on the final, fateful drive, Robinson threw a long interception with 46 seconds left, sealing the loss.
Rodriguez was peppered with questions about the quarterback switch in his postgame news conference.
"We made a change to get a spark," said Rodriguez,
saying there was no other reason for the switch, not injury or anything
else, adding Forcier was supportive, helping Robinson. Neither
quarterback was allowed to speak to the media after the game. "I said
it for six games now,
Denard Robinson
will play. We
were looking for moments to put him in and it didn't happen. But at the
end we thought we had pretty good field position, put Denard in there,
had a plan in there, and he gave us a spark. End of story. Let's not
create something that's not there."
Michigan (4-2, 1-2 Big Ten) made it interesting. The
Wolverines trailed by nine when they got the ball with 7:42 left and
Robinson took the Wolverines downfield in 41/2 minutes, eventually
scoring on a 3-yard keeper to close U-M within 30-28 with 3:16 left.
Michigan got the ball back after Iowa (6-0, 2-0)
punted with 1:30 remaining. But on the third play from scrimmage,
Robinson threw a bomb for an interception on a play Rodriguez said he
missed part of the signal.
For all its success in the second half, U-M's defense could not be perfect and that was its undoing.
In the late third/early fourth quarter, the defense made a stop, forced a punt, but then U-M returner
Greg Mathews
fumbled the ball.
The defense made another stop, on the 1-yard line, but the Michigan offense went a quick three-and-out.
Put back on the field again so quickly, the first Iowa play from scrimmage broke into a 42-yard touchdown pass, pushing the Iowa lead back to nine at 30-21 early in the fourth quarter.
"We're young in some spots," defensive coordinator
Greg Robinson
said.
Michigan rallied twice in the second half not with the spread offense, but with the ground game.
The first drive came in the third quarter, riding
Brandon Minor
on a 10-play drive capped by a 1-yard Minor score and the second was
Denard Robinson's
first drive.
Michigan did everything it could in the first half to give the game away.
The Wolverines turned it over three times, twice by Forcier. Both of his turnovers came in his own end, handing Iowa short fields to take end-zone shots. Yet on both of those drives the U-M defense held strong, allowing only field goals.
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