Michigan football fell six spots to No. 24 in the latest US LBM Coaches Poll.
The Wolverines are licking their wounds following a heartbreaking 20-19 loss to Iowa (which jumped to No. 15 in the nation) after Kyle Whittingham's group allowed the Hawkeyes to go on an 11-play, 91-yard drive in the final 1:48 of the contest that ended with a 16-yard touchdown pass as time expired.
U-M was one of three teams to fall six spots (along with Ole Miss and USC). while Penn State was the only team that dropped further, falling eight spots to No. 22 after blowing a 17-point lead at home to Wisconsin.
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In many ways,
U-M played one of its better games of the season. Michigan's 429 yards were just shy of a season-high (431 against UTEP) but came against much stiffer competition. Quarterback Bryce Underwood completed 17 of 28 passes for a career-high 276 yards and two touchdowns, but did have a costly interception on a miscommunication on third-and-11 with Andrew Marsh in the red zone.
U-M again showed a lack of discipline and had too many self-inflicted wounds. Michigan was flagged eight times for 75 yards (the third time its had eight or more penalties in four games this season after having just two such games in the prior two years).
"Our offense was the best they've been," Whittingham said postgame. "Thought Bryce had his best game. Both receivers over 100 yards. (Running back) Jordan Marshall (who had 59 yards on 11 carries) finally got a little bit on track. We completely dominated them statistically but that obviously doesn't really matter.
The defense held Iowa to just 129 yards through three quarters, then allowed 156 in the final 15 minutes. The special teams unit also carried a share of the blame. Kerry Coombs' unit allowed Braeden Jackson to answer U-M's first touchdown with a 99-yard kickoff return for a score, Iowa's only points for the first 45:58 of the contest.
According to Bill Radjewski of College Football Data, the loss was U-M's fourth least-likely loss in the past 17 years.
It's gut-check time for Michigan (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten), which now faces its first road game of the season, at Minnesota (3-1, 1-0) which is fresh off a 27-24 upset win over Washington in Seattle.
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 plummets in polls after gut-wrenching Iowa loss
