Michigan football isn't exactly firing on all cylinders, but even with that being the case, the Wolverines are 3-0 heading into Big Ten play. With Iowa coming to town, there's very little in the way of an acclimation process, as the maize and blue will have to play as well as possible to escape with a win.
The Hawkeyes have been surprising thus far this year, having exploded offensively, though the two games where they scored 40 or more points thus far have come against Northern Illinois and Northern Iowa. But it's not the Iowa offense that's worrisome as much as it's the defense, as it's currently No. 1 in the country, having surrendered just 13 points through three games (all in Week 2 against Iowa State).
Previewing the game with Yogi Roth,
NBC Sports' Todd Blackledge noted that one of the big things for the Wolverines was getting wide receiver Andrew Marsh going against UTEP this past week. If he and JJ Buchanan can both play the way they did against the Miners, and if quarterback Bryce Underwood can take care of the football, that puts the maize and blue in a better position to challenge more formidable defenses like Iowa's.
"I think it was great for Michigan last week to get Marsh more involved, because Andrew Marsh is a difference maker for them. And he had been really quiet through the first couple of games," Blackledge said. "The kid who came from Utah that caught the Hail Mary, he's been showing up, but they needed to get Marsh going on the other side. And so they got him going last week. I think one thing to pay attention to in that game, and I think one of the areas that Bryce Underwood needs to do a great job of this week, whether it's running the ball, whether it's extending plays, whether it's throwing or his ball security. I think he's been a little bit loose in the ball security to this point. And that could turn a game like this in a heartbeat."
While it hasn't been pretty thus far through three games, Michigan does have a win over Oklahoma (which was ranked 10th in the US LBM Coaches Poll at the time and was a College Football Playoff team last year) and has managed to pull out two close games.
As Blackledge says, regardless of the lack of consistency or closer-than-expected results (especially against Western Michigan), that's the best you can really ask for as Kyle Whittingham looks to revamp the Wolverines in his image.
"For Michigan, they escaped in Week 1, but they're undefeated and get to finish the month of September, all four games in Ann Arbor," Blackledge said. "If you're Kyle Whittingham in his first year, you couldn't ask for a better situation. You won your first three games; it wasn't always pretty, but now you have a chance to close out the month 4-0 in Ann Arbor and right head on into a Big Ten play."
Michigan and Iowa will face off at 3:36 p.m. EDT on CBS. Then the Wolverines will head to Minneapolis to face Minnesota for their first road game before having a week off and then hosting Penn State and Indiana in the month of October.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Todd Blackledge reveals what Michigan must do to beat No. 17 Iowa
