I would humbly beg to differ. The difference in the game, as has been the case all too often in recent years, was the offensive coaching, or lack of it. Iowa may not have Michigan's talent, but it has enough offensive talent to have won that game today. Review the tape. Petras missed high on three straight throws in the first half, the first of which would have been a huge play, maybe a TD. A starting D-1 QB cannot miss wide open receivers like that season after season, game after game, play after play.
Iowa tried no new formations. Iowa tried not one single trick play. Iowa didn't even run a hurry-up offense until the game was over. They were down 20-7 and methodically advanced down the field like they were up by that score. And then, of course, you CANNOT fail to score a TD on that drive. You have to have some red zone plays, maybe some trickeration, but you HAVE to get the ball in the end zone, and it would be nice to do so with enough time left to stop Michigan, get the ball back, and score one more TD and, yes, win the damn game.
Petras is as immobile as the Kinnick statue in front of the stadium. All good athletes in any sport have quick feet. Petras does not, and it burns Iowa time after time after time . . . like in those three straight sacks late in the game.
And then there was that naked boot that totally fooled Michigan. All but two defenders flowed to the right leaving Petras all alone, and he managed to hit the TE (who else) for an eight-yard gain. Nice. But Labas, and probably Padilla, would have kept the ball and had a huge gain, if not a TD on that play. Say what you will about the O-line--and it isn't doing great--but a mobile QB would take a tremendous amount of pressure off the O-line.
Coaching cost Iowa this game. KF and BF, as usual, share the blame. It's that simple.
