Key game day info for Michigan football vs. Iowa

Saturday Night, Michigan football is set to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes at Lucas Oil Stadium for the Big Ten Championship. This will be the Wolverines’ third straight appearance in the Big Ten Title game, as well as their first game in a month with Jim Harbaugh back as head coach.

Key game day info for the Big Ten Championship matchup

Michigan Offense

Michigan football has completed their second straight undefeated regular season, and now has the chance to play in the College Football Playoffs for a third season in a row. Big Ten quarterback of the year JJ McCarthy threw for 148 yards passing yards against Ohio State, along with one touchdown. McCarthy still leads the conference with a 74.3 completion percentage on the season.

Running back Blake Corum has scored at least one touchdown in every game of the regular season, and will hopefully continue this trend into the postseason. Corum’s 22 touchdowns on the season are more than Iowa’s entire offense which has scored 20 touchdowns this season.

Tight end Colston Loveland has continued to be an easy target for McCarthy, picking up 5 receptions for 88 yards last week against Ohio State. Receiver Roman Wilson has also been hot for the Wolverines, leading the team with 40 receptions for 648 yards this season. Receiver Cornelius Johnson has only scored one touchdown this season, however, he has still been impactful with 33 receptions for 503 yards.

Michigan Defense

The Wolverines’ defense has plenty of impactful players that have allowed Michigan to hold their opponents to 10.3 points per game this season. Defensive back Mike Sainristil has five interceptions and five passes deflected, both of which lead the team. Linebacker Michael Barrett has been very impressive for the Wolverines as well, forcing three fumbles and recovering two this season.

Iowa Offense

Iowa has won the Big Ten West for the second time in three years, winning ten games this season. Two former Wolverines, Cade McNamara and Erick All were central parts of Iowa’s offense to start the season. Unfortunately, both are injured and will not be playing against their former team on Saturday.

Throughout the entire regular season, the Hawkeyes’ offense only had nine passing touchdowns. However, they also had nine interceptions. Iowa averages the least yards per game of any team in the Big Ten with 247.3 yards.

Deacon Hill became the Hawkeyes starting quarterback in Week 5 against Purdue, where Iowa won 20-14. Hill has a 48.3 completion percentage on his passes and has rushed for negative 78 yards this season. With Erick All injured, the Hawkeyes’ next leading receiver is Nico Ragaini who has 227 yards and 26 receptions this season.

Running backs Leshon Williams and Kaleb Johnson have been the leading aspects of the Hawkeyes’ offense. Williams has 779 rush yards this season and averages five yards per carry. Johnson has 415 rush yards and has scored three touchdowns on the season.

In addition to struggles with throwing the ball, Iowa has one of the worst third-down conversion percentages in the conference at 31 percent. In comparison, Michigan leads the conference in third down conversions with 49.6 percent converted.

Iowa Defense

While their offense has struggled this season, Iowa’s defense has done an incredible job holding their opponents to an average of 12.2 points a game. They also have only allowed nine touchdowns on their opponents’ 24 trips to the red zone this season.

Linebacker Jay Higgins has 141 tackles this season, which is the most by any Power Five conference defensive player. Another key player for the Hawkeyes is defensive end Joe Evans, who leads the team in sacks with 5.5 for 27 yards.

Defensive backs Sebastian Castro and Cooper DeJean have been significant in the Hawkeyes’ secondary this season. Castro has seven deflected passes and three interceptions whereas DeJean has five deflected passes and two interceptions.

In the final Big Ten Championship game played by the winner of each division, Michigan football has a lot on the line. With a win, the Wolverines will punch their ticket to the College Football Playoff, with the possibility of a National Championship.

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