Dochterman: The reality of Iowa football was on display in its shortcomings against Michigan

INDIANAPOLIS — Red eyes, fumbled words and a boatload of statistics tell the story of a program close enough to chase excellence but too flawed to greet it.

Meet the No. 16 Iowa Hawkeyes, which lost the Big Ten Championship Game 26-0 to No. 2 Michigan on Saturday night. The game felt both closer and farther than the score indicated. When Iowa had the ball, it seemed like an insurmountable deficit. When the Hawkeyes played defense, the game felt within reach. In the end, the score showed exactly where Iowa is in the pantheon of college football.

This is a program that often competes at a high level. It has the infrastructure, the discipline, the self-awareness and the coaching to battle the sport’s upper echelon consistently. Yet when adversity strikes, Iowa is not equipped to overcome challenges both inherent and self-made on the field against elite competition. It’s the epitome of good, not quite great.

The four-quarter fistfight displayed every quality and detriment of Iowa football for the world to see. The defense was extraordinary. Michigan was averaging 394.5 yards per game and finished with 213 against Iowa. The Wolverines allowed a Big Ten-best 14 sacks entering the game. The Hawkeyes had four on Saturday night. The Wolverines rushed for 66 yards, nearly 104 yards below its average. After Michigan rumbled for 52 yards on its first drive, it put up only 161 yards the rest of the game.

“The first drive is always tough because it’s a scripted drive for the offense,” Iowa defensive tackle Logan Lee said. “We don’t have a feel for the cadence or the calls or anything like that. It’s just the first drive is always the hardest and once we get a hang on that, once we get that one out of the way, we usually start to step it up a little bit.”

Then there is the flip side, Iowa’s offense. It has declined rapidly production-wise over the last three seasons and ranked last in total offense nationally by 24 yards after 12 games. After the loss, that number has fallen to 31 yards below the next-worst offense.

Iowa finished with 155 yards and just seven first downs. Where the defense at times was dominant, the offense was equally ineffective. The offense also put its defense in unwinnable positions. Quarterback Deacon Hill twice fumbled the ball on strip sacks, and both were inside the Hawkeyes’ 15-yard line. Both turnovers directly led to 10 points for Michigan. Another fumble inside the Wolverines’ 30-yard line cost Iowa its best scoring opportunity.

“We knew we came in here needing to play pretty much a flawless game,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “Obviously, (we) didn’t do that. Didn’t do a great job protecting the football, and a couple of other situations.

“(Offense is) not our strength right now. We didn’t match up well. That’s the way it goes. We’ll go back to the drawing board.”

The most inexplicable big play came late in the first quarter against the typically outstanding special teams unit. Punter Tory Taylor drilled a 52-yard punt to the Michigan 8-yard line. Instead of pinning the Wolverines deep in their territory, a couple of missed tackles led to an 87-yard return for Semaj Morgan. The only redeeming factor on the play was the tenacity from Koen Entringer, who missed the tackle at the 8, then chased Morgan down at the Iowa 5-yard line. Two plays later, Michigan burst into the end zone for a touchdown.

The layers beyond those snaps and numbers display Iowa’s strengths and weaknesses. Injuries have crippled Iowa’s offense. Tight end Luke Lachey broke his leg in the season’s third game. Quarterback Cade McNamara, who led Michigan to the 2021 Big Ten title against Iowa, tore his ACL in Week 5. Two weeks later, tight end Erick All — also a Michigan transfer — tore his ACL. That set back a rebuilding offense in immeasurable ways.

“I still think we would have been better off this year if we had the quarterback we thought was going to be our starter playing,” Ferentz said of McNamara. “He’s played in this game before as a winning quarterback. Our two tight ends are our best offensive players. I think Jay (Higgins, a linebacker) would cosign that. That’s a start right there.”

Then two weeks ago, Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year Cooper DeJean broke his right leg in practice. DeJean also was named the conference’s top return specialist. The injury affected the Hawkeyes’ defense as well as its special teams units. DeJean was a shutdown corner who hadn’t allowed a touchdown this year. He also returned two punts for scores — well, officially one — but nobody was better as a gunner on the punt team. It’s more likely than not that DeJean would have tackled Morgan around the 10-yard line, unlike his replacement.

“We’ve been dealing with the reality of our situation,” Ferentz said. “Couldn’t be prouder of our guys. They’ve improved, they’ve scrapped, they’ve fought. We found a way to win the last four games, and I don’t think many people saw that coming.”

Iowa isn’t deep enough to handle injuries of that magnitude. Iowa lacks the scheme and play design offensively to compensate for serious mistakes. The defense and special teams units must play almost perfectly to compete with national powers like Michigan. In most cases, that’s impossible.

But the fact this program can overcome the adversity of those injuries and a historically inept offense to win 10 games says something about the coaches and the players’ character. The unevenness of their situation never led to finger-pointing. They publicly supported one another, and that includes offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, who was dismissed by university leadership in October effective at the season’s end. Entringer’s effort will live on for his determination and reflect glowingly on his character. Players don’t just do that without competing for one another and their coaches.

The Hawkeyes are tied for eighth among Power 5 programs in victories since 2015 and tied for third in the Big Ten. Kirk Ferentz was hired 25 years ago Saturday and his 196 wins at Iowa ranks third in Big Ten history. He’s only nine wins shy of tying Woody Hayes for first. He has eight seasons of 10 or more victories and is a four-time winner of Big Ten Coach of the Year.

Yet, an outright Big Ten championship remains elusive and likely more difficult to attain in years to come. Ferentz won shares of Big Ten titles in 2002 and 2004 and claimed West Division championships in 2015, 2021 and this year. But they’re still a few steps shy of contending for a national title.

“On paper, we’ve been close twice,” Ferentz said. “I think I’m correct in saying that. In’ 02 there was no playoff, at least Ohio State went. We didn’t. I guess it was two teams back then. I think we would have competed well with them on the field. In ’15, if we had won that game, which we didn’t, then we would have been there. Michigan State wouldn’t have been.

“I don’t think people realize how tough it is to be one of those four teams. TCU was there last year. Didn’t go so well this year. To get there and sustain it, I mean, the facts are there’s probably six, eight schools that are in that discussion on a routine basis. That’s kind of the nature of college football.”

That’s also the reality of Iowa football.

(Top photo: Trevor Ruszkowski / USA Today)