Iowa shocked Michigan — and the world — in 2016. Can the Hawkeyes do it again?
IOWA CITY, Iowa — In the hours that spanned a Saturday night annihilation to a Sunday morning planning session, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz and his staff had plenty to discuss and a short amount of time to welcome an even greater challenge in the final month of the 2016 season.
The Hawkeyes left Penn State after a 41-14 drubbing that was far worse than the final score. Iowa allowed 359 rushing yards and 599 overall to Saquon Barkley, Miles Sanders and Chris Godwin. Afterward, Barkley accused the Hawkeyes of quitting. To top it off, the 5-4 Hawkeyes were set to host No. 2 Michigan (9-0), which had beaten Penn State 49-10 earlier that season.
“Probably the thing I recall the most is the week before,” Ferentz said. “The feeling flying back here Saturday night after a really tough loss. Just one of those games — nothing went well. We didn’t play well, and then fully aware flying back Saturday night that we had a big challenge on our hands.”
As with the current environment, in which No. 16 Iowa (10-2, 7-2 Big Ten) is a 23.5-point underdog to No. 2 Michigan (12-0, 9-0) on Saturday for the Big Ten championship, few expected a competitive game that chilly, November 2016 evening at Kinnick Stadium. Iowa’s passing game had fallen apart without receiver Matt VandeBerg and appeared even worse without injured tight end George Kittle. At the time, the Wolverines led the nation in rushing touchdowns with 36, and their opponents converted only 19 percent of their third-down opportunities.
In its starting lineup facing Michigan, Iowa had six former walk-ons, including four on offense. Michigan’s defense included four future first-rounders, four third-rounders and five other draft picks. Despite the Hawkeyes’ winning four of the previous five games against Michigan, it was considered a mismatch. The Wolverines were 21-point favorites. It wasn’t supposed to be a game — until it was.
“I know for a fact people counted us out,” said defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson , who currently plays for the Tennessee Titans. “That loss to Penn State, people were like, ‘Iowa-Michigan, it’s not even going to be a game.’ We were underdogs. We were going to be down three touchdowns, that’s what they said.”
Following that night and after the 2016 season, around a dozen former Iowa players discussed perhaps the most shocking upset in program history: 14-13 over Michigan. Their comments were never previously published.
‘Seize the opportunity’
This story begins with a mindset. Entering the Michigan game, Iowa was out of the Big Ten West race but still had three games remaining. Injuries, a depleted offense and the crushing defeat at Penn State weighed on the Hawkeyes as they approached their week. As always, Ferentz gave them 24 hours to wallow in self-pity before focusing on the next task.
“Our main focus coming out of the Penn State game was putting that behind us, not letting that game determine the rest of our season,” said cornerback Desmond King, a 2015 first-team All-American. “We knew we had an opportunity coming with Michigan, and we just had to seize the opportunity.”
Linebacker Josey Jewell, a 2017 first-team All-American, said: “Coaches talked about it. ‘It’s going to be a fistfight.’ We knew we had to play good football — good technique, play with fundamentals. I think that’s what coaches stressed and made important.”
Michigan’s players warmed up toward the Kinnick Stadium north end zone, and the passes thrown by Wilton Speight to Iowa native Amara Darboh and Jehu Chesson looked much more impressive than what Iowa had displayed. Even with eventual NFL quarterback C.J. Beathard on the opposite sideline, the Wolverines appeared bigger, stronger, faster and more gifted than their Iowa counterparts.
“When we entered the field — sometimes I get these feelings like, ‘We’re going to win this game,’” said Beathard, the son of a well-known Nashville country songwriter. “I felt it all week. I was trying to get guys up. ‘We can win this game. Don’t think we can’t. Don’t get all scared because it’s big bad Michigan.’ When we entered that field, I didn’t see anybody’s eyes like, ‘We’re scared.’ We were focused. We were ready to go.”
Kittle stood at the south end of the field wearing a letterman’s jacket. He was miserable. He had hurt his foot the previous month and tried to play through it, but he barely could walk. In his place, the Hawkeyes sent out walk-ons Peter Pekar and Nate Wieting as the starting tight ends. True freshmen Noah Fant and T.J. Hockenson weren’t quite ready for that assignment, although Fant played.
“Honestly, it sucked,” Kittle said. “I was on the side with (tackle) Cole Croston and (cornerback) Greg Mabin, two of my best friends at the time, and we’re all going through some s—. We all have aspirations of being in the NFL, and we’re all sitting on the sideline in one of the biggest games of our career for all of us. So, that was always tough.”
The game started slow. The Wolverines kicked a field goal late in the first quarter to take a 3-0 lead. The Hawkeyes then missed a field goal, and Michigan responded with a 72-yard drive that resulted in a 7-yard touchdown run by Ty Isaac. With 8:56 left in the first half, the Wolverines led 10-0.
Something needed to happen for Iowa.
A physical blast
Running back Leshun Daniels was an Ohio State legacy who didn’t get a look from his father’s alma mater. Iowa offered, and he became a Hawkeye. After three years’ worth of injuries, Daniels enjoyed his best season in 2016 and crossed 1,000 rushing yards at season’s end.
Daniels’ most impactful play at Iowa wasn’t a touchdown run or a carry that picked up a game-clinching first down. It wasn’t even a run that led to a score. But his 16-yard burst one play after Michigan’s touchdown set the tone for the final three quarters.
On first-and-10 from the 20-yard line, Daniels took the handoff on an inside zone, which is Iowa’s version of a jab punch. Michigan safety Dymonte Thomas approached Daniels 2 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Daniels lowered his shoulder and knocked Thomas to the turf. At the 29, Daniels then met Delano Hill and flattened the safety. The Iowa runner was pulled down from behind after 16 yards. The impact of his run cannot be understated.
“I’ve seen it, like, a million times,” Daniels said. “I just remember the hole opened up huge. I saw one of the safeties kind of there, and I was kind of shocked it was that wide open. It was already too late for me to make a move. So I was like, ‘All right, I’m going to put my shoulder down and see what happens.’
“When I put it down, I kind of felt him slide off. I’m like, ‘OK, this is a nice run.’ When I went and hit the second guy, I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, this is going to be a highlight-type run. It’s going to look real nice.’ I got tackled all hyped. Everybody on the team likes that physicality. It gets the team juiced up. ‘We can do this. We can get after these guys.’”
His teammates were just as energized.
“Those are the plays that really are the eye candy to us,” fullback Brady Ross said. “You’ve got the long, flashy punt returns and stuff like that, which are awesome. I think the backbone of this program is you love seeing a running back just run guys over. Leshun does a great job of that.”
Said Beathard: “They’ve got these five-star recruits, and LeShun just goes and bulldozes two of them over. I just see the crowd — ‘Oooooo!’ You hear that noise. You keep seeing him running, and you see it on film, and man, this is a heck of a run. That kind of set the tone.”
Daniels popped another run for 8 yards two plays later, but the Hawkeyes were forced to punt. That’s when the game turned. Punter Ron Coluzzi drilled a perfect ball that was downed at the Michigan 2-yard line. Then the defense went to work.
On first down, Speight’s pass toward tight end Jake Butt fell incomplete. On second down, somehow Michigan’s offensive line ignored Johnson — a first-team All-Big Ten defensive tackle — and he met running back De’Veon Smith in the end zone. Johnson stood up the runner, wrapped him in a circle and drove him to the turf for a safety.
“That gave our offense momentum. That gave our defense momentum,” Johnson said. “That really hyped us up. When moments like that happen, you can’t be just like, ‘All right, we got points on the board.’ Just keep going out there, keep competing.”
A flash amid the fistfight
After the free kick, both teams had three-and-outs. With 4:14 left in the first half, Iowa took possession at its 48. That’s when the game’s best offensive player, Iowa running back Akrum Wadley, went to work. On second down, Beathard tossed to the middle for Wadley, who juked and dragged multiple defenders to the Michigan 24. On the next play, Wadley caught a screen pass and ran for 7 more yards while a Michigan defender was called for a personal foul. The Hawkeyes moved inside the 10.
Two Iowa runs gained 6 yards, but a third-down incompletion brought it to fourth-and-goal at the Michigan 3. Instead of taking the points, Ferentz gambled. He kept the offense on the field, and coordinator Greg Davis dialed up one of his best play calls.
Facing aggressive-minded defensive coordinator Don Brown, who was known for his double-A-gap blitzes coupled with man coverage, Davis schemed specifically for Wadley. At the snap, Iowa blocked down to slow the blitzers, and Michigan’s defensive linemen looped to Beathard’s left. Wadley snuck behind the defenders, and a linebacker couldn’t break out. As Wadley cleared, Beathard found him for an easy touchdown. On the drive, Wadley had all but 4 of Iowa’s yards.
“We knew they liked to do that certain thing in the red zone in that area,” Beathard said. “So coach Davis called it on third down. If we didn’t get the look, we checked out of it, and we didn’t get the look, so I checked it. Then, on fourth down, we went for it and called it again. I’m just like, ‘Please, come on, God, give me the look and they bring it. I’m like, ‘Thank God, we got this.’
“I knew it was a touchdown before the play was called, before I got the ball. When I saw they were in that blitz, I was like, ‘He’s going to be open. Take a step back, flip it to Akrum,’ and it was a touchdown.”
Another perfect play was squandered on the 2-point conversion. In a three-receiver set to the left, Adrian Falconer sneaked behind the other two on a slant and was wide open at the goal line. Beathard delivered a catchable ball, but Falconer dropped it when it hit him between the numbers. Iowa still trailed 10-8, but it now was a game.
Dramatic conclusion
The second-half kickoff was a continuation of the first half. Coluzzi’s pooch kick angled toward an upback, and Michigan’s Khalid Hill caught it at the 20. Hill ran to the 33, where he fumbled. Iowa recovered at the Michigan 43 and drove the ball to the 4-yard line. It ended up in a field goal, and Iowa led 11-10.
The rest of the game became a physical standoff. Michigan ran just seven offensive plays in the third quarter. Early in the fourth, the Wolverines used a roughing-the-snapper penalty on a punt to pick up a 51-yard field goal to take a 13-11 lead. It appeared the Wolverines had survived when Beathard launched a 40-yard pass that was intercepted by cornerback Channing Stribling with 1:54 to go because receiver Jerminic Smith fell.
Michigan ran twice for 2 total yards, and Iowa called timeouts after each one. On third-and-8, Speight threw deep toward Darboh, but true freshman Manny Rugamba — Mabin’s replacement — broke it up. The Hawkeyes kept their timeout and forced Michigan to punt. On the return, Michigan’s Mike McCray grazed King’s face mask, which moved the ball to the Wolverines’ 36 with 1:23 left.
Iowa went to work again with Wadley. A first-down screen pass gained 10 yards to the Michigan 26. Wadley then ran twice for 3 total yards, and Michigan called timeout. Facing third-and-7 at the 23, Beathard lined up in the shotgun with three receivers on the field. At the snap, Beathard took one false step upward, then dashed up the middle for 8 yards. Over the Hawkeyes’ final 75 third-down snaps with three receivers on the field that season, it was the only called running play.
“We already were in field goal range,” Beathard said. “In that situation, it felt like Michigan would be playing the pass. They were, so, a draw. I was like, ‘Don’t fumble here.’ So I tucked it up and got 8 yards, and the rest was history.”
Beathard dove to the 15-yard line to pick up the first down, and Ferentz called timeout with three seconds left. On trotted true freshman kicker Keith Duncan, who had handled extra points that year. Michigan froze Duncan before he stepped out for a 33-yard attempt. The outcome had seismic ramifications not only for Iowa and Michigan but also for the East Division representation and the College Football Playoff. Around 10 million people tuned in to ABC as Duncan lined up. His kick sliced toward the right goal post but stayed inside. Iowa scored the season’s biggest upset, 14-13.
The stands emptied onto the playing surface. Beathard tossed his helmet behind him, and a fan picked it up and took it to the downtown bars. Ferentz welled up multiple times in a postgame interview with Sam Ponder. The players were ecstatic.
“Everybody at first didn’t give us a chance — even us. In my classes, everybody was like, ‘Oh, you’ve got Michigan coming up, and they’re a good team,’” Daniels said. “But for us to go out there and come out with the victory in the fashion we did, everybody was just high off the game. All the fans congratulating you. It was wild. It was an unreal experience. Obviously, if you weren’t there, you couldn’t explain it to someone. You have to be there to get the true feeling of it.”
Said Jewell: “I was hoping people were going to come on the field, but I didn’t know if they were going to. I looked back as soon as (Duncan) made it, and I didn’t see anybody coming. Then, all the sudden, I looked back again and everybody was out there. It was crazy.”
Beathard’s brother, country singer Tucker Beathard, had a concert scheduled in Iowa City after the game.
“It was just one of those historic moments in Iowa City,” C.J. Beathard said. “Everyone out was so excited talking about it, and then you get to go to his concert and you watch your brother do what he loves. It was awesome.”
Wadley was the star. He rushed for 115 yards and caught five passes for 52 yards. He picked up all but 63 of Iowa’s yards that day.
“One of the greatest highlights of my life,” Wadley said.
The final score was coincidental, in part, because of a discussion between Jewell and Beathard that week.
“I did tell him if they scored 14 points this week, we’d help them out and we’d get a victory,” Jewell said. “I didn’t say I called it or anything. I just said it early on.”
The good feelings persisted for Iowa over the ensuing two weeks, which produced a 28-0 win at Illinois and a 40-10 victory against Nebraska . The Hawkeyes finished 8-5 overall and briefly were ranked before a bowl loss to Florida.
But the victory has long-term implications. The parallels are obvious with Saturday’s matchup. The Hawkeyes are offensively challenged and major underdogs to No. 2 Michigan. The coaches are the same, and the styles of play haven’t changed much. To accomplish something so monumental against all odds starts with belief, then execution. That’s where the Hawkeyes are today.
“When you play in a game like that, you pretty much have to be on top of your game in each and every way, and some way you have to try to force something, maybe a mistake, or try to do something that maybe gets the opponent off-schedule,” Ferentz said. “Outside of that (a blown 2-point conversion), we didn’t do much to hurt ourselves, and we did some things to help ourselves, too.
“The bottom line: You’ll just have to compete as well as you possibly can, and that’s certainly what we’re looking at this week.”
(Top photo of Keith Duncan: Matthew Holst / )
