By Jordan Hansen
It’s Michigan week.
At the beginning of the season, this was a game that many people had circled on their calendars. There was a sense the Hawkeyes might have just one or two losses coming into this game and considering it’s a night game, it seemed to have all the makings of one of the most important games of the Big Ten season.
With Iowa at 5-4 and the Wolverines undefeated, it now has a different meaning. The Hawkeyes are 21.5-point home underdogs, and a win would be a massive upset.
“We don’t go in throughout the week thinking we don’t have a chance or anything like that,” running back LeShun Daniels Jr. said. “We don’t look at it as an impossible task or anything like that. We compete 12 games out of the year.
“We’re competitors, and we wouldn’t be here if we weren’t.”
There’s still confidence in the locker room, which makes sense — there’s no way the team is going to up and quit at this point. Even so, a win is still a long shot.
Michigan has blown teams out all season, using an immensely talented defense and an offense that’s been very efficient. Wolverine head coach Jim Harbaugh has all the resources he needs to make a juggernaut and so far, he’s been more than successful.
His team has looked like the best team in the country on more than one occasion, and if it weren’t for Alabama, it probably would be. This will, by far, be one of the biggest challenges for Iowa this season.
“When you look at them on film, they’re just a strong football team, veteran in a lot of areas,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “They’re strong in every phase, every area, and you know, nine games right now, I think they’ve been behind one time in one game.”
Desmond the kick returner
Despite only having one interception this year, cornerback Desmond King has been able to contribute to the team in a number of other ways.
He’s been locked in on running plays and has also become an even better returner than he was last season. King currently leads the conference in average return yardage on kickoffs (29.22 yards per return) and is fifth in punt-return yardage.
“Just being confident in my blockers, that’s what it comes down to,” King said. “We unfortunately haven’t put one in the end zone yet, but we feel that it’s getting closer and closer each week.”
King expressed slight disappointment at not scoring on a return yet, and it’s something that has eaten at him for a while. He’s had numerous long returns and been a move or two away from scoring on occasion.
However, even though he hasn’t gotten a touchdown on a kick return, he has helped give Iowa good field position throughout the season. For King specifically, it looks good for NFL scouts that he’s so versatile, and he mentioned several other former Iowa players who have also used returning to boost their profile.
Injury report
Kirk Ferentz announced Brett Waechter, a redshirt-freshman offensive lineman has left the team for medical reasons.
He joined the team in the spring of 2015, and he had started to make a bit of headway on the depth chart. Ferentz hasn’t been specific on the injury, but it was apparently serious enough to warrant his leaving the team.
Elsewhere, Ferentz did not seem to think offensive lineman Cole Croston will play this week. Tight end George Kittle is still very limited as well.
“It’s day-to-day. It’s not great right now,” Ferentz said about Croston. “It’s not great. We’ll see.”