Yardbarker
x

The Michigan Wolverines are your Big Ten champions. Again, and again, and again. For a third straight year, Michigan football is walking out of Indianapolis with a Big Ten title and a punched ticket to the College Football Playoff. While the game might not have been flashy, Jim Harbaugh led his team to an old-schooled run-heavy victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Michigan football defense shuts out Iowa for a third straight Big Ten title

For the entire season, Iowa football has based its winning formula on a solid run attack, flawless special teams, and a lights-out defense. Unfortunately for Iowa, this was not enough for the No. 2 ranked Wolverines, who were hungry for another chance at a national title run in this year’s College Football Playoff.

In Jim Harbaugh’s first game back from his three-game sideline suspension, the Wolverines fought fire with fire by playing the Hawkeyes’ own game against them. After all, this was the winning formula in 2021, and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Michigan ran the ball well, kept almost all passes short, and played clean football on both sides of the ball. While today’s game may not have been as flashy as yesterday’s Pac-12 Championship, which was dominated by air-raid attacks, the Wolverines played dominant defensive football and came away with an important victory.

The Wolverine defense held Iowa scoreless and forced three fumbles, three turnovers on down, and seven punts. These turnovers, mixed in with an 86-yard punt return from freshman wide receiver Semaj Morgan, helped the Michigan offense get started with great field position on numerous occasions. In the end, the Wolverines put up 26 points against an elite Iowa defense.

With this victory, Michigan football remains undefeated and will likely move to No. 1 in the CFP rankings tomorrow morning. The Wolverines survived and advanced and are now gearing up for their third straight playoff run.

This article first appeared on Blue By Ninety and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads:

Customize Your Newsletter

+

Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.