Iowa football shocks Michigan in Ann Arbor

No. 17 Iowa defeated No. 18 Michigan 20-19 with a last-second touchdown pass.

Hank Brown connected with Reece Vander Zee for the game-winning 16-yard score as time expired.

Iowa's offense gained 156 of its 285 total yards in the fourth quarter to overcome a late deficit.

Braeden Jackson returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.

ANN ARBOR, Michigan — Iowa came into Michigan Stadium with an offense averaging 477 yards per game … and didn’t decide to trust that very offense until times got desperate late in the third quarter.

And then … the Hawkeyes delivered the miracle stunner, out of seemingly thin air, akin to a 2009 game here in the state of Michigan.

Hank Brown connected with Reece Vander Zee for a 16-yard touchdown on the game's final play, sending No. 17-ranked Iowa to a 20-19, walk-off victory over No. 18 Michigan before 111,126 dazed and maize (and blue) fans.

The touchdown capped a 91-yard march in 11 plays. It was a somewhat fitting finish in multiple ways, considering Michigan escaped with a controversial Week 1 victory on a Hail Mary to beat Western Michigan by one point.

And now, Iowa won on a last-second pass at Michigan Stadium to beat the Wolverines by one.

“We’re a gritty team that’s going to fight till the end," Brown said, "until there’s 0 seconds on the clock.”

Of course it was Marvin McNutt's walk-off touchdown at Michigan State in 2009 that delivered a shocking 15-13 victory for an Iowa team that found crazy ways to start 9-0. This Iowa team seems to have that type of DNA, with a Week 2 win against Iowa State also coming in the final seconds, 16-13.

This time, instead of Ricky Stanzi to McNutt, it was Brown to Vander Zee ... in Hawkeye lore forever.

No. 2 got 6, just in the nick of time.

Brown had hit Vander Zee for a 16-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter, giving Iowa a shocking lead after what had been a dismal day on both sides of the ball. The day's first of two red-zone snaps for Iowa produced hope for an upset road victory amid unlikely circumstances.

And now Iowa is 4-0, with Ohio State (and possibly ESPN's "College GameDay" show) coming to town on Oct. 3.

Let's get to the furious finish.

After Michigan took a 19-14 lead and the teams traded punts, Iowa got the football at midfield with 5:22 remaining.

And shortly thereafter, head coach Kirk Ferentz didn’t trust his offense again.

With 2:33 left, down five, Ferentz attempted a 51-yard field goal on fourth-and-6 from Michigan’s 33. That decision was set up by a false-start penalty called on left guard Leighton Jones on fourth-and-1 with the Hawkeyes (obviously) lined up to go for a first down.

Caden Buhr’s kick sailed wide right, giving Michigan the ball back.

Iowa’s defense successfully forced a three-and-out, but the change in field position off the missed field goal was drastic. Iowa suddenly had to go 91 yards with one timeout to score six points.

Yet Iowa did it.

“I’m just yelling at the guys that we’ve got to believe that we can do this," Brown said.

Iowa got all the way to Michigan's 16-yard line, a personal-foul penalty assisting the tall task. Still, Iowa was 45 yards away from a touchdown with 11 seconds left.

Brown scrambled and found Addison Ostrenga, who collected a tipped-ball, 29-yard catch (the second deflected pass caught by a tight end in the game) to give the Hawkeyes one final play, with 2 seconds left.

An injury to Michigan's John Henry Daley gave Iowa time to collect itself and huddle, and offensive coordinator Tim Lester sent in the play call.

"It’s an empty formation, obviously, and trying to get everybody in the end zone and give somebody a chance based on what the defense is giving you," Brown said.

Here's what Brown saw at the line of scrimmage.

"Based on the pre-snap picture, they were in press (coverage) on Reece and they had two safeties," Brown said. "So I knew maybe we could get something over the middle, but based on the safeties’ leverage, I was going to have to find a matchup and work from there. I trust in 2, I trust in Reece. I trusted he was going to deliver, and he did.”

Brown immediately looked to his left, against man coverage. There was Vander Zee, touching his toes down to complete the catch that was upheld under video review.

“I saw man coverage, and I knew that Hank … was going to put a great ball with whoever he throws it to, and end up being me, and so I was thankful to make the play," Vander Zee said.

Vander Zee knew he had gotten his feet down. He flung the football across the south end zone at Michigan Stadium.

The game had been won, somehow, by Iowa.

“I felt my feet get in for sure," Vander Zee said. "So that was that was awesome to have that feeling.”

Iowa gained 156 of its 285 yards in the fourth quarter in its unlikely comeback.

Brown finished 21-for-35 for 227 yards and those two TDs.

Vander Zee also had the game of his life, catching five balls for 66 yards and those two scores.

“That's why they got 60 minutes up there. So just really proud of our guys there," Ferentz said. "You know, everybody remembered the end of this one, rightfully so. But it's a little bit like the Capital One Bowl (Iowa's Hail Mary win over LSU, 30-25, on Jan. 1, 2005). It's really all about the 59 minutes prior to that gets you there, and couldn’t be prouder of the way the guys hung in there, what they did, how they executed that last possession.”

Braeden Jackson shows up for a second straight week

One of the big questions entering this game was how Iowa would handle its running-back rotation, with Kamari Moulton and L.J. Phillips returning from injury to join the three Hawkeyes who all topped 100 rushing yards a week ago in Xavier Williams, Nathan McNeil and Braeden Jackson.

Well, unrelated to the rotation, Jackson made his presence known in a big way.

Jackson blazed 99 yards for a kickoff-return touchdown late in the first quarter after Michigan’s offense had methodically driven 89 yards for a touchdown to open the scoring.

Jackson’s quick-strike TD was paved by great blocking from Chris Polizzi’s special teams, including from Williams to really spring him up the right sideline. Jackson juked the kicker, and the speedy second-year player from Ankeny Centennial was gone.

On the next kickoff, Michigan intentionally kicked wide and short to Williams, who had a nice runback of his own (30 yards) to the Iowa 37-yard line. On the next kickoff (which didn't come until late in the third quarter), Michigan finally got a touchback ... and the Michigan faithful cheered.

What was interesting about the kick-return exploits was that Iowa hadn’t gotten a chance to run any kickoffs back all year. All six kickoffs in the first three games went for touchbacks, and Brevin Doll (who was injured last week and was available vs. Michigan but didn’t play) had been the primary kick-return man.

Jackson, once again, took advantage of his opportunity — like he did last week with 12 touches for 149 yards and two touchdowns vs. Northern Iowa.

As for the rotation, Iowa went with three backs: Moulton, Williams and Jackson. We didn't see Phillips play, even though he was available after missing the past two weeks with a high-ankle sprain. We didn't see McNeil, last week's starter, either. Iowa rushed for only 58 yards on 24 carries.

Tony Diaz was a non-factor in the first half, arrived big late

Diaz’s comments that playing against man-to-man coverage, which Michigan emphasizes on defense, was like visiting a “candy shop” made their way to the Wolverines this week. And Michigan clearly was determined to keep Diaz’s contributions to a minimum.

Diaz had made a heavy instant impact in each of Iowa’s first three games. He had six catches for 84 yards in the first half of the opener against Northern Illinois. He had five catches for 92 yards in the first half against Iowa State.

But against Michigan, Diaz’s first-half production was one catch for one yard. He also had a dropped pass, though even if he caught that one the play was going nowhere and possibly for a loss.

The Wolverines were physical with Diaz, who is 5-foot-10 and 184 pounds, in his first-ever Big Ten game. After a deep shot to Diaz late in the second quarter that fell incomplete, he had a few Michigan players escorting him (and seemingly chirping at him) on the way back to the Iowa huddle.

Diaz's rough day continued early in the second half, when he was flagged for holding on a play to Jackson that gained a first down. But finally, late in the third quarter, Diaz arrived. And so did Iowa's offense.

On a third-and-5 from Iowa's 30, Brown rolled right and found Diaz over the top against the coverage of Smith Snowden for a 32-yard gain. That play pushed Iowa over the 100-yard mark for the game.

“I think we just had to keep fighting. I think we had stuff there the whole game, and we just had to take advantage of it, and we did," Vander Zee said. "I thought Tony's route on that deep ball from Hank was what really got it started. That was awesome. Everything started rolling after that.”

Diaz finished with three catches for 46 yards and drew a critical personal-foul penalty on the final drive. He was still a difference-maker on this day, for sure.

Iowa defense executed the Bryce Underwood plan (sort of)

Phil Parker’s Iowa defense entered the game having held 53 of its last 57 opponents to under 400 yards. That sterling mark looked to be under under fire early as Michigan’s offense seemed to be very comfortable moving the football with Bryce Underwood’s arm.

The Michigan quarterback started the day hot, completing 9 of his first 12 passes for 150 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown to JJ Buchanan in the first quarter. The Hawkeyes were in a 4-3 defense on that third-and-7 play, with cornerback Jaylen Watson helping the underneath coverage of linebacker Landyn Van Kekerix, which presented an opening in Iowa’s secondary.

That was essentially the game Iowa was trying to play against Underwood — to stop his running ability while making him throw the football. Iowa was reasonably effective in the first half against the run, limiting Michigan to 70 yards on 20 carries while also drawing two holding penalties. But Michigan threw for 162 first-half yards (Buchanan had 81 of them on four catches, and Andrew Marsh had 65 on four catches) to bring the Wolverines’ halftime total to 232 yards.

“Every week it comes down to stopping the run," Iowa safety Zach Lutmer said. "That's the biggest thing and most important thing because if they don't have the run game going, we can we can really sit back and defend the pass.”

Michigan's game plan seemed to target the side of the field manned by Watson (Iowa's left cornerback), mostly avoiding the opposite side against Deshaun Lee (the right cornerback).

Thus, the second half for Iowa became a test of patience and game plan.

And, lo and behold, Lee got an opportunity on Michigan's first possession of the second half and cashed it in from Underwood, his high school teammate. Underwood's third-and-11 throw to the end zone was clearly a miscommunication, and Lee caught it at Iowa's 2-yard line for the first turnover by either team in the game.

These were the types of plays by Iowa's defense that kept the score within striking distance in the fourth quarter. Michigan had gained 330 yards through three quarters yet only led, 13-7.

But Michigan got over the 400 mark early in the fourth quarter as Underwood went over the top to Buchanan again for a 49-yard touchdown, burning the coverage of safety Tyler Brown deep. That gave Michigan a 19-14 advantage with 11:59 to play.

For the day, Underwood finished 17-of-28 for 276 yards. Michigan outgained Iowa, 429-285, but took the L. Iowa's defense got two big stops toward the end of the game. FIrst, it stifled Michigan's two-point conversion attempt. Then, it forced a three-and-out to give the offense one final chance.

“We knew what we had to do. There’s time on the clock," Lee said. "That's just our job. That's what we signed up for, and coach trusted us and believed in us.”

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