Michigan had this one in its hands, then handed it right back.
The Wolverines fell 20-19 to Iowa on Saturday after the Hawkeyes scored a touchdown on the final play of the game, turning what should have been a comfortable Michigan win into one of the ugliest finishes in recent memory. It was a mess built on self-inflicted damage: three red-zone trips that produced only three points, a Bryce Underwood interception, a failed fourth-and-inches try, and more than 400 yards of offense that somehow added up to just 19 points.
Underwood’s line should have been enough to bury Iowa. He finished with 276 passing yards and two touchdowns, and on most Saturdays that kind of performance puts Michigan in control.
Instead, the Wolverines wasted it with special teams problems, penalties and poor execution. The turnover battle told the story once Underwood threw that interception, especially with Michigan also missing multiple chances at interceptions on the final two drives.
The collapse got even worse on defense, where Iowa spent the second half moving the ball almost at will. Michigan’s cornerbacks, long a point of pride for the Hawkeyes and their fans in this matchup, were exposed in man coverage. If a defense gives up a game-winning touchdown to Iowa, it can’t be called great, no matter what happened before that.
And Michigan gave away far too much. The Wolverines were done in by one of the dumbest penalties in the history of Michigan football when Zeke Berry shoved an Iowa receiver out of bounds, handing the Hawkeyes a first down inside on 4th-and-12. Add in a kickoff return for a touchdown, multiple holding penalties, and the repeated red-zone failures, and the picture gets even uglier.
This wasn’t Iowa stealing a game so much as Michigan giving one away. The Hawkeyes deserve credit for hanging around, but the Wolverines had every chance to bury them and never did. That kind of loss can wreck a season, and it should not have happened.
Michigan will be out of the top 25 and should be. Any talk of a College Football Playoff run is gone now. You don’t lose to Iowa and still expect to be part of that conversation.
This was the kind of defeat that sticks. Michigan should have won by 2-3 touchdowns. Instead, it walked out of the Big House with one of the worst endings in its history.
In Other News...
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Iowas upcoming matchup with Michigan has already taken on a little extra weight, and not just because of what it means in the Big Ten race. Pat McAfee floated the idea that ESPNs "College GameDay" could make its first trip to Iowa City since 2006 if the Hawkeyes handle the Wolverines, adding another layer of buzz to a game that was already going to draw attention.
Iowa has not hosted the show since that 2006 meeting with Ohio State, even though ESPN has been around other Hawkeyes games in recent years. The catch, of course, is that the visit is tied to what happens in Week 4, so Iowa still has to earn the kind of stage the fan base has been waiting years to see again. [Read more 🡒]
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The NCAA later confirmed that replay protocols were not followed properly in the game, although it said it does not have the authority to change the outcome. For Western Michigan, the bigger point may be the respect it is earning going into the Boise State matchup, with Danielson specifically praising the Broncos defense and noting their unbeaten start as the kind of profile that can make a September game feel much bigger than it looked a few weeks ago. [Read more 🡒]
Dusty Mays Michigan Run Still Carries One Last Twist
Dusty Mays run at Michigan ended with the kind of trophy case resume every program wants to brag about. In just over two years in Ann Arbor, he went 64-13 and delivered a national championship in 2026, quickly turning himself into one of the biggest names in college basketball. His departure for the Dallas Mavericks, where he stepped in after Jason Kidd moved on, made sense on paper given his long-stated NBA ambitions and his frustration with the transfer portal era.
The twist for Michigan fans is that Mays pro move still keeps a direct line back to the title team he built. Dallas drafted Morez Johnson Jr., one of the key pieces from that championship roster, setting up an unexpected reunion for a coach and player who helped bring a banner to Ann Arbor. Johnson said he was excited about the chance to reconnect with May, and for Wolverines supporters, it adds one more layer to a departure that already felt far bigger than a normal coaching change. [Read more 🡒]