Michigan Monday: Game 5 at Iowa
#4/#4 Michigan (4-0) at Iowa (3-1)
Kinnick Stadium / Iowa City, Iowa
Saturday, Oct. 1 / 11 a.m. CT
Television: Fox | Radio: Learfield Michigan Sports Network
What You Need to Know
• Following four straight home games to kick off the 2022 campaign, Michigan will head to Iowa for its first road test of the season.
• Blake Corum shared the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Award after rushing 30 times for 243 yards and two TDs against Maryland.
• Corum leads the NCAA in scoring, total touchdowns and rushing TDs.
• U-M is top eight nationally in four categories: pass defense (4th), pass efficiency (5th), scoring defense (7th) and total defense (8th).
• J.J. McCarthy is third nationally in pass efficiency with a 204.5 rating.
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Top 10 Scoring Offense and Defense
• Michigan leads the nation in scoring offense, averaging 50.0 points per contest, while listing seventh in scoring defense by allowing just 11.0 points per game.
• The Wolverines have scored 200 points and have yielded 44 points through four games.
• U-M scored 50-plus points in the first three games of the season for the first time in school history.
• The defense held the opposition to less than 10 points in the first three games, including a shutout against UConn.
• In total, U-M is top eight nationally in four categories: pass defense (4th), pass efficiency (5th), scoring defense (7th) and total defense (8th).
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Wolverines and Hawkeyes
• Saturday's game between Michigan and Iowa will be the 63rd meeting between the two programs in history.
• The Wolverines hold a 43-15-4 lead in the all-time series and have won 14 of the last 22 games in the series.
• Michigan heads into Iowa City having claimed victory in six of its last 10 trips to Kinnick Stadium with one tie against the Hawkeyes (6-3-1).
• U-M has a 15-8-1 record at Kinnick Stadium and is 16-8-1 all-time in Iowa City, Iowa.
• The Wolverines have compiled a 28-9-2 record against the Hawkeyes when ranked in the AP poll.
Series vs. Iowa: Michigan leads 43-15-4
Series Streak: Michigan won 1
Last Meeting vs. Iowa: 2021 (U-M, 42-3)
Last Michigan Win: 2021
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In the Polls
• For the fifth straight week, U-M is ranked in the top five of the national polls.
• The Wolverines list No. 4 in the Associated Press Media Poll and moved up one spot this week to No. 4 in the AFCA Coaches Poll following its 59-0 win over UConn.
• Michigan began the season ranked sixth in the coaches poll and eighth in the media rankings.
• U-M finished the 2021 season ranked No. 3 in both national polls, its first top-five finish for the program since 1999 (No. 5) and the highest final ranking since winning the national championship in 1997.
• Michigan has been ranked for all but 13 contests under Harbaugh (90 games). The Wolverines were not ranked the first four games in 2015, four games in 2017 and 2020, and the first two games of the 2021 season.
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Game Notes Nuggets
• Michigan will take its top-ranked scoring offense on the road to face the top-ranked scoring defense in the country in Iowa.
• The Wolverines are scoring at a clip of 50 points per game and claim the No. 7 scoring defense (11 points allowed per game) through the first quarter of the regular season. Alabama (No. 5 offense, No. 3 defense) is the only other team in the country ranked in the top 10 on both sides of the ball.
• The Wolverines are scoring 5.2 touchdowns for every one that they allow (26 to five) in the early going, and have made twice as many field goals (six) as opponents have attempted (three).
• At 200 points through four games, the squad is among the highest-scoring Michigan teams in recent history. Since 1905, the only team with more points through the season's first four games is the 2016 squad (208 points).
• Iowa has the nation's No. 1 scoring defense (5.8 points per game), having allowed only two touchdowns and 23 total points this season. No team has scored a rushing touchdown against them through four games.
• Dating to last season, U-M has totaled 30 rushing touchdowns across its last eight games (17 in first four games of 2022, 13 in final four games of 2021).
• Blake Corum's explosive start to the season continues. Corum's career-best 243 yards last weekend were the most by a U-M back since Tshimanga Biakabutuka in 1995 (313 yards vs Ohio State). Denard Robinson's 2010 performance against Notre Dame (258 rushing yards) was the last time any Wolverine had a game on the ground like Corum did against Maryland.
• Corum, who was named the Co-Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday (Sept. 26) ranks seventh in the country in rushing yards (478), fifth in yards per carry (7.47), and first in rushing touchdowns (nine).
• In Michigan's modern era, no player has rushed for as many touchdowns through the first four games of the season than Corum has this year. Tyrone Wheatley's 1993 season is the closest (eight). The last Wolverine at any position responsible for nine touchdowns in the first four games of the year was Shea Patterson in 2019 (six passing, three rushing).
• Among backs with at least 30 carries, Corum's 7.5 yards per attempt ranks eighth in the country. As a freshman, Corum averaged 3.0 yards per carry on 26 rush attempts. In the ensuing 207 carries across 16 games, he has averaged better than 6.9 yards per carry, including 6.35 yards per carry in Big Ten play.
• Corum has produced eight of Michigan's 26 explosive offensive plays (20-plus yards). PFFCollege credits him with 11 designed runs of 15-plus yards, most among FBS ballcarriers.
• The line has helped bolster the run game to the tune of 6.32 sack-adjusted rush yards per attempt and 7.6 yards per play overall. U-M ballcarriers have lost just 25 yards on 156 rush attempts.
• J.J. McCarthy will make his first career road start this weekend. He continues to complete passes at a lofty rate, with a nation-leading 80 percent (48-of-60) line this year. McCarthy was 17-for-18 for 171 yards and two touchdowns on short (0-10 yards) and intermediate throws (10-20) on Saturday.
• The signal-caller has tossed five touchdown passes, calculating to an 8.3 touchdown percentage this year. McCarthy also leads the FBS in yards per attempt (11.6) and ranks third in pass efficiency (204.5).
• When McCarthy starts and finishes a Michigan drive, U-M has produced 16 touchdowns and three field goals on 26 possessions, translating to points on 73 percent of drives. In his three starts, the team has scored in 16 of 17 red zone trips (94.1 percent) with 14 touchdowns.
• U-M boasts a pair of scorers in the top 15 in the country -- Corum (13.5 points per game) is the No. 1 point-producer in all of FBS competition and kicker Jake Moody (10.2) ranks 15th.
• Opponents have been held to 3.9 yards per play, including a stingy 4.7 yards per pass. Opponents have lost 104 yards on tackles for loss.
• Among Big Ten defenders with at least 30 pass rush snaps, Mike Morris ranks third in PFFCollege's PRP (pass rush productivity) grade. The service grades him with a 23.8 percent win rate in pass rush situations.
• Among defenders with at least 100 coverage snaps, DJ Turner grades as the seventh-best in the country. He has allowed an NFL passer rating against of 14.6, allowing a catch every 21.6 snaps in coverage.
• Among punters with at least one punt per game (four total), Brad Robbins' 4.55-second hang time is the best in the country, according to PFFCollege. He is the only punter in the nation above 4.4 seconds. The average among Big Ten punters who meet the same qualifications is 3.98 seconds.
• With Robbins directing the unit, no opponent has registered a punt return of 10-plus yards since U-M played Ohio State in the 2017 season (95 punts). Robbins missed the 2018 and most of the 2019 seasons.
• Maryland registered an eight-yard punt return last weekend, marking the first return yards allowed by U-M's punt coverage unit this year. Eight of Robbins' 11 punts have been downed, fair caught, or rolled out of bounds.
• Robbins' special teams partner Jake Moody has allowed just three returns on 29 kickoffs this season. When opponents do attempt a return, they start at their 18-yard line on average. He's also cracked the top 10 in career scoring at U-M with 249 points. With his next field goal, he'll tie Denard Robinson (252) for ninth-most points all-time.
• PFF ranks Michigan as the No. 1 team in the nation in pass coverage and tackling; second in overall team ranking and total defense; fourth in run defense; seventh in total offense; eighth in receiving grade; and tied-ninth in special teams.
• Iowa is the No. 1 team in total defense and ranks third in run defense, as well as sixth in pass coverage and tackling.
