3 Important Stats We Can't Ignore Ahead of Michigan Football's Game vs. Iowa

These stats could dictate what happens in the game on Saturday.

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Michigan will take on the Iowa Hawkeyes in a battle of the undefeated on Saturday. The Wolverines might be the favorite at home, but you wouldn't know that by looking at predictions.

The Wolverines have a few injury concerns heading into the game, and Iowa could be without its star running back Kamari Moulton.

Let's dive into some stats that you may not have known ahead of the game.

Hank Brown has never been sacked

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Iowa opted to start Hank Brown this season at quarterback and he's actually a veteran. Despite not having a ton of playing experience, Brown spent two seasons at Auburn before he transferred to Iowa last season.

This will mark Brown's first true road start and another fact that has been making the rounds is that Brown has never been sacked. Starting right tackle Jack Dotzler could be the weak area that Michigan could exploit. According to Pro Football Focus, Dotzler has given up four pressures this season and three of them came against the Hawkeyes' toughest test, which was Iowa State.

Michigan has 10 sacks on the season and it doesn't matter who the Wolverines put in at edge — they get the job done. Dom Nichols is listed as questionable heading into Saturday, and while Michigan would love to have him in the game, the Wolverines would have enough bodies to potentially do damage against Brown.

Iowa LBs have been susceptible in coverage

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When you have the top-ranked defense in the country — you're probably good at defending both the run and the pass. The Iowa Hawkeyes have the No. 5 passing defense, but once again, it's not like we know just how good the Hawkeyes' pass defense really is.

Phil Parker always has a good defense and we should expect Michigan to struggle this weekend. But there is one area, according to Pro Football Focus, that the Wolverines could potentially exploit in the passing game, and that's against the linebackers.

The Iowa linebackers have allowed 15 of 19 targets thrown their way to be caught. Star linebacker Cam Buffington has allowed all five targets to be caught when thrown his way. The Wolverines have yet to get the tight ends involved this year, but this could be a game where Michigan gets the big guys going.

Bryce Underwood's numbers when blitzed

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Bryce Underwood has seen an uptick in production from Week 1 to Week 3. Against Western Michigan, Underwood passed for 170 yards and in Week 3, against UTEP, he threw for 223 yards and two touchdowns. The Wolverines have also had some rolling in the ground game.

Playing against the Iowa defense, we can expect Phil Parker to try and load the box and put some pressure on Underwood. But, according to Pro Football Focus, Underwood's numbers aren't that bad when he faces a blitz.

In three games, Underwood is 12-for-20 for 141 yards and one score when he faces a blitz this season. While the offensive line has struggled to open up run lanes for Michigan, the line has done a good enough job of keeping Underwood protected.

Underwood is going to need to make some plays on Saturday if the Wolverines are going to come out on top and this will be an important stat to know against Iowa.

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