What's Being Said About Michigan Football Following Devastating Loss to Iowa

In the blink of an eye, Michigan suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday against Iowa. While the Wolverines officially lost the game in two seconds, you could see the culmination of issues piling up as the game wore on.

Michigan's penalty issues reared their ugly head once again and the Wolverines appear to be a very undisciplined program right now. Zeke Berry's late hit on Iowa wide receiver Tony Diaz was the boiling point to the Wolverines' meltdown against the Hawkeyes.

Michigan dominated the box score and could've won the game by three scores, instead, penalties and conservative playcalling in the fourth quarter allowed a scrappy Iowa team to hang around. With two seconds left, Hank Brown tossed a touchdown to give Iowa a 20-19 win over the Wolverines.

Here is what's being said about Michigan.

ESPN's Kyle Bonagura on Michigan's karma

Like most people, Bonagura calls this loss karma for how the Wolverines beat Western Michigan in Week 1. Michigan was on the other side of a game-ending loss.

"....None of this does Western Michigan any good -- in fact, WMU benefits from Michigan's success through the transition property -- but there was something karmic about the way it all went down. Just weeks after escaping on the final play against WMU through improbable circumstances, the Wolverines found themselves on the other side."

What's interesting about the Iowa win was the flukiness of the last couple of plays. Following Zeke Berry's terrible decision, Iowa had yet another tipped ball fall into its hands that was caught. Then Michigan edge rusher John Henry Daley was hurt on the ground with two seconds left. If no injury occurs, you have to wonder if the Hawkeyes even get that play off.

NBC Sports' Nicole Auerbach on last seconds in Ann Arbor

In Auerbach's takeaways from Week 4, like others, she talked about karma in Michigan Stadium. In Week 1, the Wolverines had the Hail Mary win, and now, Michigan is on the other side.

"One second, two seconds? Doesn’t matter. The football gods balanced out the karma from Week 1’s Hail (Bail?) Mary with Iowa’s come-from-behind win over Michigan on Saturday. And that sets up a massive game in Iowa City next weekend with the Buckeyes coming to town."

The Athletic's Stuart Mandel on Bryce Underwood

It's a shame, Michigan wasted one of Bryce Underwood's best performances on Saturday. The Wolverines' second-year gunsliner was four yards shy of a career high and it's the best he has played against a ranked opponent. Mandel highlighted Underwood's success, but it was Iowa who got the last laugh.

"The storyline for most of Saturday’s Iowa-Michigan game was Bryce Underwood finally looking like a passer, but all anyone will remember now is the wild ending. Down 19-14 with 11 seconds left, Iowa QB Hank Brown completed a 29-yard pass to the Michigan 16. It sure looked like the Big House clock was going to run out on the No. 17 Hawkeyes (4-0), but a Michigan injury stopped it with 2 seconds left."

Questionable decision by Jay Hill on the final play

With two seconds left on the play clock, Jay Hill opted to have a three-man rush at Hank Brown and used linebacker Nathaniel Staehling as a spy.

Who knows if pulling the linebacker back, or having another rusher at Hank Brown would've made a difference, but it's very questionable to have a spy in that situation. Brown isn't going to scramble 16 yards for a touchdown to win the game, and if he tried, that's when the Michigan defense would rally and crash down.

Michigan was in Press Man Bracket with a spy on a Quarterback who plays football for Iowa…
— Connor Stalions (@cpstalions) September 26, 2026

Every game is a playoff game moving forward

Richard Johnson from CBS Sports noted that every game moving forward is a playoff game for Michigan. Games against Penn State, Indiana, Oregon, UCLA, and Ohio State all loom large and while the Wolverines can likely lose one more game to reach the playoff, there are a lot of tough games left on the slate.

"Just about every week is a playoff game for Michigan going forward." @RJ_cfb after the Wolverines' loss to Iowa#CFBScoreboard pic.twitter.com/BDKqHKzBue
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) September 27, 2026

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