Michigan Wolverines vs Iowa Hawkeyes Match Player Stats On Dec 04, 2021

Hassan Haskins ran for two touchdowns and Michigan pulled away in the second half for a 42-3 victory over Iowa in the Big Ten Conference championship game Saturday night in Indianapolis, likely securing a first-ever playoff berth for the No. 2 Wolverines.

Haskins capped an 82-yard drive with a 4-yard run to put the Wolverines up 21-3 with 8:23 left in the third quarter. His 1-yard run early in the fourth quarter was his 20th rushing touchdown of the season, surpassing the previous single-season record of 19 set by Ron Johnson in 1968.

Iowa, 13th in the playoff rankings, had just one field goal to show for three trips into the red zone. The Hawkeyes (10-3) had 121 yards of total offense in the first quarter, but just 158 the rest of the way.

Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, the first defensive player to win the Big 10 championship game MVP, said the Wolverines "defied all expectations."

"Nobody thought we could do this. Nobody thought we could ever do this, especially not this season. And, man, we did it and we did it in a very dominant fashion."

Blake Corum scored on a 67-yard run, and running back Donovan Edwards threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to give the Wolverines (12-1) a 14-0 first-quarter lead.

"We had that play, it was ready for prime time. It's been ready for prime time for about seven weeks," said Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh.

"We first put it in before he hurt his ankle. Then when he came back, we started greasing it up again. We knew that that one was going to work. We had it planned early. As soon as we got on the left hash after the fourth play, we were going to run that," Harbaugh said.

In the fourth quarter, Cade McNamara hit tight end Erick All with a 5-yard touchdown pass and Edwards had a 1-yard scoring run.

McNamara completed 16 of 24 passes for 169 yards with one interception. Corum finished with 74 yards on five carries, and Haskins added 56 yards on 17 attempts as the Wolverines (12-1) rolled up 461 yards total offense.

Spencer Petras completed 9 of 22 passes for 137 yards for Iowa. Alex Padilla came on in the third quarter and was 10-of-15 for 38 yards with one interception.

"We knew this game would be a big challenge coming into it. We've got a lot of respect for what they've done this season. I knew we'd have to play our best and make some things go our way and obviously that didn't materialize," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said.

"Just one thing leads to another sometimes. I've been in games like that, unfortunately. They're not much fun. I'm not sure the score's totally representative of the two teams, but that's just the way it went tonight."

The Wolverines earned their first championship game berth on Nov. 27 with a 42-27 victory over previously unbeaten Ohio State, snapping an eight-game losing streak against the Buckeyes. Iowa, which lost 16-13 to Michigan State in 2015 in its only previous title game appearance, won the Big Ten West when Wisconsin was upset in the regular-season finale at Minnesota.

Corum put the Wolverines in front 7-0 on their second possession with a 67-yard run up the right sideline. On the first play of their next possession, Edwards took a lateral in the right flat and hit Roman Wilson in stride behind the secondary for 75 yards to make it 14-0.

Iowa responded with a 10-play, 71-yard drive that culminated in Caleb Shudak's 22-yard field goal.

The Hawkeyes missed an opportunity on their opening possession when running back Gavin Williams overthrew a wide-open Monte Pottebaum in the end zone on an option pass.

Shudak, who had made 18 of 19 field goals inside the 50, missed on a 33-yard attempt from the right hash.

--Field Level Media