Iowa Football: Offense humming at perfect time with Michigan looming

Iowa football hosted Middle Tennessee in a warm-up game to prep for Michigan in Week 6 and it’s clear the offense is humming at the perfect time.

Looking ahead can sometimes be an issue but for Iowa, that was not the case on Saturday afternoon as the Hawkeyes hosted Middle Tennessee and throttled the Blue Raiders, 48-3.

The Hawkeyes were able to do whatever they wanted from the opening snap, putting up about 200 yards of offense in the opening quarter. The game was out of reach before the Blue Raiders could even say “Middle Tennessee” and Iowa’s outburst comes at the perfect time.

Iowa was fresh off a bye week after a huge rivalry win over Iowa State on the road and they showed no signs of rust, putting up 48 points with relative ease.

Nathan Stanley had a strong game, passing for 276 yards and two touchdowns while completing 17-of-25 passes. He’s going to need some confidence going on the road to the Big House next weekend and he has played well for most of the season. If the Hawkeyes are going to beat the Wolverines, he needs to be on his game.

As for the rest of the offense, the run game was borderline unstoppable with Toren Young leading the way with 11 carries for 131 yards. Tyler Goodson had 12 carries for 97 yards and Mekhi Sargent had 14 for 91 yards and a touchdown. On the day, the run game accounted for 351 yards and four touchdowns on 51 carries.

The offense is humming at the perfect time and as we saw against Wisconsin, an elite run game could give Michigan fits next weekend. The difference? Stanley is a better quarterback than Jack Coan who can keep the Wolverines honest.