In the Trenches 608 - Iowa Preview
9/24/2026 5:00:00 PM | MGoBlue Podcasts
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Radio Network Scene Setter • 00:01
Big Ten play starting now. And that's what it's all about for us. Bigger stage, better opponents. This is a lot more opportunity out there. Obviously our goal week by week is to get a win, but one of our big goals is to win a Big Ten championship. We know what we can do and what we're capable of. So really just making sure that we can come out there and perform that. And it starts with a tough Iowa team. You know exactly what you're walking into when you play Iowa. You're playing a fundamental, disciplined football team that loves to fly around and get to the ball and make plays. They know exactly who they are. They play really hard and they're really sound, fundamental and aggressive. They do what they do and you gotta meet physicality with physicality. We see it as a challenge. Super excited to attack it.
Jeff Laurence • 00:38
We're closing in on another Michigan game day. Now let's get you set for Saturday's matchup with our keys to the game edition of in the Trenches presented by Meijer, presenting sponsor of the twenty twenty six Michigan football season and proud supporter of hundreds of local sports teams across the Midwest. Now here's Jon Jansen.
Jon Jansen • 00:58
The non conference is behind us. Michigan comes out three zero Iowa. The start of the Big Ten season. It's gonna happen in the big house at three thirty on Saturday. I'm gonna give you some keys in just a moment, but before we get there. From drip to dry, Original Roofing company is the team you want on your side. Original Roofing company is a Michigan based family owned company that provides top quality roofing services across the entire state. With the onslaught of recent storms, Original Roofing's extensive experience helps homeowners, business owners and condo associations secure the insurance coverage they deserve through a seamless hands off process. So if you're not sure about the condition of your roof, they make it easy. Get a free no hassle roof inspection today at originalroofing dot com that's Original roofing dot com Original Roofing company Quality roofs. Trusted service and experts in storm damage insurance restoration.
Jeff Laurence • 01:55
Offense.
Jon Jansen • 01:57
Number one and maybe the most obvious key for the offense is stop laying the ball on the ground. Three games and Bryce has laid the ball on the ground in each of them. So when you become a runner, hey, we heard the keys from coach on Monday night. It's got to be high and tight and whether it's a running back, quarterback, wide receiver, if it's through the air or if it's a handoff, the number one thing that you have to do in every single game is maintain possession of the football. You, you can't give them an opportunity. And Iowa is a team that is really good at creating turnovers. They have been for it's shoot since I played back in the nineties. So they are a program. Kirk Ferentz drills it into the guys. The importance of creating turnovers. They're very good at it. So if that's a liability that you've recognized, you got to make sure that you make it a high priority to make sure that you possess the ball every single time.
Jon Jansen • 02:54
And it's okay to punt the football away. You don't always have to stretch for that extra yard. You don't always have to try and do more than you're capable of doing if it's going to put the football at risk. Number two, quick passing game has been good and I one hundred percent anticipate that's how you're going to start this game again. Get the ball in and out of the hands of Bryce Underwood. But you got to be ready to take shots other teams are going to identify. Hey, this is how Michigan likes to start games. If that's the case, they might start jumping some routes. If you, if they jump those routes, they'll pump fake, go downtown. Like there's a lot of different things. You could even pump fake and hand the ball off. A lot of different things you can do to use some of the tendencies you've created through three games to your advantage to start the game against Iowa.
Jon Jansen • 03:40
But you gotta be able to get the passing game going and eventually you're going to have to take shots downfield, show and make it a threat, open up that box, make sure you don't always have that extra player in the box because they're trying to take away a slant route, trying to take away the run game. Gonna have to air it out at some point and you're gonna have to show number three that you can run the ball on a good defense. Now I like the fact that you know in the second half against UTEP, you started to find a little bit of rhythm in the run game and you started to get everyone rocking and rolling. That's great. But now, hey, you've stepped up a little bit in the passing game. It's going to be a much better secondary that you're facing than you did against UTEP. And it's also going to be a much better tougher front to run the ball against and Savion Hiter.
Jon Jansen • 04:26
Eleven carries, sixty two yards, two touchdowns. Jordan Marshall, twelve carries, fifty nine yards. So you're dividing the, the, the, the task up, but you've got to be able to do it for four quarters. You can't wait to the second, you can't wait to the second half and make adjustments. You've got to start off by being able to run the football, establish it early. And it comes back to all the things I've been talking about for three weeks. It's taking good footwork, it's executing your blocks. The defense is going to move. You've shown that you've struggled a little bit by blocking movement. So what do you think the defense is going to do? They're not going to stay in one spot. They're going to move around. They're going to shoot the gap with linebackers. They're going to have looping defensive linemen coming around. Trust your technique. Know exactly who it is that you are responsible for.
Jon Jansen • 05:12
And, and, and who, when I say you are responsible for, I'm talking about the five offensive lineman. And maybe it's that Rhino tight end, maybe it's an actual tight end. But you've got to understand who it is that we're blocking because if my man disappears, I know, sure, as, as, as you know, the day is long that this, there's somebody going to show up in that gap. So make sure that, that you protect the gap, you understand your responsibilities and you perform the technique.
Jeff Laurence • 05:42
Defense
Jon Jansen • 05:44
Number one for defense is stop the run. And this Michigan defense has been really good at being able to stop the run. They've been disciplined, they've had three mobile quarterbacks and none of them have been able to, to hurt this defense. This is a little bit of a different animal because you're going to see more of a traditional offense. And one of the things that we know, and we'll talk a little bit about their quarterback, Hank Brown, but they are, they want to gain yardage on the ground with their running backs.
Jon Jansen • 06:13
Doesn't mean Hank Brown can't run. But that's not their primary focus. Their primary focus. And if you just look back to that last game that they played, scored fifty five points, didn't allow any. And it was Xavier Williams, one hundred fifty one yards, three touchdowns on the ground. Braeden Jackson, one hundred twenty five yards on the ground, one touchdown on the ground, one through the air. Nathaniel McNeil, one hundred eleven yards on the ground, two touchdowns on the ground. So hey, between their running backs, like they scored seven touchdowns, all right? And, and only one of those was through the air. This is a team that wants to establish the run. So you must be stout against the run. That's three different running backs over a hundred yards. They're going to attack you on the ground. They take a lot of pride in their offensive line and their run game.
Jon Jansen • 07:02
Number two, forced turnovers didn't do that against UTEP and, and really honestly against Oklahoma, that's one of the key reasons why Michigan won that game. So force turnovers, create sudden change situations and short fields for the offense. If this is, if this is a stout Iowa defense, which we all anticipate it is, short fields are going to matter. Three points are going to matter. So give your offense short fields. They've scored one hundred eleven points in three games. They've had no interceptions thrown by their quarterback, Hank Brown. Now, they don't put him at risk a lot, but as we've learned, like you've got a punch and you've got to hit that ball out from running backs, from wide receivers, from tight ends. Same thing with the quarterback. Attack the quarterback, if you can hit him before he releases the ball or if you could put him under duress and make him put the ball at risk, let him throw his first interception of the season.
Jon Jansen • 07:53
Number three, put yourself in position to get off field on third downs. So be good on first and second down, create those situations where Iowa is third and long, third and eight. Plus, like I just mentioned, they want to be able to run the football rundowns. First and second downs traditionally is where you're going to see the bulk of that threat. If you can stop the run and you can force them into third and long situations. Even though they've upgraded at the quarterback position with Hank Brown, this is his second year with Iowa. He's a transfer from Auburn. He can throw the ball around a lot. It's still not what this Iowa defense wants to do and it's not what they're comfortable with. So force them into third. Allowing situations, make them do things they're uncomfortable doing and try and pass out at some of those situations.
Jeff Laurence • 08:41
Special teams
Jon Jansen • 08:43
I've mentioned it already. On offense and defense, every point will matter. Against Iowa, two really good defenses are going to be on the field at Michigan Stadium at three hundred thirty, the Michigan defense and the Iowa defense. And it's going to be hard for each offense to go the length of the field. If you have an opportunity to put points on the board, whether it's field goal, even patsy, you've got to be consistent and you've got to. Those points have to be good and they have to matter because it may actually come down to one point, it could come down to two or three. It could be a field goal that wins this. It could be one of those field goal games. So every point is going to matter. And it comes down to operation snap, hold, kick. It also comes down to protection, all right? You got to be solid in protection up front, all the way across the board to the tight ends and the wings.
Jon Jansen • 09:32
And make sure you don't get called for any silly fouls on the wings with, you know, hands, arms extended, getting, holding call because you don't want to turn one of those forty yard kicks into a forty five or forty five into a fifty. Be disciplined in your technique and just do your job. Number two, having just said that, the game is going to come down to, you know, it, it, it's going to have two really good defenses on the field. It may come down to a field goal. Field position may be the deciding factor in this game. If you're on punt team, kickoff team kickoff not as it doesn't matter as much anymore because of the rules and all the touchbacks, but, but when it comes down to punt and punt coverage, Cam Brown has done a really nice job. We talked about that in the Oklahoma game. A large factor into why Michigan was able to win that game came simply because of field position.
Jon Jansen • 10:18
Now you could help your offense out on punt return by picking up a first down, getting something going in the return game, but the focus is really on punt. If you can get that, force them inside the twenty, force him inside the ten, inside the five. You can't tell me that really any offense that this team is going to face, Michigan's team is going to face, is really going to drive the field on a reliable basis throughout the course of a sixty minute game. Make them go the length of the field and when you got opportunity, put points on the board, do it yourself.
Jeff Laurence • 10:51
Now it's time for John's locker room speech.
Jon Jansen • 10:56
There's not a lot that has to be said about this game. We all know that this, the Big Ten season is finally upon us and we are going to welcome Iowa to the Big Ten season. The way to do that is to put your big boy pants on and play physical, violent football. A lot was lured in those first three games. But the identity of this football team, the identity of this football program has always been physicality and violence, especially at the point of attack. Defense, arrive at the ball with bad intentions. That's the great thing about football. You could do things in the, in the game and football that you can't simply do outside the lines. Enjoy every opportunity to physically dominate another individual offensive line. Revel in the chance to fight and solve your problems with violence. There's been some great quotes by some of the coaches here, and one of them I love the most is when you've got an issue up front, it doesn't matter what it is, solve your problems with violence.
Jon Jansen • 11:57
When in doubt, fire out. And you do it with violence. You do it with intention. And revel. When I talk about revel in the chance to fight and solve your problems with violence, what does revel mean? Revel means to take great pleasure, delight and intense joy in what you are doing. There's nothing that excites me more than when we get a chance to have a physical fistful on the football field. And that's what it means when you have Iowa, a physical, tough football program, facing Michigan, another physical and tough football program. We're going to find out who is the toughest and the toughest team will win this game. The team that wins the rushing battle, the team that is the most violent and physical at the line of scrimmage is going to win. And that is going to be Michigan. Go Blue.
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Jeff Laurence • 12:43
Thanks for listening to this edition of in the Trenches with Jon Jansen, presented by Meijer, presenting sponsor of the twenty twenty six Michigan football season and proud supporter of hundreds of local sports teams across the Midwest. In the Trenches is part of our Michigan Athletics Podcast Network, M GO Blue Podcasts. The preceding is a Learfield presentation of the Michigan Sports Network.
