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Come November 23rd, Michigan will face Iowa for the 59th time. For two teams that first faced off in 1900, that's not a lot of games. Even with a smaller sample size, Michigan has dominated the series with Iowa. With an overall record of 41-13-4, Michigan has only lost back-to-back games to the Hawkeyes four times, with two of those being a three-game losing streak from 2009 to 2011.
The High: November 8th, 1902, Michigan 107 - Iowa 0
Fielding H. Yost won six national championships as Michigan's head football coach. After winning his first in 1901 with a win in the first-ever Rose Bowl, the second came in 1902. With a 107-0 thrashing of Iowa, Michigan went 11-0 that year. And 107 wasn't even the highest score of the season. Michigan embarrassed Michigan Agricultural College (who you may know today as Michigan State) 119-0. Over the entire season, Michigan only gave up twelve points. After the Iowa game, the Detroit Free Press noted:
"Yost's smile can be seen all the way from Minneapolis...Michigan to-day mixed up her plays so completely that Iowa was completely bewildered. Delayed passes, double passes, ends skirting ends, halves dodging in between end and tackle after their opponents had been boxed out and in, tackles and full back hitting the line like trip hammers made the giant Hawkeyes look like a weak scrub team."
The Low: November 1st, 1958, Michigan 14 - Iowa 37
The Iowa Hawkeyes football team has won a single national championship. They achieved it in 1958. Iowa entered the bowl season 7-1-1 and ranked #2, behind undefeated LSU. After crushing California in the Rose Bowl, Iowa brought home the title. If Michigan steals one from Iowa, the Hawkeyes most likely don't win the 1958 national championship. Unfortunately, 1958 saw Michigan football have a 2-6-1 record, its worst in over two decades at the time. The victory was also Iowa's first over Michigan since 1924.
Here's a short clip on the 1958 Iowa Hawkeyes, if that tickles your fancy.
The Other Important Games: Iowa's win in '02/Michigan's 9-game win streak through the 60's and 70's/Last year
In 2002, Iowa went undefeated in the Big Ten, was co-champs with Ohio, and set a team record with 11 wins. One of those came against Michigan, beating the Wolverines 34-9. Scoring 24 unanswered points to end the game, Iowa gave Michigan its worst loss at home since 1967. Even with a tough loss at home against Iowa State (The Battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy), the '02 Hawkeyes are one of the best teams to come out of Iowa City in recent memory (along with the 10-2 2004 Hawkeyes). Highlights here.
From 1964 to 1978, Michigan won nine straight meetings with Iowa. As it is, that's not too impressive. But excluding the first win in '64, Michigan gave up 7 or less points over the next eight games, as well as shutting out the Hawkeyes three times. In those eight games, the Wolverines surrendered a mere 33 points. If you include the first game of the streak (where Michigan gave up 20 points), the Wolverines still only gave up 53 points over 9 games, or less than two field goals a game. That's some impressive defense from Bump and Bo.
After narrowly escaping Northwestern last year, the Iowa game that followed was more relaxing and fun to watch (disregarding Fitzgerald Toussaint's brutal leg injury). Devin Gardner went HAM and scored six touchdowns, three through the air and three on the ground. It also saw the return of Denard Robinson as a non-QB threat, after missing the previous two games. And yes, I included this game just so I could put up a video of Michigan handling Iowa with ease.