No. 17 Iowa drives for last-play TD to beat No. 18 Michigan 20-19

Iowa quarterback Hank Brown (9) throws against Michigan during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Ann Arbor, Mich., Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.

Iowa quarterback Hank Brown (9) throws against Michigan during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Ann Arbor, Mich., Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)


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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — In the same stadium where Michigan was given an extra second in a controversial win over Western Michigan, the Iowa Hawkeyes took full advantage of having one more snap with two ticks on the clock.

Hank Brown threw a game-ending, 16-yard touchdown pass to Reece Vander Zee to lift the 17th-ranked Hawkeyes to a 20-19 win over the 18th-ranked Wolverines on Saturday.

"To be able to silence a stadium like that, there's no greater feeling," Brown said.

The Hawkeyes (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) went 91 yards on the final drive — boosted by an unnecessary roughness penalty against Michigan on third down at midfield. Brown's 29-yard pass to Addison Ostrenga set up the final play with 2 seconds on the clock.

"We prep for situations like these throughout the week in practice all the time," Brown said. "Why do you prepare for it? For a moment like that."

Brown, though, didn't want to bite when asked if the victory was justice for Western Michigan.

"I'm not going to speak on that," he said after a chuckle.

Bryce Underwood threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to JJ Buchanan early in the fourth quarter — their second scoring connection of the game — but the Wolverines (3-1, 0-1) could not make enough plays on either sides of the ball to hold on for the win.

"We would've liked to run the clock out," coach Kyle Whittingham said. "That was disappointing."

Iowa took its first lead early in the fourth quarter on Brown's 16-yard touchdown pass to Vander Zee.

Then Underwood dropped back, stepped up, rolled right and threw a long touchdown pass to Buchanan for a 19-14 lead. His 2-point conversion pass fell incomplete.

Iowa lined up to go for it on fourth down at the Michigan 28 late in the game and left guard Leighton Jones was flagged for a false start. Facing a fourth-and-6, coach Kirk Ferentz chose to have Caden Buhr attempt a 51-yard field goal and it was wide right with 2:33 left.

Iowa's defense forced Michigan to punt again and its offense took advantage.

"Our defense and special teams put us in a good spot to be able to go down and go out and execute that last drive," Brown said.

On Underwood's first touchdown pass to Buchanan, he converted a third-and-7 from the Iowa 18.

The lead didn't last long because Braeden Jackson, son of former NFL running back Fred Jackson, returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a score.

The Wolverines went back ahead early in the second quarter on Trey Butkowski's 41-yard field goal.

Instead of kicking another field goal later in the quarter, Whittingham went for it on fourth-and-1 from the Iowa 18 and Underwood's sneak was stopped.

Underwood was picked off by Deshaun Lee, a former teammate at nearby Belleville High School, at the Iowa 2 early in the third quarter.

Michigan finished 2 of 4 in the red zone, and Iowa converted on both of its drives inside the 20.

"That proved to be one of the differences in the game," Whittingham said.

Michigan running back Jordan Marshall appeared to aggravate an injury in the second half.

Right tackle Blake Frazier left the game in the third quarter, trying to keep weight off his right leg, and later returned to play. Frazier was shifted from left to right tackle to fill in for Andrew Sprague, who missed a second straight game with an injury.

Iowa: The Hawkeyes beat a ranked Big Ten team on the road for the first time since 2015.

"It's huge," Brown said.

Michigan: The Wolverines had won 47 straight when leading at halftime in what was the longest active streak in FBS.

Iowa: Hosts No. 7 Ohio State next Saturday.

Michigan: Plays first road game at Minnesota next Saturday.

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