The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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"When teams lose any games, there's a certain spirit in that locker room," Beilein said. "Too many in a row is not good … but our teams have usually responded after losses." Iowa did after losing to both Ohio State and Michigan State at home. Michigan was the Hawkeyes' last chance to prove themselves against a top-flight program at home, and they were hungry following a home loss to the Buckeyes Feb. 4. They rolled to a blowout win in a game that wasn't competitive. "That was good for them because their backs were against the wall," Dakich said. "They had three op- portunities to show what they were really about, and they did it in the third one. Now I'm really anxious to see — does that propel them? "There are always games this time of year that propel your season or drag it down. I think Iowa is good, but they have to understand that it's toughness that's important. Skill is great, depth is great, but you'd better have an inherent toughness to you to compete in the Big Ten, home and away." The Hawkeyes had suffered only two road losses heading into a Feb. 18 game at Indiana, a heart- breaker at Wisconsin (75-71) they should have won and a defeat at Michigan (75-67). The meat of their schedule is behind them, and they'll likely be favored in each of their re- maining games but one — a March 6 contest at Michigan State. Three games in eight days — at In- diana, versus Wisconsin Feb. 22 and at Minnesota Feb. 25 — will likely determine whether or not they still have a chance to catch the Wolver- ines and Spartans. Lose one and it's probably lights out.