The Hawkeyes have a tough test awaiting in Michigan QB Bryce Underwood

When the 17th ranked Iowa Hawkeyes take on the 18th ranked Michigan Wolverines, the Hawkeye defense will have to find a way to contain one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in college football. Bryce Underwood, the second year starting quarterback for Michigan, has a dangerous run game. It's mixed with speed and power, that has caused problems for many Big Ten schools.

"He's big," said Tyler Brown, the Hawkeye starting safety. "He's a big guy, but it's football."

Though the Hawkeyes have already played three dual threat quarterbacks to start the season, most notably Iowa State's Jalen Raynor, Underwood is a different challenge.

"There are some similar plays that helps that we've dealt with some of these," said Bryce Hawthorne, a starting defensive tackle for the Hawkeyes. "But there's a lot of new quarterback run games that we're looking at that we haven't seen before so that's definitely going to be challenging."

The different ways Michigan can attack the Hawkeyes with Underwood will make things difficult. But just Underwood's size at 6'4" and 230 pounds could prove to be a challenge itself.

"I think Underwood, he's definitely an athlete and he's definitely one of the bigger quarterbacks that we've seen so far," said Hawkeye defensive tackle Luke Gaffney. "And I think that although we are preparing for that scramble-esque quarterback one of the big things is just having confidence in what we have."

If confidence in what they have is what the Iowa defense needs to do, then there's no reason to not be confident. The Hawkeyes lead the nation with the least amount of points allowed (4.3) and yards allowed per game (176.7). The Hawkeye defensive scheme, a 4-2-5, relies heavily on a strong defensive line, a unit that had a lot of question marks coming into the season. Players like Hawthorne, Will Hubert, and Gaffney have locked down the interior for the Hawkeyes.

"With the defense that we have, with the lineman and linebackers, we have to close off gaps," said Hawthorne. "That's what we have to do, like we have to close off an extra gap. Cause we have four down linemen, they have five linemen."

Once those gaps are clogged, then the defense can get aggressive and battle for the sacks, QB pressures, and tackles for loss. This Saturday against Michigan, the focus will mainly be keeping Underwood in the pocket as much as possible.

"Mostly just keeping him in our area, not letting him get outside of the box to where he can go for a lot of yards," said Kenneth Merrieweather, a starting defensive end for the Hawkeyes.

But keeping Underwood contained is a task that's bound to be failed a couple times per game. That's where the chemistry on the defense is needed and in game communication.

"A lot of it's just your visual reaction, we've all played with each other for years now," said Gaffney. "I think we all are just ready to read and react and make each other right."

The Hawkeyes take Michigan on at 2:30 pm on Saturday. The game will kick off at the Big House in Ann Arbor, Michigan and can be watched on CBS.

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