On the surface, the game looked the same as three of the Wolverines’ five others this season. After being down by nine with about seven minutes left in the game, they were poised for yet another comeback.

Like last week's 26-20 loss to Michigan State, this one again fell short — but in anticlimactic fashion. Leading the charge at crunch time wasn’t freshman quarterback Tate Forcier, who has proved to be calm in cutthroat situations. Instead, he was watching from the sidelines as Rodriguez tapped freshman quarterback Denard Robinson, the speedy quarterback who had yet to be tested in a situation with the game on the line.

With a minute and a half left to drive the ball down the field for a game-winning field goal, the Michigan comeback attempt lasted just 44 seconds. Robinson threw for a first down, ran the ball and then threw a pick directly into the hands of Iowa defensive end Brett Greenwood.

That sealed a 30-28 loss to No. 12 Iowa, Michigan’s second straight loss in just as many road games. Iowa extended its win streak to 10 games, good for second in the FBS.

Though the last-ditch comeback attempt has seemed commonplace this year, the nature of it was unlike any other game this season. Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez benched Forcier, his star freshman quarterback, in order to try and get a "spark" out of Robinson. Neither Forcier nor Robinson were made available to the media for the first time this season. Forcier walked out of Kinnick Stadium with his head down and purposefully avoiding eye contact.

“Words? There was no words on the sidelines,” a visibly frustrated Rodriguez said after the game when questioned about his late-game interaction with Forcier. “Don’t start off trying to create something that’s not there.”

But the questions kept coming, and Rodriguez tersely answered again.

“I said it for six games now -- Denard Robinson will play,” he said. “Put Denard in there, (we) had a little plan with him, and he gave us a spark. End of story. Let’s not create something that’s not there, guys. I’ve got two outstanding quarterbacks, three quarterbacks, and we did it. That’s not the story of the game. All right, next.”

The puzzling coaching decision in the last two minutes came after the Wolverines had every chance to win it. The first half was characterized by Michigan’s three turnovers and big Iowa third-down conversions. The Hawkeyes converted seven of 11 third-down attempts and scored both of their first-half touchdowns on third downs.

The temperature at kickoff was 38 degrees, and though the morning’s light snow melted by game time, the biting chill was a new phenomenon for the two Michigan quarterbacks used to playing in warm weather. Kinnick Stadium was packed well before kickoff, with yellow rally towels sticking out against the night sky and the Hawkeye fans’ “blackout” attire.

It took just 46 seconds for the Wolverines to get on the board. On second down and nine – the second play of the game – Donovan Warren caught an interception on a badly thrown pass by Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi. Last week, against Michigan State, the Wolverines also grabbed an interception on the first drive of the game (on the third play), but couldn’t gain yards on the ensuing drive and had to settle for a field goal. But this week, Donovan Warren wasted no time taking it to the end zone, running untouched for a touchdown to give Michigan a 7-0 lead.

One of the biggest game-breakers for the Michigan defense in last week’s loss to Michigan State was its inability to stop the Spartans on third downs. That didn’t change on Iowa’s first extended drive, as it converted on a third-and-5 with a 10-yard catch, a third-and-3 and finally, on third-and-12, a pass from Stanzi to wide-open tight end Tony Moeaki, who easily tied the game.

But the Wolverine defense also continued its practice of holding offenses to field goals in the red zone after turnovers. On Michigan’s first offensive drive, freshman Tate Forcier’s first attempted pass of the game was underthrown, intercepted by Jeremiha Hunter and returned to the Michigan 19-yard line, giving the Hawkeyes great field position.