Hawkeyes discuss their mental toughness during Michigan win

Michigan had more yards, first downs, and led Iowa for a majority of Saturday's game in Ann Arbor, but the Hawkeyes made the clutch plays. As a result, Iowa is 4-0 for the first time since 2021.

"It really got down to mental toughness for us. Our guys staying the course, and going back to the Tom Moore, ya know, hardest the longest," said Kirk Ferentz, Iowa football's head coach. "If you're doing it right, you're giving yourself a chance to make that true, and that's really what it got down to. Four games into it, obviously happy with what we've done so far, but the next 13 days are really going to be important for this team, and we are developing better, moving forward, but obviously a lot of work still to do, and that's the beauty of the season."

"There's a lot of adversity that went on in that game. Ya know, we were trailing for pretty much the entire game, and guys just kept responding, kept fighting, never quit," said Zach Lutmer, an Iowa defensive back. "The offense kept pushing. How about that 90-yard drive at the end of the game when things weren't going their way? Pushed the ball 90 yards to win."

"Just hard work, just keeping at it. I mean that's how we build our program, ya know, never getting too high, never getting too low," said Reece Vander Zee, an Iowa wude receiver. "Just even-keeled. So I think that's something that separates us. Ya know, we have a bond of brothers that are just going to go in wherever we're going and play hard and play tough."

A top-15 showdown in Iowa City is on the horizon. The Hawkeyes, No. 14, host No. 5 Ohio State on Saturday.