Iowa running back Adam Robinson blows past Michigan's Courtney Avery on a fourth quarter carry in the Hawkeyes' 38-28 win Saturday.

Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com

Ricky Stanzi had already converted once on third down in the fourth-quarter drive, further dampening Michigan's comeback chances.

But with his team out of field goal range, the Iowa senior quarterback again needed to cover ground to protect a seven-point lead. Stanzi dropped back, surveyed the field and saw running back Adam Robinson in the flat. He released the pass just as he was about to be hit.

The throw was low, but catchable. The diminutive Robinson did the rest, adjusting to gain possession before making Michigan cornerback Courtney Avery miss. By the time Robinson was dragged down at the Michigan 14-yard line, the play went for 26 yards, setting up a fourth-quarter field goal that preserved the Hawkeyes' 38-28 win.

"That's huge for any type of drive - executing on third down," Stanzi said. "That's obviously when you're going to get off the field or stay on it and everyone understands it.

"The defense is going to pin their ears back, and they're going to be coming after you, but we did a good job of executing on that especially at the game when it had to."

Iowa converted on seven of its 13 third-down chances Saturday. But none of the first five was bigger than the two the Hawkeyes converted late in the fourth quarter after Michigan drew to within 35-28.

First, facing a third-and-nine play on the Iowa 41-yard line, Stanzi hit Marvin McNutt on a slant route that went for 17 yards. Three plays later on third and eight, Stanzi dumped off to Robinson, who put to any rest of Michigan getting another shot at a come-from-behind win with his timely catch and run.

"That was definitely a couple of big turning points," Robinson said. "You could just kind of tell the defense was a little bit lower than they were. They didn't get up as much after that. And that's what we need to do as an offense."

Despite being out-gained by 139 yards, Iowa's offense depended on execution, building a comfortable 28-7 lead. The Hawkeyes took advantage of Michigan miscues throughout the day, turning two interceptions into touchdowns while also blocking a Seth Broekhuizen field goal attempt that Iowa also turned into seven points.

"I think that's what you hope to do," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. "If you're going to benefit from a turnover, you want to convert it into points, and I thought our offense did a good job of that."

As comfortable as Iowa's defense looked in building a three-touchdown lead, the Hawkeyes didn't panic after their advantage shrunk to a touchdown. With just under 7 minutes to play, Iowa took possession at its own 40 after Broekhuizen booted the kickoff out of bounds.

After a penalty erased a 24-yard Stanzi completion, Stanzi got 10 yards back on a short pass play. But when Jordan Kovacs caught Robinson behind the line for a 4-yard loss, Stanzi faced one of his biggest plays of the day. He hit McNutt on the 17-yard slant pass that kept the Hawkeyes on the field.

By the time Mike Meyer connected on a 30-yard field goal with just under 3 minutes to play, Iowa had a 38-28 lead, representing the most points the Hawkeyes have ever scored against Michigan.

"I think that says we came out to execute today," said McNutt, who caught four passes for 78 yards. "They gave us looks we wanted to see, but when you execute, good things will happen. On offense, you always want to have confidence in what you're doing and we wanted to come out and put the game away."

Jeff Arnold covers sports for AnnArbor.com and can be reached at (734) 623-2554 or by e-mail at jeffarnold@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeffreyparnold.