Defensive back Zeke Berry made a costly mistake in the Michigan Wolverines vs. Iowa Hawkeyes game on Saturday. In the fourth quarter, Kyle Whittingham and his team led 19-14.
On a third-and-12 play, Iowa's Hank Brown tried to find wide receiver Tony Diaz downfield, but the pass fell incomplete. But the Hawkeyes got a new sign of life instead of scrambling a play on fourth down. Zeke Berry decided to push Diaz after the ball was already out of bounds.
This drew a penalty on the defensive back. The officials awarded Iowa 15 yards and a set of fresh downs. They moved up the field, and with just seconds on the clock, Hank Brown scored the comeback winner when he connected with Reece Vander Zee for a 16-yard touchdown. The Hawkeyes sealed the win with a 20-19 final score.
After this fourth-quarter drama and Michigan's loss, fans on social media heavily criticized Zeke Berry and held him responsible.
"Zeke Berry should never wear a Michigan uniform again," one fan commented.
"Cut Zeke Berry immediately," another fan said.
Here are other reactions criticizing the Michigan defensive back:
Zeke Berry finished the game with two tackles. Quarterback Bryce Underwood completed 17-of-28 passes for 276 yards, two TDs and one INT. This loss also ended Michigan's winning streak.
In the postgame press conference, Kyle Whittingham expressed his disappointment with the outcome of Saturday's game against Iowa. He said that they almost improved to a four-game winning streak.
However, Whittingham also said they will learn from their mistakes and improve themselves as the season continues.
"Yeah, it was a tough locker room," Whittingham said. "But I told them, hey, you know, first of all, it's a shame that we let that one get away from us because we had it. And I told them, sometimes in life you get knocked down, and things seem tough. And how are you going to overcome that? But that's life.
"You got to get back up, pick yourself back up. And we got to go right back to work on the next opponent. And that's how this profession is. You just got to keep going forward and learn from your mistakes. You know, watch the film, obviously, and critique things."
The Michigan Wolverines next face the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Oct. 3 at noon ET.
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