IOWA CITY, Iowa -- What a buzz kill Kirk Ferentz can be.
This wasn't just a moment for Iowa's coach -- beating No. 3 Michigan to further jumble the playoff picture three weeks from pick 'em day -- this was the moment for his freshman walk-on kicker.
His name is Keith Duncan, a player so anonymous his own quarterback didn't know where he was from until this week. Duncan was the star of whatever story you want to write about the Hawkeyes' 14-13 win over the Wolverines.
He kicked the 33-yard game-winning field goal as time expired. He got trapped under a roiling mass of teammates and fans spilling out of the stands that made the Kick Six aftermath seem like an appetizer.
He also wasn't available to speak to the media. It seems that Duncan was clutch enough to split the uprights with the kick of his life but couldn't possibly be trusted in front of 20 or so reporters. (Sarcasm added.)
Coach's orders. Freshmen aren't allowed to talk.
"I shouldn't be up here. Keith should be up here," Iowa punter Ron Coluzzi said from a postgame podium. "He's a phenomenal kicker, deserves every bit of success.
"A lot of people think before a game-winning field goal you've got to say this or say that, but we're in no-man's land to begin in. I did my best to, like, keep everyone away from him."
While Coluzzi ran mental interference for his kicking bro, Iowa just plain interfered with Michigan and the national picture. The Wolverines became the third top five undefeated team to go down on possibly the season's wildest Saturday.
Michigan, a 23.5-point favorite, malfunctioned on several levels showing again how hard it is to go undefeated. Ask Clemson and Washington who went down earlier in the day.
"We get everyone's best shot being who we are and the coaches that we have and the attention that we bring," said Michigan quarterback Wilton Speight, who went from a career-high 362 passing yards a week ago against Maryland to 103 against the Hawkeyes.
"It's championship week for us, but it's literally everyone's championship game when they play Michigan Wolverines."
Iowa held Michigan 35 points and 296 yards below its season averages. Michigan came into the game with a cumulative victory margin of more points (336) than 119 teams had scored all season.
When Duncan drove through a 25-yarder in the third quarter to give Iowa an 11-10 lead, it marked the second time in almost two months the Wolverines had trailed.
Duncan arrived quietly from North Carolina in June, found his way on the team and then did was most kickers do: shrink into the background until they're needed.
"I didn't even know he was from North Carolina until yesterday," Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard said. "He was talking about going to Clemson games [as a kid]."
That was certainly fitting on a day when Clemson, Washington and Michigan all had their seasons altered. Had it all come too easily for the Wolverines? Saturday also marked only Michigan's third road game.
"[Overlooking Iowa] never crossed any of our minds," Speight said. "Coming to Iowa, it doesn't matter how they've been playing before."
The Hawkeyes (6-4) hadn't been playing well at all. But most of them knew first hand how hard it was to go undefeated. Michigan State took their unbeaten season away from them last year with a touchdown in the final 27 seconds of the Big Ten title game.
"We were there last year," Beathard said. "Being on the losing edge of it is tough. Anybody who plays sports knows what the losing team is going through."
When Michigan gets through the downer that was Saturday night, it will realize all its goals are in front of it. At 9-1, Michigan still controls its own destiny. Win out against Indiana, Ohio State and in the Big Ten title game and it would be hard to keep them out of the College Football Playoff.
"Difficult," Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said of the season goals, "but not insurmountable."
The Wolverines had been challenged, really, only once this season. Wisconsin took them into the fourth quarter on Oct. 1 in a 14-7 Michigan win. Iowa took the Wolverines on the entire game.
It was the little things Saturday. Michigan turned it over twice. That was the equivalent of one-third of their season total (six). One Iowa drive was extended when Michigan was flagged for running into Coluzzi on consecutive snaps.
The final crushing blow came when Michigan was flagged for a facemask, setting up Iowa at Michigan's 36 with 83 ticks left.
Four plays and one final, desperate Michigan timeout later (to freeze Duncan), the kicker calmly put it through.
"Duncan Donuts?" Iowa defensive end Faith Ekakitie said, using the kicker's nickname. "He's a great kid. I couldn't [watch]. I've never been sicker to my stomach. I have a pretty strong stomach but I left like throwing up right before."
Linebacker Josey Jewell kept his eyes wide open. He was the one who told Beathard, "Give us 14 points and we'll win the game."
"Some guys were closing their eyes," Jewell said of the kick. "I wanted to watch the whole thing, it was awesome."
The game came with a dollop of history. The last time Harbaugh visited Kinnick Stadium, he was the Michigan quarterback in 1985. Iowa's epic 12-10 win that year still stands as one of the best in the program's history.
That one, too, was won by a last-second field goal. That one, too, came over No. 2 Michigan. That one, too was won by a walk-on, Rob Houghtlin.
It was also the last time the Nos. 2-3-4 teams in the nation, as ranked by the AP Top 25, all lost on the same day.
Saturday's repeat couldn't have been less sweet.
"It was an incredible feeling kicking that in front of 70,000 fans," Duncan said from a quote sheet handed out to media. "I can't even speak right now."
We heard, dude. Coach's orders.