ANN ARBOR, Mich.-- Back then, he was just doing it for fun, and maybe to make a few bucks to buy some candy. Besides, chasing rabbits was the thing everybody did back home in Belle Glade, Fla. Legend has it, it's also the reason why so much speed and football talent is harvested in that tiny south Florida town.

Iowa's Brad Banks just laughs about that pointy-headed theory, but then concedes there's got to be some reason why his alma mater, Glades Central, has the most NFLers of any school in the country, right?

"That is the big thing back there," he says matter-of-factly. "I never thought that was gonna make us faster. I just was thinking of knocking them out and selling 'em."

	QB Brad Banks passed for 222 yards and 3 TDs as Iowa handed Michigan its worst-ever home loss.

Banks, like all of the other kids ranging from six to 13, try and catch rabbits darting through the lung-stinging black muck of the Florida sugar cane fields. On Saturday afternoon, Iowa's rabbit hunter came to Ann Arbor and showed he's also a pretty adept big-game hunter. This time, he was stalking Wolverines.

By the end of the afternoon, the 6-foot, 185-pound senior carved up Michigan's defense by completing 12-of-20 passes for 222 yards and three TDs, while also scooting his way to another 53 yards on the ground en route to a 34-9 Iowa victory. He also chased away many of the 111,000 at the Big House, who witnessed Michigan's worst loss at home in 35 years.

Credit Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz and his staff for a clever game plan. Much of the damage was done with rangy Hawkeye tight end Dallas Clark working the middle of the field, beating UM's zone. Ferentz also unveiled a knockout punch in a tunnel screen, a play that Hawkeye fans hated last year because it never seemed to click. Against Michigan Saturday, though, Banks was able to give his cousin, speedy senior wideout C.J. Jones some time to slash through the Wolverines defense, toasting blitzes.

And of course, there was Banks just beating Michigan with his legs -- dodging tacklers and enabling his team to have a 17-minute edge in time of possession. Not bad for a guy who, despite leading Glades Central to a state championship, played wide receiver at Hinds CC in Mississippi.

"That guy is just so good and so cool and so poised out there," says Iowa WR Maurice Brown.

Before leaving the field, the entire Hawkeye team sprinted to the East end zone and sang their fight song with the fans who drove the 472 miles from Iowa City. "It's the greatest experience in the world," says Jones. "To get to sing the fight song with the crowd, in somebody else's house. That never happens."

"This is Kinnick (Stadium) right now," says Brown.

Somewhere in Manhattan, Kansas, K-State assistant coach Bret Bielema should be smiling. It was Bielema, a former Iowa assistant who used to recruit South Florida for the Hawkeyes. Bielema got the first big wave five years ago, signing Brown (three catches, all for first downs); DT Colin Cole (three TFLs, one sack) and the team's leading tackler, Fred Barr.

Now, there are 11 Hawkeyes from Florida who have not only bolstered the program's speed, but also its psyche as well. "We've brought that Florida spirit up here," Jones says.

As Banks fielded questions about what it's like to give Iowa its biggest win in over a decade, he didn't seem to let one victory go to his head. Yeah, maybe they have emerged as the favorite -- along with Ohio State -- to get to the Rose Bowl, but as they like to say in Iowa, the hay's not in the barn yet.

"It's never in the barn," Banks said with a chuckle.

Before exiting the interview room, someone asked the sports and leisure studies major if he knew who the last Hawkeye QB to make all-Big Ten. For the first time, Banks didn't have an answer.

Told it was Matt Rodgers in 1991, Banks said "Aw, man I was in sixth grade then."

And probably too busy chasing rabbits.

Bruce Feldman is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. He can be reached at bruce.feldman@espn3.com.