Three years later, plenty of Iowa fans still can’t shake Oct. 21, 2023.
Scroll through the message boards and the X posts, and the grievance is still alive: “Minnesota did not win that game,” they say about the Gophers’ 12-10 victory at Kinnick Stadium. Iowa supporters point to Cooper DeJean’s 54-yard punt return touchdown with 1:21 left in the fourth quarter, only to see it erased when officials ruled he had given an invalid fair-catch signal.
The call wiped out what would have been a 17-10 Hawkeyes lead. Minnesota answered by taking the Floyd of Rosedale trophy on Justin Walley’s interception with one minute remaining.
That game is still the lone Minnesota win in nine tries against Iowa since P.J. Fleck took over in Dinkytown.
The Gophers, now 4-2 overall and 2-1 in Big Ten play, get another shot Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Huntington Bank Stadium, where the 15th-ranked Hawkeyes come in at 5-1 and 2-1. It’s the 120th meeting between the schools and the 92nd with Floyd of Rosedale on the line.
If Minnesota is going to pull this one off, Fleck believes the formula starts with the third phase of the game.
“For us to have success, complementary football must be very, very good and very consistent,” Fleck said. “When we’ve been good, it’s been very consistent; when we haven’t been good, it’s not very consistent.
“We need to score on special teams, which we’ve done and [have] got to continue to do. But then we’ve also got to continue to win field position. There’s been times we’ve done it and times we haven’t done it, because that’s the bridge that connects the offense and defense.”
Special teams were front and center in that 2023 showdown. DeJean, an All-America defensive back, had both a punt return touchdown and three interception return touchdowns during his Iowa career, while Tory Taylor was a unanimous All-America punter in 2023. Minnesota matched that impact with Dragan Kesich, who accounted for all 12 points in the upset by drilling four field goals on the way to Big Ten Kicker of the Year honors.
In Other News...
Gophers Face A Huge Iowa Test That Could Define Their Season
Minnesotas path gets a lot clearer, or a lot messier, when Iowa shows up. The matchup carries real weight for the Gophers because of where they stand in the playoff conversation, and it arrives against an Iowa team that has put together a strong season and usually asks opponents to win the game on the margins.
For Minnesota, the cleanest route starts with controlling Iowas ground game, handling special teams and finding ways to keep the offense moving without letting the Hawkeyes settle in. Iowa linebacker Cam Buffington is one of the names to know on the other side, and the bigger question is whether the Gophers can create enough pressure on a disciplined defense to make this feel like their kind of game instead of Iowas. [Read more 🡒]