Minnesota’s best shot at Floyd of Rosedale starts where these rivalry games usually get decided: in the trenches.
The Gophers host No. 15 Iowa on Saturday at Huntington Bank Stadium, with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m. on FS1.
The weather forecast calls for 70 degrees, overcast skies and a 15 mph north wind. Iowa is listed as a minus-7 favorite.
Minnesota comes in at 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten after a 41-13 loss to Purdue on Oct. 10, then a bye week. Iowa is 5-1 and 2-1 after pounding Washington 41-24 in Seattle on Oct. 9 before its own idle week.
The Gophers are chasing something they have not pulled off since October 1978: winning all three of their rivalry trophies - Floyd of Rosedale, the Little Brown Jug and Paul Bunyan’s Axe - in the same season. Iowa currently has all four of the traveling trophies in its possession.
There’s also the P.J. Fleck angle, and it looms large every time these teams meet.
The stat that follows his tenure most closely is his 1-8 record against Iowa, and the source notes that some people still don’t give Minnesota full credit for the 2023 win because of Cooper DeJean’s called-back punt return touchdown. A victory at home would do more than just end that drought.
It would also take a bite out of Iowa’s rising College Football Playoff hopes.
As always with these two, the ground game may tell the whole story. Minnesota’s offensive success and defensive resistance have moved in opposite directions depending on the result: in the Gophers’ two Big Ten wins compared with their two Power Four losses, the offense has averaged 2.0 more yards per carry in the victories, while the defense has given up 3.7 more rushing yards per attempt in the defeats.
That’s a problem against an Iowa team built to squeeze games shut on the ground. The Hawkeyes rank in the top five nationally in rushing yards per attempt on both offense and defense. If Minnesota wants the pig, it likely has to win that battle first.
Drake Lindsey is another major piece of the puzzle. The Minnesota quarterback threw three interceptions in last year’s 41-3 loss at Iowa, though he has said he learned from trying to do too much in that game.
The matchup may give him a better chance this time: Iowa’s secondary has been vulnerable, allowing 6.9 yards per attempt, which ranks 61st nationally, and the Hawkeyes have only four interceptions, tied for 72nd. That suggests Minnesota may find more through the air than on the ground.
Still, recent history is hard to ignore. Iowa has held Minnesota to 14 points or fewer in five of the last six meetings, including each of the last four. Over that stretch, the Hawkeyes have gone 5-1 and beaten the Gophers by an average of 15 points, 26-11.
Iowa’s quarterback situation also took a turn this week. On Tuesday, Kirk Ferentz named Jeremy Hecklinski the starter against Minnesota.
Hank Brown had won the job by the start of Big Ten play, but he sprained his shoulder in the 31-14 loss to Ohio State on Oct. 3.
Hecklinski then completed 74% of his passes with three touchdowns and no interceptions in the win over Washington.
There’s a Minnesota connection on the Iowa defensive line, too. Bryce Hawthorne, an Osseo alum, South Dakota State transfer and son of former Gopher Ed Hawthorne, leads the Hawkeyes with 3½ tackles for loss in Big Ten games. Ferentz called him “Really playing at a high level,” and added, “More decisive (and with) confidence.”
Minnesota will also have a crowd reunion of sorts. The Gophers expect roughly 200 former players back for homecoming.
On the injury front, guard Jaden Ball has missed the last two games but was listed as probable on Thursday. Tight end Pierce Walsh and defensive tackle Riley Sunram remained questionable.
Given how steady Iowa has been this season - and how often it has controlled this rivalry lately - the Hawkeyes remain the safer pick. The matchup on the ground points the same way. Hawkeyes 30, Minnesota 21.
In Other News...
Iowa Heads To Minnesota With One Huge Offensive Question
Iowa comes to Minneapolis for a Big Ten matchup Saturday with a major quarterback wrinkle already in place, and the Hawkeyes have reasons to feel better about how that position looks than they did a week ago. Jeremy Hecklinski will start again for the injured Hank Brown, giving Iowa a chance to keep its momentum going against a Minnesota team that knows this kind of game can turn on one or two key drives.
Hecklinski has given Iowa a steadier presence in recent outings, which is part of why the Hawkeyes are expected to enter the weekend with confidence. For Minnesota, the challenge is clear: make the freshman quarterback work under pressure, slow an offense that has found some rhythm, and try to turn a Saturday that already leans toward Iowa into something far less comfortable for the visitors. [Read more 🡒]
Gophers Can Finally Flip Iowas Hidden Edge In This Rivalry
Special teams have long been a pressure point in the Iowa-Minnesota rivalry, and for the Gophers, thats hardly a small footnote. P.J. Fleck has leaned into the idea that this matchup often turns on hidden yards and hidden moments, where one kick, one return, or one coverage bust can swing a game as much as anything happening on offense or defense. Iowa has made a habit of owning those edges with players like Cooper DeJean and Tory Taylor, while Minnesota has been trying to narrow the gap on the third phase.
The 2023 meeting was another reminder of how thin that margin can be. A controversial ruling wiped away a punt-return score that Iowa backers still argue about, and Minnesota still came away needing every bit of its special-teams steadiness to stay in it. Dragan Kesich was central to that effort, and his role only underscores what Fleck keeps returning to: if the Gophers can keep this rivalry from tilting on hidden advantages, they give themselves a real chance to finally change the script. [Read more 🡒]
P.J. Flecks Fourth-Down Habit Is Haunting Minnesota At The Worst Time
P.J. Flecks fourth-down tendencies have become one of the more debated parts of Minnesotas season, especially when the Gophers find themselves needing a spark. For all the recent success the offense has had converting when it does take the gamble, Minnesota still ranks low nationally in fourth-down attempts, and that caution was on display in the loss at Purdue, where the Gophers let a few chances to stay aggressive slip by.
With Iowa next on the schedule, the discussion around Flecks philosophy is likely to linger. He has said his approach is built around not chasing points too early, even if the scoreboard is starting to demand more urgency, and this is the kind of matchup where every possession in the rivalry matters a little more than usual. [Read more 🡒]