The Minnesota Gophers lost 27-22 at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday, making it 22 years without a win at enemy territory in their heated rivalry with Iowa.
In the 87th edition of the Floyd of Rosedale, Iowa backup Alex Padilla made his first career start. Iowa ran strong right away behind midseason first-team All-American C Tyler Linderbaum. The drive was capped off by a Caleb Shudak 50-yard field goal to make the game 3-0.
The Gophers ground game improved upon last week versus Illinois. Mar’Keise “Bucko” Irving and Ky Thomas paved the way for Minnesota on their second drive after a porous 3-and-out to start the game. The Gophers utilized a heavy usage of tosses that worked well in their favor.
After a Matthew Trickett 20-yard field goal, the game was tied 3-3. Trickett ended up being perfect in this game, finishing 3/3 on the day. He notched a field goal before halftime to give the Gophers a 13-10 lead over Iowa, giving Minnesota their first lead over the Hawkeyes since 2016.
Most of Trickett’s field goals were inside 30 yards. Instead of trying for a touchdown, head coach P.J. Fleck was focused on getting on the scoreboard as much as possible.
“Everybody wants touchdowns,” said Fleck. “You do everything you can to gain as many points as you can to get to the fourth quarter to see where you are at.”
As the game progressed Minnesota had a notable hole in their offense: the passing game. After the next Iowa drive, where Padilla ran the pigskin in for six, Tanner Morgan had one yard passing compared to Padilla’s 79 yards.
Padilla finished 11/24 with 206 passing yards and two touchdowns. Morgan finished 14/30 with 183 yards and a touchdown.
Minnesota’s hole in the passing game was filled on a Cole Kramer trick play for a big gain. Kramer came in on a fourth down and instead of calling a running play, the Gophers ran a play-action pass to Ko Kieft for a 37-yard touchdown. That score would tie the game before Trickett’s field goal to end the half.
Against Illinois, the Gophers defense gave up two straight scores to start the game before finding their groove. In the first half at Iowa City, the same situation occurred. After the defense gave up ten points, they forced a three-and-out and Justin Walley made a fumble recovery to set up a field goal conversion before half.
That defensive prowess held tough for one drive in the second half, then dissolved quickly as Padilla found a wide-open Charlie Jones streaking downfield for a 72-yard reception. Iowa’s offense opened up once more in the fourth quarter Keagan Johnson bounced off two tackles and darted down the sideline for a 29-yard touchdown reception making the game 24-16.
All wasn’t lost for Minnesota though, luckily the passing game woke up briefly. Morgan and Chris Autman-Bell finally connected on a deep ball with a 68-yard strike for a touchdown with five minutes left in the fourth quarter making the game 24-22 due to a failed two-point conversion.
Minnesota managed to get the ball back with three minutes remaining in the game, but the first sack from Iowa came at an inopportune time as the Gophers were pinned back inside their own 5-yard line. That loss of yardage led to a failed fourth-and-seventeen conversion by Minnesota.
Iowa settled for a 29-yard field goal which was converted. The final score would be 27-22 Iowa over Minnesota as the Gophers could not overcome a 5-point deficit with 39 seconds left.
“In November when you are playing teams like that, especially in rivalry games, anybody can win and that’s what it’s all about,” Fleck said. “All the credit goes to Iowa and Coach Ferentz and his team. They did a really good job.”
The Gophers play next at Indiana on Saturday, November 20 at 2:30 p.m. CST
