MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota hasn't managed to lead against Iowa since 2016. And that didn't change Friday night at TCF Bank Stadium.
For the sixth-consecutive year, the Gophers lost to the Hawkeyes, this time 35-7 to fall to 1-3 this season. This is already the halfway point of the delayed and shortened eight-week Big Ten season, with a ninth game depending on the standings also planned for the same weekend as the Dec. 19 conference championship.
Both Iowa and the Gophers started this COVID-19-impacted season with two losses before rebounding with big victories a week ago. But while the Hawkeyes used that as a springboard, the Gophers made their win at Illinois feel like an aberration.
The Hawkeyes' strength coming into the game was easily their defense, with it being the stingiest on the rush in the Big Ten. For the Gophers, the offense had carried the team with its young and inexperienced defense, though Big Ten leading rusher Mohamed Ibrahim was the main reason for the offensive production.
On Friday, Iowa's offense, with California native Spencer Petras at quarterback, looked better than it actually is, especially compared to the Gophers, who stubbornly tried to force the run through Ibrahim or key the passing game on star receiver Rashod Bateman without much success.
So Iowa scored first with five minutes, 42 seconds left in the first quarter off receiver Nico Ragaini's 1-yard run. The Gophers offense looked to have its best shot at the end zone toward the end of that quarter, thanks to linebacker James Gordon IV picking off Petras for a 17-yard return. But that play rolled back from Iowa's 25-yard line all the way to the Gophers' own 45, thanks to a blindside block penalty on linebacker Mariano Sori-Marin and an unsportsmanlike conduct call on Gophers coach P.J. Fleck, possibly for arguing against the first penalty.
The Gophers' defensive situation took another hit soon after in the second quarter, with Sori-Marin ejected for targeting. Iowa running back Tyler Goodson, who took that helmet-to-helmet hit, then scored on that drive with a 7-yard run to put Iowa up by two touchdowns.
Even without a starting linebacker, though, the defense still bailed out Gophers quarterback Tanner Morgan after he threw an interception to Iowa safety Jack Koerner, forcing Iowa to try for a 50-yard field goal that fell short.
The Gophers, though, missed their own field goal late in the third quarter. Brock Walker attempted a 39-yarder, but Koerner was able to put a hand on it to tip it well off course. Walker, still recovering from sports hernia surgery, handled kickoffs and field goals in the season opener with several specialists unavailable. He also missed the extra point that sealed an overtime loss at Maryland in Week Two, and Michael Lantz returned to kicking duties last week at Illinois.
In the fourth quarter, the Gophers defense allowed a big 45-yard run from Goodson, which led to Petras' 8-yard touchdown pass to receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette. A botched snap saved the Gophers from the extra point.
With time ticking, the Gophers marched all the way up to Iowa's 20-yard line before Morgan's second interception, which Iowa's Riley Moss returned 62 yards. Goodson turned that into a 1-yard touchdown run and also scored the two-point conversion.
Iowa added another score from Mekhi Sargent's 14-yard run. The Gophers did narrowly avoid their first shutout since a 31-0 loss to Wisconsin in 2017 with Morgan's 4-yard pass to Bateman with 14 seconds left in the game. Lantz came in to kick that extra point.
But what happened before that final score of the game displayed exactly what this rivalry is like. Fleck called a timeout with seconds to play down 35 points, obviously desperate for a score. Then Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz proceeds to call all three of his remaining timeouts to show his distaste.
