Will No. 13 Iowa Impose Another Beatdown on the Minnesota Gophers?

Last year Minnesota arguably suffered the worst loss in school history when Iowa beat the Gophers 55-0 in the last game of the season before the Minnesota faithful.  The score does not reflect how lopsided the game was for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa beat Minnesota in all phases of the game.

Iowa scored on 8 of their 12 offensive possessions.  The offensive attack was balanced as Iowa gained 261 yards through the air and 222 yards on the ground.

Iowa’s only three-and-out occurred in the fourth quarter and after they had already scored 55 points.

Iowa’s defense stifled the Gophers holding them to a total of 134 yards and six first downs.  On the ground, Minnesota was hapless gaining only 7 yards on 21 carriers.   

The cherry on the top for Iowa’s defense was Amari Spievey’s 57 yard interception which was returned for a touchdown. 

Iowa’s fans were so excited about beating up the Gophers that they actually tried to take the field goal posts out of the revolving doors of the Metrodome.

The final curtain call for Minnesota in the Metrodome was simply horrendous.

One year later, Minnesota has a chance to get revenge.  Make no mistake; this week’s game with Iowa is “the game” for the Minnesota Gophers and their fans.

In going to Iowa City, Minnesota senior linebacker Simoni Lawrence understands that his team has “to go in there angry. We have to go in and earn respect back.”   

When Lawrence meets with fans and asks them if you could beat either Wisconsin or Iowa, who would it be?  Lawrence says, “Everybody always says Iowa, I’m going to try and get everybody as geeked up as possible for this game.”

Generally, you say when a team won the week before you say that they have momentum.  Conversely, when a team loses the week before you say they have to regroup.

The above adage however in this rivalry is turned on its head this week.  Minnesota despite winning is in a tail-spin and Iowa coming off a loss has momentum. 

Minnesota won but its offense looked dreadful against FCS school South Dakota State as the only Gopher touchdown came on defense.

The offense had 16 possessions and only one possession went beyond 35 yards. Minnesota gained less than 10 yards on seven of their possessions.  On two possessions, the Gophers lost yardage. 

Late in the fourth quarter, Minnesota’s offensive unit had a chance to redeem themselves after the defense recovered a fumble on the Jack-rabbit 11 yard line.

Instead of Minnesota’s offensive line pounding the Jack-rabbits into submission, the Gophers managed only three yards and had to settle for the go ahead field goal.

Minnesota’s lackluster effort appears to be as a result of its hangover from its loss last week to Illinois in which they quickly fell behind 28-7 at halftime.

Signs have started popping up in TCF stadium asking “Got Dungy” suggesting that Minnesota should replace coach Tim Brewster with Minnesota Alum and coaching legend Tony Dungy.

Iowa in its loss to Ohio State gave its fans hope that they would be enjoying the holidays watching their team play in a BCS bowl.

Many pundits felt that the Hawks would crumble against the Buckeyes with their second string quarterback, James Vandenberg, leading them into battle.  Once again, the pundits underestimated the talent and heart of the Iowa football team.

Vandenberg was simply outstanding.  The Iowa coaching staff deserves some credit as well as Vandenberg was clearly confident in the pocket as he knew what he wanted to do and he knew what Ohio State was going to throw at him.

Vandenberg completed his first seven passes.  His eighth pass should have been caught for a touchdown as he hit his target on the numbers.  Vandenberg demonstrated that he has the physical tools to play quarterback.

The most promising aspect of Vandenberg’s game however was the late game adjustments he made after the Buckeyes changed their approach. 

With Iowa down a touchdown with only 7:11 in the fourth quarter on the Iowa 30, Vandenberg lead the team on a game tying score.  On the game-tying drive, Vandenberg was 5 for 5 throwing for 61 yards.

This week’s game should be close as the seniors on Minnesota have a lot of pride on the line to show that last year was a fluke. 

Unfortunately, Minnesota has squandered too many opportunities this year to cause anyone to think that this will be a close game. 

Minnesota has been a one-dimensional team all year relying heavily on their passing game to move the ball.  The last two weeks Minnesota’s passing game has struggled.

Expect the trend to continue as Iowa comes into the game with the best pass defense in the league.  The Hawkeyes held the Buckeyes to only 93 yards through the air last week.

Running the ball will also be miserable for the Gophers as they rank last in the Big Ten in rushing.

Iowa has held 7 of its opponents to 17 or fewer points this season.  Minnesota will struggle to score points against Iowa and will join the 17 and under club. 

Unlike Minnesota, Iowa has taken advantage of most of their opportunities on their way to a 9-2 record.

The offense, defense and special teams have all stepped up to make big plays during the season.  Last week, the special teams unit of Iowa returned a kickoff for a touchdown. 

Iowa doesn’t have an outstanding running attack but Iowa did a good job mixing in passing and running plays against Ohio State.  Iowa should have more success running the ball against the Gophers run defense than they had against the Buckeyes.

Minnesota’s run defense is ranked seventh in the Big Ten.

Iowa will benefit playing at home as Vandenberg’s confidence at quarterback will grow in front of a warm fan friendly crowd.

While it is hard to imagine Iowa’s offense scoring 48 points like last year it is not difficult to imagine Iowa scoring more than 17 points especially if the defense provides the offense with a short field on a couple of occasions.

Minnesota and Iowa are two teams that appear headed in opposite directions.  The Gophers appear lost.  The Hawks appear hungry.

If the teams play with the same level of energy as they played last week, Iowa could blow out the Gophers by more than 20 points and Coach Brewster’s next game could determine if he comes back next year. 

Minnesota hasn’t won in Iowa City since 1999 and this year won’t be any different as Iowa gets past the Gophers, 27-13.

At least this year, the Gophers won’t have to watch Iowa’s fans attempt to take their goal posts.