The Minnesota Gophers played the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday night , in a game that oddsmakers probably made a lot of money off of from MN fans. Entering the latest edition of this rivalry matchup, the conditions felt ripe for a Gophers upset.
PJ Fleck seemed to have passed his longtime hatred for passing the football (pun intended), thanks to the arrival of Max Brosmer . Meanwhile, the Iowa defense looked vulnerable last week, during an in-state rivalry loss vs Iowa State. On top of all that, the Gophers were at home.
Unfortunately, that’s not how things played out on the field. After the Minnesota offense started to cook in the 2nd quarter, jumping out to a 14-7 halftime lead, everything fell apart in the second half. Iowa took advantage of the break in play, made all the perfect adjustments in the locker room, and proceeded to stomp on the Gophers in quarters three and four.
From the first snap of the 2nd half, until the final second ticked off the game clock, Kirk Ferentz took PJ to school, on both sides of the ball, especially in the trenches. When the dust settled on a battered and bruised bunch of Gophers, the scoreboard at Huntington Bank Stadium showed 31-14, away team. That’s right, zero points in the 2nd half for Minnesota. Anyway… here’s what we learned about our Gophers, in defeat.