{"id":53274,"date":"2023-10-19T11:00:09","date_gmt":"2023-10-19T15:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=53274"},"modified":"2023-10-18T17:36:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T21:36:07","slug":"gophers-vs-24-iowa-preview-and-prediction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2023\/10\/19\/gophers-vs-24-iowa-preview-and-prediction\/","title":{"rendered":"Gophers vs. #24 Iowa: Preview and Prediction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Gophers are gearing up for the biggest game of the season this Saturday, facing off against the #24 Iowa Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium. Minnesota is coming off a bye week, which allowed <strong>P.J. Fleck\u2019s<\/strong> team to lick their wounds after losing to the #2 Michigan Wolverines, 52-10. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2023\/10\/14\/iowa-secures-drivers-seat-in-big-ten-west-with-win-at-wisconsin\/\" target=\"_self\">Iowa beat Wisconsin<\/a> 15-6 at Camp Randall last week and is in first place in the Big Ten West.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite their 6-1 record, the Hawkeyes average just 20.9 points per game, which ranks #103 in the FBS. The offense has dealt with significant injury issues, with quarterback <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/cade-mcnamara-1.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-10-18_cfb\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cade McNamara<\/a> and tight ends <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/erick-all-1.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-10-18_cfb\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Erick All<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/luke-lachey-1.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-10-18_cfb\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luke Lachey<\/a> out for the season. All and Lachey are the team&#8217;s leading pass catchers and account for 42.5% of Iowa\u2019s receptions and 53% of their receiving yards.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The border battle for Floyd of Rosedale is the 117th meeting between the two teams, and the Gophers lead the all-time series, 62-52-2. The Hawkeyes have won eight consecutive games and 18 of the last 22. Minnesota&#8217;s last win over Iowa was in 2014, but they haven\u2019t won in Iowa City since 1999.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Iowa\u2019s offense is struggling, but their defense continues to stifle opponents. They rank #8 in scoring defense and average 14.9 points allowed per game. Led by junior cornerback <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/cooper-dejean-1.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-10-18_cfb\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cooper DeJean<\/a>, the Hawkeyes have not allowed an opponent to score more than 16 points in a game. Iowa&#8217;s special teams unit is elite, too, and punter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/tory-taylor-1.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-10-18_cfb\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tory Taylor<\/a> ranks fourth nationally in yards-per-punt. Taylor is tied for the FBS lead with 45 punts, of which 17 have been down inside the 20, and only one has gone for a touchback. DeJean and Taylor were named to ESPN\u2019s 2023 College Football Midseason All-America team.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Game Information<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Date:<\/strong> Saturday, October 21<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Time:<\/strong> 2:30 PM CST<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Location:<\/strong> Kinnick Stadium<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>TV:<\/strong> NBC<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Radio:<\/strong> KFAN<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Record:<\/strong> Minnesota (3-3 Overall, 1-2 Big Ten), Iowa (6-1 Overall, 3-1 Big Ten)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Betting Line<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spread: Iowa -3.5<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over\/Under: 32.5<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Money Line: Minnesota +146, Iowa -176<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Ferentz on the Hot Seat<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the heart of their offensive woes is offensive coordinator <strong>Brian Ferentz<\/strong>, son of head coach <strong>Kirk Ferentz<\/strong>. The younger Ferentz signed a one-year performance-based contract for 2023, which stipulates Iowa must average 25 points per game and win seven or more games. Failure to reach either of these standards will result in the termination of his contract with the Hawkeyes. With six regular-season games left, Iowa must score just under 30 points per game for the junior Ferentz to keep his job.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Gophers Offense vs. Iowa Defense<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Gophers have struggled to find their offensive identity through the first six games. The team has been inconsistent with playcalling and execution in the first half of the season. Quarterback <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/athan-kaliakmanis-1.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-10-18_cfb\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Athan Kaliakmanis<\/a> was 22-44 in the season opener against Nebraska but has not had more than 14 completions in the last five games. Minnesota has had three running backs &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/sean-tyler-1.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-10-18_cfb\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sean Tyler<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/darius-taylor-1.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-10-18_cfb\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Darius Taylor<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/bryce-williams-4.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bryce Williams<\/a> &#8211; each start two games. The Gophers hope to regroup following the bye week and the Michigan debacle and get back on track for the second half of the season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The biggest cause for optimism is the likely return of Taylor, who missed the past two games due to a leg injury. <\/span>The Big Ten named Taylor the Freshman of the Week for <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">three consecutive weeks and was the first Gopher ever to receive that honor three times in a row. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fellow freshman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=zach-evans-2,zach-evans-1&amp;search=Zach+Evans&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-10-18_cfb\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zach Evans<\/a>, named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week following the win over Louisiana, will continue to earn carries. Taylor\u2019s return should help restore some consistency to Minnesota\u2019s offense.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Minnesota\u2019s offense will face an Iowa defense ranked #22 in total yards allowed, #37 in rushing yards allowed, and #26 in passing yards allowed. They are tough, physical, and execute with great technique at all three levels. Iowa defensive coordinator <strong>Phil Parker\u2019s<\/strong> defense is consistently good and ranked in the top 20 since 2015. From 2017 through last season, the Hawkeyes led the FBS with 104 interceptions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Gophers Defense vs. Michigan Offense<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Joe Rossi\u2019s<\/strong> defense is allowing 26.7 points per game, ranked #60 in FBS. This is uncharacteristic of recent Gopher teams, which were ranked #3 and #5 in the past two seasons. Minnesota\u2019s defense is ranked #55 in total yards allowed, #58 in rushing yards allowed, and #58 in passing yards allowed. The Gophers are ranked #59 in first-half points allowed but #69 in second-half points allowed. This highlights the Gophers\u2019 tendency to allow opponents to score more often in the second half.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Gophers defense has faced Michigan and North Carolina offenses ranked #8 and #10 in the FBS. Those opponents could not be more different than the Hawkeyes, which is ranked #132 in yards per game. Iowa is led by quarterback <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/deacon-hill-1.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-10-18_cfb\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Deacon Hill<\/a>, who replaced the injured McNamara. Hill is 27 for 70 on the season and passed for 311 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. Iowa\u2019s top pass-catchers, All and Lachey, are out of the season, so the Hawkeyes will lean heavily on the run game. Iowa running back <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/leshon-williams-1.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-10-18_cfb\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Leshon Williams<\/a> is coming off a career-high game against Wisconsin when he rushed for 174 and a touchdown.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Gophers will focus on stopping the run game and pressure the inexperienced Hill into making mistakes.\u00a0The expected return linebacker <strong>Cody Lindenberg<\/strong> will bolster Minnesota&#8217;s defense.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Did You Know?<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Leading into Saturday\u2019s game against Minnesota, Floyd of Rosedale has resided in Iowa City for 2,898 consecutive days<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Saturday\u2019s game against Iowa marks the third contest against a ranked opponent for Minnesota this season<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Gophers are 3-3 under Fleck when coming off a regular season bye, not including the 2020 shortened COVID season<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Six of the last eight losses to Iowa were close games, in which Minnesota lost by seven points or less.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/tyler-nubin-1.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-10-18_cfb\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyler Nubin<\/a> needs one interception to tie the school record shared by Sean Lumpkin and Jeff Wright<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/brevyn-spann-ford-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brevyn Spann-Ford<\/a> needs one reception for sole possession of second place all-time among Minnesota tight ends<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The original Floyd of Rosedale was a real Iowa prize hog named after Minnesota\u2019s Governor Floyd Olson<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Prediction<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Gophers are coming off their bye week, which has given them more time to prepare for the border battle against Iowa. The return of Taylor and the debut of Lindenberg will provide a boost for the Gophers, who are hungry to beat the Hawkeyes in Iowa City. Iowa\u2019s already suspect offense is reeling from injuries and will struggle to move the ball. The game will come down to Minnesota\u2019s offense against Iowa\u2019s defense and Iowa\u2019s elite special teams unit. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If Minnesota protects the ball and prevents long special teams returns, they will take home Floyd of Rosedale for the first time in nine years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Projection<\/strong>: Gophers win 20-13<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_53298\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-53298\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-53298 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/USATSI_21537805_168400562_lowres-2-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/USATSI_21537805_168400562_lowres-2-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/USATSI_21537805_168400562_lowres-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/USATSI_21537805_168400562_lowres-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/USATSI_21537805_168400562_lowres-2-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/USATSI_21537805_168400562_lowres-2-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/USATSI_21537805_168400562_lowres-2.jpg 1369w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-53298\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Gophers are gearing up for the biggest game of the season this Saturday, facing off against the #24 Iowa Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium. Minnesota is coming off a bye week, which allowed P.J. Fleck\u2019s team to lick their wounds after losing to the #2 Michigan Wolverines, 52-10. Iowa beat Wisconsin 15-6 at Camp Randall [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4644,"featured_media":53298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2],"tags":[7983,8189,8038,5890,8333,10453,319,3994,2243,1795,167,800,7878],"class_list":["post-53274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigten","category-featured","tag-big-ten-football","tag-big-ten-west","tag-brian-ferentz","tag-cody-lindenberg","tag-floyd-of-rosedale","tag-greg-harbaugh-jr","tag-iowa-hawkeyes","tag-joe-rossi","tag-kinnick-stadium","tag-kirk-ferentz","tag-minnesota-golden-gophers","tag-p-j-fleck","tag-phil-parker"],"modified_by":"Kate Pearson Halyburton, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4644"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}