Hawkeyes turn out the lights on Gophers in Dome finale

A month ago, the Gophers football team was 7-1, had won three consecutive Big Ten games and was ranked 20th in the nation.

After getting thrashed by Iowa 55-0 in their last game at the Metrodome, the Gophers are 7-5. They have a four-game losing streak, their offense has gone south and there is no guarantee the rest of the team will get to follow come bowl time.

It was an epic, historic loss -- the fifth-worst in school history and the second-worst at home, to the 84-13 loss to Nebraska in 1983 -- and the worst ever in conference play. You have to go back to 1989 to find the last Gophers team shut out at home.

"It is the most embarrassing game I've ever been a part of, in any sport," Gophers quarterback Adam Weber said after his team fell to 3-5 in Big Ten play. "I've been in some bad baseball games, too. But this is the worst game I've ever been a part of."

Weber was erratic, again. But plenty of other things went wrong. The Gophers defense couldn't get off the field and the offense couldn't get on the same page. Iowa kept the pig -- Floyd of Rosedale -- by hogging the ball, the clock and the spotlight. The Gophers finished their regular-season schedule with three important trophy games, but Minnesota's display cases will remain empty for another winter.

"Words can't express the disappointment I feel as a football coach, the disappointment I have for Minnesotans and our university, just disappointed in my ability tonight to put a team on the field that could compete," Gophers coach Tim Brewster said. "We just didn't get that done."

Pick a stat: The Hawkeyes brutalized the Gophers on the ground, running for 222 yards. Shonn Greene had 144, with two touchdowns, setting Iowa's single-season rushing record in the process.

Passing? Iowa quarterback Rick Stanzi felt some pressure early but wound up completing 15 of 28 passes for 255 yards and three TDs.

Third down? Iowa (8-4, 5-3 Big Ten) converted on 12 of 18. The Hawkeyes scored on the ground, through the air, and on a 57-yard interception return with 27 seconds left in the first half.

The Gophers offense, meanwhile, was a non-starter.

Wide receiver Eric Decker started, but he didn't make a catch until late in the third quarter. Weber was erratic, completing 14 of 28 passes for 127 yards and two interceptions. The game ended with him watching from the bench.

The Gophers running game? Seven net yards.

The Gophers need to get stronger, Brewster said, along both lines. They have to be more physical moving ahead. But that's for the future. Right now, Gophers players and coaches have to figure out how to get the team ready for whatever bowl game it draws.

The was so much to play for Saturday. It was senior day, with a group of veterans looking for their first eight-victory season. It was also an opportunity to improve Minnesota's bowl standing.

Instead Gophers fans began filing out of the Dome -- for the last time -- with more than a quarter to play while security guards lined up at each end of the field to ensure Hawkeye fans wouldn't try for a repeat of 2002, when they tore down the uprights and tried to carry them out of the building.

The Hawkeyes had a 6-0 lead before the Gophers had netted 20 yards. And Iowa was just warming up. After the third consecutive Gophers possession had ended in a punt, Iowa made it 13-0 on a three-play drive capped by Stanzi's 48-yard completion to Darrell Johnson-Koulianos.

Twelve plays after the next Gophers punt Stanzi threw a 3-yard TD pass to Brandon Myers.

The Gophers got the ball at their 25 with 1:13 to play in the half. A week ago, with a 21-7 lead in Wisconsin, Brewster had opted to run the clock out. Saturday he decided to try to gain some momentum. Instead, Weber's pass to Ben Kuznia was intercepted by the Hawkeyes' Amari Spievey and returned 57 yards for a touchdown and a 27-0 lead.

It was that kind of day.

"This ... this really hurts to go out like that," linebacker Steve Davis said. "I didn't think it was going to end up like this. ... Well, I feel like it's a defeated attitude right now. That really hurt. They basically came in here and dominated us from the first quarter to the fourth quarter. "

The Gophers will have a brief break before getting back to work for their bowl game. It will take some work.

"We have a bowl game to look forward to," Davis said. "The best thing we can do is, after the break, try to win. That's the only good thing about this, that we have one more game to play."