Gophers outclassed, outcoached in brutal defeat at Iowa

IOWA CITY – As black-and-gold-clad Iowa fans filtered through the concourse at Kinnick Stadium and onto the street on this crisp autumn night, the sounds of disbelieving laughter stood out.

The Hawkeyes faithful were celebrating their team’s 41-3 dismantling of the Gophers in front of 69,250 on Saturday with an aura of, “Can you believe we beat them that badly?!”

The pair of teams entered the game with identical 5-2 overall records and 3-1 marks in the Big Ten. One left with ownership of the Floyd of Rosedale Trophy. The other left wondering how it could be so thoroughly dominated by a rival.

Yes, it was a blowout.

But the final score might not do it justice.

This stat sums it up best: Through their first four possessions, the Gophers had 1 yard of offense. The Hawkeyes had 31 points.

“They absolutely dominated the football game from start to finish,” Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said. “I told our football team that those were three hours of not very good football. … We did not play our best when we needed to play our absolute best."

Iowa took the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards in nine plays for a 7-0 lead. After the Hawkeyes defense forced the first of its six three-and-outs on Saturday, the Iowa offense produced a 46-yard field-goal drive for a 10-0 lead.

Then came what was pretty much the dagger with 3:09 left in the first quarter.

Gophers redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Lindsey, so steady and poised through the season’s first seven games, tried to force a throw to tight end Drew Biber into double coverage. Hawkeyes nickelback Zach Lutmer elevated to intercept the pass and raced 34 yards for a touchdown and 17-0 lead.

“I didn’t play well enough,” said Lindsey, who completed 16 of 28 passes for 109 yards but was intercepted three times. “It starts with me, with leadership. Every single play’s got to be super-detailed, and I didn’t execute well enough.”

Lindsey wasn’t the only issue on offense.

Taylor missed two games earlier in the season because of a hamstring injury.

The Gophers defense, which sacked Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola a program-record nine times, couldn’t contain Hawkeyes QB Mark Gronowski.

The graduate transfer from South Dakota State completed 12 of 19 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown, a 29-yarder to Reece Vander Zee that put Iowa up 24-0. Gronowski also rushed nine times for 24 yards, including the opening TD on a 2-yard draw.

Minnesota has lost eight of nine games to Iowa since Fleck took over as coach in 2017.

The one win came in 2023, a 12-10 decision at Kinnick made famous by Cooper DeJean’s 54-yard punt return for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter that was wiped out by his invalid fair catch signal. Fittingly, the Hawkeyes exacted revenge Saturday when Kaden Wetjen returned a Tom Weston punt 50 yards for a touchdown and 31-0 lead only 3:37 into the second quarter.

The Gophers avoided a shutout on Brady Denaburg’s 34-yard field goal with 5 seconds left in the third quarter on one of only two possessions that reached Iowa territory.

Afterward, Fleck was left to sort through a defeat that served as a slap to the face after the Gophers only a week earlier had offered hope that, “Hey, maybe they’ve got something going here.”

Instead, they are still seeking a sixth victory to reach bowl eligibility and will try to do so Saturday at home against Michigan State. After that, they have a bye week, then a trip to No. 6 Oregon, a visit to Northwestern at Chicago’s Wrigley Field and the home finale vs. Wisconsin.

They still have opportunities to finish strong as long as they take the hard lessons they learned on a dark day at Kinnick Stadium.