The Gophers knew they had a tough schedule at the end of the season with Ohio State, Wisconsin and Nebraska coming up, but nobody in their right mind about Big Ten football, thought that an Iowa team would improve as much as they have since losing to Iowa State and Maryland and barely beating Northern Iowa, in the early part of their schedule.
As it turns out Iowa gave Northwestern one of the worst losses it had all season, beating them 48-7, and moving the Hawkeyes into a tie for first in the Big Ten West. It looks like they have put their running game and passing game together as good as most teams in the Big Ten.
I think the Gophers are very fortunate that they had a week off before they play the Hawkeyes so they can get everybody healthy and be in a position to win this game and stay in contention for the Big Ten West title.
Gopher quarterback Mitch Leidner will have to be at his best when it comes to the passing game, and it appears it will be a high scoring contest with the Gophers most likely to be favored because they have home field advantage.
It's a much better game than was anticipated three or four weeks ago.
