Gophers overwhelmed in 35-7 loss to the Hawkeyes
Minnesota (1-3) had their share of penalties and self-inflicted wounds on Friday night, but the Iowa Hawkeyes (2-2) absolutely dominated the line of scrimmage en route to a 35-7 win over the Gophers on Friday night.
The Gopher Report provides a quarter by quarter recap of the action below:
1ST QUARTER:
* 5:42 - TOUCHDOWN, IOWA; Nico Ragaini one-yard touchdown run (7 plays, 63 yards in 3:04) - Iowa 7, Minnesota 0
## 1:07 - INTERCEPTION, MINNESOTA; James Gordon interception, returned to Iowa 14-yard line (penalties on Sori-Marin and P.J. Fleck put Gophers on their own 45-yard line)
QUARTER RECAP: Minnesota's defense forced Iowa to punt on their first offensive possession, but gave four plays over 10+ yards on the Hawkeyes' second possession that led to an easy touchdown. Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras completing easy, short passes to his receivers and running backs and letting them gain some YAC. Gophers defense stepped up on Iowa's third offensive possession with a James Gordon interception, but lost 40 yards of field position with a crack-back block penalty on Sori-Marin on the interception return followed by an unsportsmanlike penalty on P.J. Fleck.
2ND QUARTER:
* 8:31 - TOUCHDOWN, IOWA; Tyler Goodsen seven-yard rush (12 plays, 85 yards in 5:25) - Iowa 14, Minnesota 0
## 1:35 - INTERCEPTION, IOWA; Jack Koerner with the interception off an overthrown ball by Tanner Morgan
# :30 - MISSED FIELD GOAL, IOWA; Keith Duncan sails a 50-yard field goal attempt to the right - Iowa 14, Minnesota 0
QUARTER RECAP: Penalties are killing Minnesota so far in the first half, that hasn't allowed them to get in any rhythm offensively. The Hawkeyes asserted their dominance along the line of scrimmage and gashed Minnesota's defense with their run game on their 12-play scoring drive. Iowa could have put more points on the board at the end of the quarter, but a Tyler Goodson 23-yard run was negated by a holding call on Cole Banwart. The drive ended with a Keith Duncan 50-yard missed field goal. Tanner Morgan has struggled passing the ball, eyeing his first read, throwing into double-coverage, inaccurate - he was 6-of-17 for 57 yards and an interception in the first half.
HALFTIME STATS:
3RD QUARTER:
# :49 - MISSED FIELD GOAL, MINNESOTA; Brock Walker's 39-yard field goal attempt is missed, tipped by Jack Koerner - Iowa 14, Minnesota 0
QUARTER RECAP: Minnesota puts together a 16 play, 74 yard offensive drive that lasted almost 11 minutes, but goes conservative running Ibrahim on the outside for nothing on 3rd and 6 which led to a Brock Walker 39-yard field goal that was blocked by Jack Koerner. Very questionable decisions by Minnesota's offensive staff, if you are running it on third-down, why aren't you going for it on fourth down? Iowa's Tyler Goodson promptly takes off for a 45-yard run on the next play to end the quarter.
4TH QUARTER:
* 13:12 - TOUCHDOWN, IOWA; Ihmir Smith-Marsette eight-yard catch from Spencer Petras (5 plays, 79 yards in 2:37) - Iowa 20, Minnesota 0
# 9:57 - INTERCEPTION, IOWA; Riley Moss picks off an under thrown ball from Tanner Morgan, return of 62 yards to the Minnesota 31-yard line.
* 8:56 - TOUCHDOWN, IOWA; Tyler Goodson one-yard run (3 plays, 31 yards in 1:01) - Iowa 28, Minnesota 0
* 6:37 - TOUCHDOWN, IOWA; Mekhi Sargent 14-yard run (3 plays 51 yards in 1:23) - Iowa 35, Minnesota 0
* :14 - TOUCHDOWN, MINNESOTA; Rashod Bateman four-yard catch from Tanner Morgan (15 plays, 75 yards in 7:23) - Iowa 35, Minnesota 7
QUARTER RECAP: It didn't take long for the Hawkeyes to find the end zone to open the quarter and take a three score lead. Minnesota put together another nice offensive drive and was on Iowa's 20-yard line when an under thrown ball by Tanner Morgan got picked off by Riley Moss, ending any kind of pulse the Gophers had to stay in the game. The Hawkeyes turned that turnover into an easy touchdown to go up 28-0 at the 8:56 mark to essentially put this game to bed. Minnesota added a late touchdown to avoid the shutout.
FINAL: IOWA 35, MINNESOTA 7
GAME MVP:
Once again, Rashod Bateman was the primary target in the passing game for the Gophers hauling in eight catches for 111 yards and one touchdown.
FINAL STATS:
