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The Floyd of Rosedale will be on the line on Saturday afternoon as the Minnesota Golden Gophers take on the Iowa Hawkeyes for the 116th time.

The Gophers will look for their first win over the Hawkeyes since 2014 as the Hawkeyes have won each of the last seven matchups between the two programs. Last season, the Hawkeyes took down the Golden Gophers 27-22 in Iowa City.

Entering Saturday, the Gophers are 7-3 on the season and 4-3 in conference play while Iowa enters the game at 6-4 overall but also 4-3 against Big Ten opponents.

The Hawkeyes used a 10-point fourth quarter last Saturday to pull away and defeat Wisconsin 24-10 in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes were able to total 24 points in the game despite totaling just 146 total yards in the game, thanks in part to three Wisconsin turnovers.

it was once again the Hawkeyes' defense providing most of the momentum for the Hawkeyes. In the game, the Hawkeyes allowed just 227 total yards including 51 rushing yards on 31 carries. Their three forced turnovers, however, including one pick-six was enough for the Hawkeyes offense to take advantage of and ultimately win 24-10.

The only way to describe this Iowa offense is putrid. The Hawkeyes under the direction of offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz are only averaging 17.9 points and 251.1 yards per game this season. Whether it's poor offensive line play, poor quarterback play, or a lack of explosiveness, the Hawkeyes simply rarely get any sort of momentum built on the offensive side of the ball.

Quarterback Spencer Petras continues to show he's unable to take the next step, completing just 141-of-251 passing attempts for 1,495 yards and five touchdowns alongside five interceptions. Kirk Ferentz and his staff refuse to make a quarterback change either, with quarterback Alex Padilla only amassing 10 passing attempts so far this season.

Freshman running back Kaleb Johnson is by far their best player maker this season, he's totaled 637 yards and five touchdowns on 122 total touches this fall.

While the Iowa offense is putrid, the Iowa defense is elite. They're allowing just 13.9 points and 260 yards per game this season. Led by their stellar run defense, the Hawkeyes are only allowing 88.6 rushing yards per game this season and just 2.5 yards per carry.

Their pass defense, is strong as well, allowing just 58.3% of their passes to be completed this season for an average of 172.1 passing yards per game. Defensively, the Hawkeyes are stacked with playmakers. Linebacker Jack Campbell is one of the best linebackers in the nation. In the secondary, sophomore DB Cooper DeJean has been fantastic racking up 60 tackles but also four interceptions with two being returned for touchdowns. He also has seven other pass deflections on the season.

Up-and-down their defense, the Hawkeyes have playmakers and play an incredibly sound and fundamental type of football. They rarely do anything flashy on defense but do everything fundamental extremely well, making them an incredibly hard team to beat defensively.

I don't think Minnesota will rack up 400+ yards in this game but I believe the rushing attack will have enough juice throughout the game. If the Gophers' can get out to an early double-digit lead against the Hawkeyes, I like the Gophers' chances to capture the Floyd of Rossdale for the first time since. This Iowa offense shouldn't scare anyone, so as long as the Gophers' can play smart and fundamental football from top to finish on Saturday, tehy'll have a geat chance to pull out the win.

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