Iowa downs Minnesota with second half explosion to reclaim Floyd

MINNEAPOLIS — The Hawkeyes were able to kill two birds with one stone when they invaded Huntington Bank Stadium Saturday night.

Iowa stuffed Minnesota 31-14, reclaimed Floyd of Rosedale after last year’s controversial loss and started off Big Ten play on a high note. The game wasn’t pretty by any means early on for the Hawkeyes. The Golden Gophers more than doubled the Hawkeyes in total offense in the first half, which is why they found themselves down by a touchdown at halftime.

However, Iowa dominated the second half, scored 24 unanswered points, punished Minnesota with a physical ground game and silenced the 52,000-plus fans in attendance. It’s the second time this season that the Hawkeyes have exploded in the second half, but the way they handled adversity against the Gophers was very impressive to their coach Kirk Ferentz.

“The ending of the first half was disappointing, they took it down the field twice on us, and had momentum,” Ferentz said. “That’s going to happen during the season, that’s part of football, being behind is part of football too, and just how the guys responded, boom, we made adjustments and the staff did a good job.”

Iowa’s offensive line mauled Minnesota’s defensive line at the point of the attack, and were bullies in the trenches. The big boys up front opened up holes for Kaleb Johnson to run through, and he literally took care of the rest. Johnson carried the ball 21 times for a career-high, 206 yards and three touchdowns.

Minnesota couldn’t do anything to stop Johnson, who has now eclipsed the century mark in rushing yards every game this season. It was a head-scratcher to Minnesota fans because the Gophers’ defense didn’t allow a single point against their previous two opponents.

Not to mention the Hawkeye’s ground game made up for a lackluster performance from quarterback Cade McNamara, and their aerial attack. McNamara completed 11 of his 19 passes for a mere 62 yards. Ferentz thought his team was outplayed in every aspect when they were held scoreless in the second quarter. Still, Ferentz is proud of the way the Hawkeyes responded to adversity, and how the offensive line executed.

“The guys just kept playing, like I said a couple of weeks coming into the season, we feel a little better about our group up front, and we’re real mature on the offensive line,” he said. “I think this group got a chance to really develop into a good one, and their on that right path right now.”

Iowa (3-1) finished with 272 yards on the ground, and averaged six per rush. Once the smoke cleared, the Hawkeyes led the Golden Gophers in total offense, plays, first downs and time of possession.

Iowa also took care of business on defense, and limited Minnesota to 288 total yards. Linebacker Jay Higgins led the Hawkeyes with nine tackles, and picked off a pass on the Golden Gophers’ second possession. Fellow linebacker Nick Jackson and defensive back Deshaun Lee generated eight stops apiece. Safety Quinn Schulte also hauled in an interception. Even kicker Drew Stevens did his part, and nailed a 46-yard field goal in the third quarter.

Now Ferentz is 7-1 head-to-head against P.J. Fleck, and the road team has won the past three meetings in this series. Iowa will have the week off next Saturday before resuming Big Ten play at Ohio State. Which is why Ferentz wants his players to enjoy the victory and bringing Floyd back to Iowa City, because there’s still plenty of work to do. At the end of the day, a win is a win in the mind of Ferentz, especially away from home in a hostile environment.

“It’s big, it’s our first road game, our first conference game, and those things are different, especially the road part, so we’re going to be in these situations, that’s just part of conference play.”