Conor Rhoda hasn’t taken the starting job and ran with it, and neither has Demry Croft.
That leaves Gophers (4-3, 1-3) head football coach P.J. Fleck still waiting for one of them to prove they’re worthy of starting Saturday’s Big Ten border battle on the road against the Iowa Hawkeyes (4-3, 1-3).
The official depth chart for Saturday’s game says it’ll be Rhoda or Croft starting. Fleck kept everyone guessing which quarterback would start last week, too.
Here’s how the two stack up statistically this season:
- Rhoda: 839 yards, 5 TD, 4 INT, 54.1 %, 11 rush yards, 0 TD
- Croft: 273 yards, 4 TD, 3 INT, 48.9 %, 159 rush yards, 1 TD
Croft’s lone start came last week in Minnesota’s 24-17 win over Illinois, but he completed just 5-of-15 passes for 47 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions.
Rhoda played well in the non-conference season but has since completed less than 50 percent of his passes in Big Ten action, including a 5-of-12 performance against Michigan State before being replaced by Croft.
Minnesota hasn’t won in Iowa City since 1999 and they haven’t taken home the coveted Floyd of Rosedale rivalry trophy since 2014. They got beat at Iowa 40-35 in 2015 and lost 14-7 at home last season.
The Hawkeyes are favored by 8.5 points this week, according to Vegas Insiders.
Fun fact: the bronze pig trophy weights 98.3 pounds.
Saturday’s kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m.
