Minnesota Gophers 35
Iowa Hawkeyes 40
The Gophers’ normally stingy defense had trouble handling the Iowa Hawkeyes and ended up losing the game 40-35, and the Floyd of Rosedale trophy, Saturday night at Kinnick Stadium.
LeShun Daniels rushed for a career-high 195 yards against Minnesota and scored three touchdowns, and C.J. Beathard threw for 213 yards and ran for two TDs himself, as the Hawkeyes reached 10-0 for the first time in school history, according to GopherSports.com.
Mitch Leidner had 259 yards passing and a touchdown for Minnesota (4-6, 1-5). The Gophers were playing for the first time since Tracy Claeys was named the permanent head coach Wednesday.
Claeys: "This one hurts, losing Floyd. But at the same time we have kids that care about eachother, we will rebound and get back to work."
— KFAN1003 (@KFAN1003) November 15, 2015
In the first half, Minnesota’s defense couldn’t stop the Hawkeyes, who scored three touchdowns and a field goal on their four drives to go up 24-14 at halftime, the Star Tribune notes.
In the second half the Gophers’ offense had more success. They closed to within six points late in the third quarter on a 2-yard TD run by Rodrick Williams Jr., to make the score 27-21. But the Hawkeyes answered with a touchdown of their own early in the fourth on a 1-yard run by Beathard.
The Gophers surprised Iowa on a trick play when running back Shannon Brooks threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Drew Wolitarsky to close the gap to five points with 5:32 left. But Daniels responded again for Iowa with a 51-yard TD run to put the Hawkeyes up 40-28 with just two minutes left.
Brooks scored on a 3-yard run for Minnesota with 1:16 remaining to make it a five-point game again, but Ryan Santoso’s onside kick went out of bounds and Iowa recovered to end the game.
Oink, Oink. https://t.co/eD4sYpMSrg
— The Iowa Hawkeyes (@TheIowaHawkeyes) November 15, 2015
The Hawkeyes marched across the field hand-in-hand to grab the Floyd trophy and the sellout crowd cheered wildly, according to the Star Tribune.
A final "moral victory'' thought: No such animal vs. team you beat 51-14 one year earlier.
— Patrick Reusse (@Patrick_Reusse) November 15, 2015
Video: #Gophers coach Tracy Claeys on having a chance in the fourth quarter and what Iowa did to win. https://t.co/8dwUPIGvTe
— Andy Greder (@andygreder) November 15, 2015
It was just a year ago when Minnesota won the pig with a huge 51-14 win over Iowa at home. But the Gophers(4-6, 1-5 Big Ten) have now lost four games in a row and if they have any hope of getting to a bowl game, they must win their last two against Illinois and Wisconsin.
