The Gophers football team fell again on Saturday to the Iowa Hawkeyes 14-7. With the loss Minnesota is 0-2 in Big Ten play.
It was a slow start on offense for the University of Minnesota as quarterback Mitch Leidner didn’t complete his first pass until the late in the second quarter.
In fact, the Gopher accumulated just 101 yards of total offense in the first half.
The only scoring in the half came from the Iowa Hawkeyes when Keith Duncan hit a 22-yard field goal.
The Gopher offense finally began to click in the second half with running backs Rodney Smith and Shannon Brooks leading the charge. Brooks eventually gave Minnesota its first and only points with a 9-yard touchdown run.
After a botched punt by the Gophers, the Hawkeyes were set up with decent field position at their own 46 yard line. On the first play of their drive, Iowa’s Akrum Wadley ran for a 56-yard touchdown giving them a 12-7 lead.
Iowa then successfully converted a two-point conversion giving them a 14-7.
With time winding down in regulation, Leidner led the offense into Hawkeye territory and were inside the 20-yard line in the final minute but the Gophers turned it over on downs giving Iowa the win.
For Leidner, it was one of his worst performances of his career as he completed just 13 of 33 passes for 196 yards and two interceptions.
With the loss the Gophers are 3-2 overall and 0-2 in Big Ten play and will travel to Maryland next weekend seeking their first conference win.
