The Hawkeyes are back in Kinnick on Saturday with a familiar foe on the docket as the Minnesota Golden Gophers head south to Iowa City. While these two programs know each other well, the personnel is a bit different for this group of Gophers coming to town, including a new QB and a new defensive coordinator.
In the words of the wise and sage-like Big Tom Callahan, you can get a good look at a t-bone by sticking your head up a bull’s rear end, but wouldn’t you rather take the butcher’s word for it?
So rather than sticking our head up anyone’s rear end, we’re asking our friends over at Gopher Hole for the inside info on the Minnesota Gophers. This week, we were joined by Noel Thompson of GH for a quick Q&A ahead of Iowa’s matchup with Minnesota.
Here’s a look at our conversation.
BHGP: Let’s start high level. The Gophers come into this matchup at 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten. Taking a look ahead on the schedule, things look pretty manageable save for a trip out to Oregon. How is the fanbase feeling about this season so far, what are expectations for the remainder of the year, and how meaningful is this trip to Iowa City for Minnesota’s goals as a team this season?
GH: A week ago, I would have answered this question in a completely different way. Up until Nebraska last week, this Minnesota team has underachieved and has been really inconsistent outside of the play of QB Drake Lindsey. Last week’s win against the Huskers, I think, has changed the mood of the fanbase, and the outlook of the team and the season, simply because we finally saw this team play to its potential. The offensive line was physical, the defensive line created pressure, and Darius Taylor is healthy and playing confidently. When an eight or nine-win season seemed difficult to accomplish a few weeks ago, Gophers fans definitely feel better about it now.
Playing against Iowa is always meaningful for Minnesota. In comparison, Fleck has brought balance and even tipped the scales against rival Wisconsin. He is now won six straight against the Huskers. But he has yet to achieve anything like that level of success against Iowa; he knows it, and so does everybody else. The Gophers fans would love to add Floyd next to Paul Bunyan’s Axe in Dinkytown.
BHGP: OK, let’s dive in a bit here. This is year three of Greg Harbaugh, Jr. at the helm of the offense. A year ago, this team seemed like a classic Big Ten West offense focused on establishing the run and perfectly happy playing in Iowa’s rock fights. But things seem a bit different on paper so far in 2025 with the Gophers 107th nationally in rush offense. This despite returning one of the nation’s best in Darius Taylor. Has there been a schematic change for the Gophers this year, is the personnel driving a shift or is this just a result of game scripts through the first seven games of the year?
GH: Honestly, it’s been all the above with this run game this year. The offensive line includes four new starters from last year. Although they all have experience, they began the season with zero experience playing together. Darius Taylor tweaked his hamstring in the second game of the season and missed some time. A.J. Turner came in from Marshall to back up Taylor, but got injured in Week 3 and won’t return this season. But in reality, this offensive line has struggled to find its groove, physicality, and chemistry in the run game. Fleck has kept the same five guys on the line but has moved them around three times this season, much like a hockey coach switching up lines. Last week, they reverted to the same lineup they used at the start of the season and achieved success against Nebraska. Darius Taylor is healthy, and the offensive line just had the best game of the season. The hope is that last week wasn’t an outlier. I anticipate that Fleck will want to keep establishing the run as much as he can moving forward. It will eat up clock and take pressure off redshirt freshman Drake Lindsey, who has been impressive this year.
BHGP: Alright, moving over to the other side of the ball, the Gophers are once again stout on defense. They rank 27th nationally in scoring defense giving up just under 19 points per game. This is year one of the Danny Collins experience – can you give us a flavor for what Minnesota will look like schematically on Saturday and who are the players who make this defense work?
GH: While this is Danny Collins’ first year as DC, he has been with Fleck for the last 13 years. Schematically, not much will look different as Collins employs a 4-3 base defense. A scheme that the Gophers have had under Fleck. Collins has taken what he learned from the last two Gopher DC’s (Joe Rossi at Michigan State and Corey Hetherman at Miami) and added his own personal style.
If you’re Iowa, you need to keep track of DE Anthony Smith’s whereabouts at all times. Smith’s seven sacks are tied for first in the Big Ten, and his nine tackles for loss are third in the Big Ten. Other players on the defensive line are taking advantage of the offense’s focus on Smith. DL Karter Menz has been playing strongly lately and has 3.5 sacks on the season, and DT Deven Eastern is stout up the middle.
Former Hawkeye DB John Nestor is having himself a solid year for Minnesota. He has three interceptions and five passes defended, which puts him near the top in the Big Ten in both categories. He was out against Nebraska last week, but he should be able to go against Iowa.
While I don’t anticipate the Hawkeyes to be throwing a ton, Minnesota has a special duo at safety with Kerry Brown and Koi Perich. They are playmakers in the back end.
BHGP: Iowa. Minnesota. We have to talk special teams quickly here. Let’s start with the kickers. Minnesota appears to have used two kickers this season, though the vast majority of the work has gone to Brady Denaburg. He’s 9/12 on FGs this year but has yet to make one from 50+. What do you feel his range truly is and how confident would Gopher fans be if the game hung on the balance of his foot? Then shifting over to the return game, another multi-parter here – first, who are the returners Iowa should be aware of on the Gopher side? Then it appears punter Tom Weston is 30th nationally, averaging nearly 45 yards per punt, but the Gophers are 95th in punt return defense, giving up more than 10 yards per return. Iowa obviously leans heavily on returner Kaden Wetjen – talk to us about the Gopher punting game and if you’ll indulge for a second, can you please define a fair catch and what would constitute an “invalid” fair catch signal?
GH: P.J. Fleck attacked the transfer portal after last season to land Weston and Denaburg.
With Denaburg, his accuracy drops off a cliff if it is over 40 yards. In his career, Brady is 4 for 8 from 40- 49 yards and 0-5 from anything over 50. His career long is 46 yards. This year, he has been perfect in all eight attempts that are shorter than 40. So if the game-winning field goal is from 30 yards, I feel pretty good. Anything over 40? I’m saying a quick prayer. Denaburg has 31 touchbacks on the year and ranks fifth in the conference in touchback percentage at 88%.
Regarding the return game, look for Minnesota star Koi Perich to be taking on those duties.. He has returned eight kickoffs, averaging 22.1 yards per attempt, which is fifth in the Big Ten. He also ranks eighth in the conference when he attempts to return a punt.
The Gophers’ punt defense will definitely need to button up against Iowa, as they know the Hawkeyes are always dangerous on special teams.
Regarding defining the “invalid fair catch signal”, I would recommend you talk to Cooper DeJean, he seems to be an expert in that area.
BHGP: Alright, in all seriousness, the Gophers left Iowa City with 98-pound bronze pig the last time these two teams faced off in Kinnick Stadium. Iowa opened as 7.5-point favorites in this one according to FanDuel and have climbed to as high as 9.5 points with the over/under climbing from 38.5 to 40.5 total points as of mid-week. How do you see this one playing out and what’s your final score prediction?
GH: This is really tough for me. Like I mentioned above, a lot has changed with this team in just over a week. After six weeks of inconsistent play, we finally saw the potential of this team against Nebraska. If that same Gophers team shows up in Iowa City, we can have one heck of a game, and Minnesota walks out with a victory.
Kinnick Stadium has not been kind to Minnesota in recent history, and this will no doubt be the most hostile place they will play in so far this year. While the line has jumped up to almost 10 points, I think this game is more of a “toss-up” game. I can see it going either way, to be honest. In my season prediction for GopherHole before the season, I predicted the Gophers to fall in Iowa City.
As we sit here today, I have to give the edge to the home team.
Give me Iowa over Minnesota, 24-21
So there you have it, another close one in Iowa City. Here’s hoping Noel is right and the Hawkeyes can keep Floyd home!
Thanks again to Noel Thompson from Gopher Hole for taking the time to talk Iowa vs Minnesota with us. Be sure to take a look at their other content from this week previewing the matchup. That includes my answers to his questions on the other end of this back and forth.
