Let’s throw some quick love to the Iowa football twitter account.
Got to hand it to the Iowa media crew. They have crushed for the last three weeks, going back
to the Wisconsin game. Absolute fire from those people.
To the game!
I really thought this would be close. Minnesota allowed 294 yards per game going into Saturday’s battle for Floyd of Rosedale. They allowed 97.7 rushing yards a game. Great numbers from Minnesota’s defense. Those numbers, plus recent results in this series, pointed toward a tight battle for Floyd.
So excuse my shock at Iowa’s 41-3 massacre of the Gophers in Iowa City. I didn’t see this coming at all. I’m completely stunned that Iowa had this game under wraps within the first 19 minutes of game time.
I didn’t see Minnesota looking shook from the first snap. They did NOT want that smoke today. Iowa’s first drive was exceptionally easy. Mark Gronowski looked good. The run game had Minnesota on skates from the get go. Once Gronowski scored – his 11th rushing touchdown of the season – you could feel the avalanche coming. Iowa pushed the lead to 10-0, then quickly kicked it out to 17-0 after Zach Lutmer’s pick 6 that extended Iowa’s streak with an interception return for a touchdown to 18-straight years.
Then another moment of magic from Kaden Wetjen. He’s now at five touchdowns this season and it feels like so many more.
By then we were having a grand time at the game watch I attended in Denver. Fans were going nuts. Beers were really flowing – Ester’s has Russian River on a rotating tap, so Pliny the Elder? Yes, please, and keep them coming. Iowa finished this game with 13 first downs, 274 yards of offense – Minnesota’s total yardage allowed will go down after Saturday’s game – but that felt like 474 yards of offense for Iowa.
And now Floyd stays home. Quick fun fact before we look at other thoughts and some goings on around the league – in case you were unaware, Iowa now leads the series with Floyd of Rosedale in play by a 46-43-2 margin. Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.
Other thoughts:
- Seriously that Minnesota team looked like a mirror image of Iowa going into the game and they wilted right away. Geez.
- I’ll see the pancake block on Wetjen’s punt return in my dreams for awhile.
- It was a bit sad seeing former Hawk John Nestor in what looked like tears on the Minnesota sideline. Then again, don’t transfer to Minnesota.
- Mark Gronowski – touchdown pass! Sure, ok, fine, it isn’t a great stat that he has just one passing touchdown in league play…but he’s now tied for the most rushing touchdowns by an Iowa quarterback, a record that has existed since the 1960s, and he set a league record with a rushing touchdown in 8 consecutive games. I do not care about a passing touchdown stat when he’s smoking people in the run game. Now he gets another week to get his knee ready for the home stretch.
- The Iowa defense was a P.J. Fleck soft field goal away from a shutout. How soft was that from Philip John Fleck, Jr.?
- Iowa’s defense – my God. The Minnesota offense was dead on arrival. 1 yard per rush for Minnesota, a week after they battered Nebraska. 133 yards allowed and three turnovers by Iowa.
- At one point with 14:02 left in the game, a CBS graphic showed Minnesota had -8 yards rushing and it was their lowest output since “at least 2000.” Good research, CBS. Football did exist in the 20th century. That was clearly an intern saying, “it’s the lowest since at least 2000 but I’m not looking beyond that!” (that intern has since been terminated.)
- Watching Iowa’s opponent in two weeks – Oregon is either sleep walking through this Wisconsin game, the weather has them pumping the brakes up 21-0, some combination of both…but if that game is an 11:00 kickoff so 9:00 on their body clocks…they can be had. I just hate they are also on a bye next week. Do not like that at all.
- We have it all to play for, still. 10-2 is still on the table. It’s all we could ask for.
- Today is what I imagine the adrenaline shot in Pulp Fiction would feel like with all the losses I saw from rivals today. Minnesota smoked by the Hawks (78-3 combined between Wisconsin and Minnesota, Iowa’s two biggest league rivals.) Iowa State blows a 24-10 lead to BYU and loses by 14. Fun few weeks in that particular rivalry, by the way – I was told a month ago that Iowa was clearly behind Iowa State. “Iowa State has passed Iowa!” Iowa’s now 6-2 and 4-1 in the league while the Cyclones are 5-3 and 2-3 and trending down. Congrats on winning some close games in a rivalry? A little better injury luck and Iowa would be 8-0 going into the Oregon game. Illinois lost. Wisconsin lost and their offense is BY FAR the worst offense I’ve ever seen in this league, and I saw the 2022 and 2023 Iowa offenses. They’re a level below that, by a good margin. Nice little Saturday, that.
