LeShun Daniels Jr.’s 195-yard game helped No. 5 Iowa seal the deal against a pesky Minnesota squad.

By Jordan Hansen
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In the Hawkeyes’ first offensive drive against Minnesota on Nov. 14, it was obvious Iowa was going to have success against the Gophers’ rushing defense.

Starting running back LeShun Daniels rattled off rushes of 6, 4, 18, 1, and 3, the last of which was Iowa’s first touchdown. It didn’t stop there. He ended the first half with 90 rushing yards on 10 attempts and finished the day with 195 total. The back averaged 7.5 yards per carry during the contest and also got into the end zone three times in the Hawkeye’s 40-35 win over Minnesota.

“You have to give all the credit to the offensive line; they do an excellent job each week, making holes, it just makes it easier as a running back,” Daniels said. “You can’t forget the fullbacks, and the receivers, and the tight ends, they do a great job for me and the rest of the running backs.”

A humble response, but even those blocking for him can’t do everything, and some of the cuts he made were simply jaw-dropping. Iowa has had huge performances at the running-back spot all season, and Daniels was next in line for a big game.

Daniels has scored in each of the last three weeks — one against Maryland, two against Indiana and then three against Minnesota today. He’s also increased his yardage totals each of the last three weeks he’s been healthy. Before, of course, Daniels was dealing with the lingering effects of an ankle injury.

“Last week, I thought he looked a lot better, and tonight he looked really good, especially on that last touchdown,” head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “That was quite a run.”

It was. After rushing for 22 yards on five carries as the Hawkeyes tried to run out the clock leading 33-28, Daniels broke a monster 51-yard run on an off-tackle play.

While it was not just that single play that won the game for Iowa, his constant and strong performance throughout the game did. The Hawkeyes had a huge advantage in time of possession (35:32 to Minnesota’s 24:28) which is exactly how Ferentz wants to win games.

Time and time again, Iowa was able to cut through the Gopher’s defense. Daniels wasn’t the only rushing threat; Hawkeye quarterback C.J. Beathard finished with 50 yards on 10 carries. and Jordan Canzeri had 31 yards on another 10 carries.

Beathard’s rushing highlight of the day came late in the second quarter when he juked, jived, and jimmied for 26 yards, which helped set up a touchdown that put the Hawkeyes up 24-14 at the half. The quarterback, who has nursed a groin injury since the Illinois game on Oct. 20, moved fluidly and looked extremely comfortable running the ball.

“I felt good,” Beathard said. “The medical staff and training staff has done a really good job of getting me ready, and they did a really good job during the week.”

Beathard scored 2 touchdowns, including one on a naked bootleg for the game’s second touchdown. He also has 88 yards rushing over the last two games, more than he had in the previous six games combined.

While Iowa had a bit of an injury scare with Beathard trying to sneak for a first down late in the game (Ferentz said in his presser he might consider removing that from the playbook), he looked healthy and was yet another head to the Hawkeyes medusa-like running game.

“Today almost looked like the opening ballgame,” Ferentz said about Beathard’s health. “[Beathard] keeps performing at a really high rate.”

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